Posted by By EMMA AMAIZE, Port Harcourt, EMMA AZIKEN, Bamako on
FORMER Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), appears to have joined forces with those agitating for the banning of himself and other former military rulers from returning to power under the on-going democratic dispensation as he endorsed the move.
FORMER Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), appears to have joined forces with those agitating for the banning of himself and other former military rulers from returning to power under the on-going democratic dispensation as he endorsed the move.
In making his case, however, the erstwhile leader, who ruled the country for nine years, specifically between 1966 and 1975 when he was replaced by a military junta led by the late General Murtala Muhammed and the then Brigadier-General Olusegun Obasanjo, said the ban should not exclude former civilian leaders.
?There should have been in the constitution that once you have served as Head of State, you do not come back. However, this must affect not only the military leaders but also their civilian counterparts. I think that is the way it should go. We will see whether this will be accepted and how it goes?, Gowon stated last week.
The former Nigerian leader spoke just as it was learnt that the coalition of the South-South and Middle-Belt was in the process of initiating consultations with two other geo-political zones in the bid to secure a better deal for the two zones (South-South and Middle-Belt) in the polity. Of the several former military leaders believed to be warming up for the 2007 presidential race, only Major-General Muhammadu Buhari has publicly indicated his interest.
?You see, it is up to the party (ANPP) (to nominate him as the presidential candidate in the 2007 elections). Yes, I said I am indicating interest but then, if my party rejects me, I will accept it?, Buhari had said last weekend.
Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), is said to be interested in having a shot at the presidency, although he is yet to publicly declare his interest in the 2007 race.
Gowon, in apparent response to the raging debate at the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) that erstwhile military leaders should be barred from returning to power, told his colleagues that, instead of seeking power again, they should devote themselves to good works like former American presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
He spoke on the fringes of the just concluded symposium for former African rulers under the aegis of the African Statesmen Initiative (ASI) held in Bamako, Mali. According to the former head of state, the proposal against former military rulers should also take into consideration civilian collaborators who stood by them while in power.
The civilian collaborators, in his estimation, should also be banned. ?Certainly, I am not interested (in returning to power), so, they don?t have to ban me. I won?t give them the pleasure to ban me?, Gowon said.
He went on: ?I think they have the right to say what they say that they don?t want some of the military leaders to run. I think it is because they are afraid of them that if those military leaders go into the political field with them, they don?t stand a chance, so, the only way that they stand a better chance is to make sure that those people do not contest...they should not be afraid. (laughter)
Honestly, if you have been a head of state and you have done your two terms, I suppose you can retire, I think that is what happens in the United States, there, you cannot even wish to come back, but you remain as a respectable elder statesman, you have your library, you do whatever good work you can do like former presidents Carter and Clinton.?
?I think probably you can say that it may not be right, I did nine years, so I have done two terms with one year of grace, so I think I should ban myself from there. Babangida too did eight years, but I don?t know whether he completed exactly the eight years."
S/South, M-Belt gameplan: Sunday Vanguard learnt last week that the gameplan of the South-South and Middle-Belt, whose alliance ahead of the 2007 presidential race met for the second time in Port Harcourt, last weekend, is to mobilise the South-East to support the coalition.
Consultations, according to sources, are on.
After securing the support of the South-East, the consultations, it was gathered, would move to the South-West which has no opposition for now to the move by the minorities. With four out of the six geo-political zones having an understanding on the need for justice, equity and fairness in the country, the prime movers intend to move to the North-East to tell them to take their destiny in their hands.
Erudite scholar, Prof. B.I.C. Ijomah, a South-South leader, confirmed to Sunday Vanguard that a grand summit of the South-South, Middle-Belt, South-East and South-West would be convened if the plan concretized.