Some Nigerians have reacted to a statement by a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) who claimed that retired General Yakubu Gowon took half of CBN to the UK.
Tugendhat said this during the debate on a petition on End SARS while accusing Gowon and other Nigerian leaders of corruption. https://dailypost.ng/2020/11/24/gowon-took-half-of-cbn-to-uk-nigerian-officials-have-loot-here-mp-tugendhat/
Gowon was Nigeria’s Head of State from 1966 to 1975.
The statement has since stirred reactions from Nigerians on social media who applauded the UK Parliament for exposing corrupt leaders like Gowon who were portrayed as heroes.
Here are some comments gathered by DAILY POST from Twitter;
@DrOlufunmilayo “A government official in the UK Parliament just stated today in their session that they all know that Yakubu Gowon stole half the central bank of Nigeria and took it to London. These are the clowns we were taught in schools to see as “heroes”.Thieves. Rogues. The actual real hoodlums.”
@Islimfit, “I am not surprised at that revelation by a member of the UK Parliament on General Gowon though. No Nigerian former head of state is innocent. They all took Nigeria’s money to the UK and the present ones are still doing it. Even the UK government is aware.
@Importedalhaji, “If not for the Uk parliament we wouldn’t have known Gowon was a devil and Idol to Hushpuppi, someone they almost portrayed as an Idol for us while we were in primary and secondary school. It’s a shame we were fed a lot of lies about this same person who executed 3m Igbos.”
@JacksonUde, “So General Yakubu Gowon left Nigeria for London in 1975 after ruling for 9yrs with half of the money in Central Bank of Nigeria. Returned back and set up Nigeria Prays, a Prayer Group. See how thieves hide under God!
@Ayotundefolahan, “A UK Parliament member just revealed that General Gowon, during his time, carted away with HALF OF CBN!!How Nigeria survived as a country despite all these serious and serial looting is a mystery.”
@Valzilfabulous, “God extended Yakubu Gowon’s lifespan, so he’ll be able to answer his crimes. We were made to believe Gowon was an upright man simply because he drove a plain car and didn’t live a flashy lifestyle, little did we know he’s a lowkey Yahoo boy.”
@Oye440, “Will Yakubu Gowon sue that UK Parliamentarian for falsely accusing him of stealing half of CBN? Or he is waiting for Adamu Garba to do it for him.The painful part for this matter be say them make us dey see Gen. Gowon as a hero. These people dey run us local from day one.”
@Sommyincrease, “How can one country have Abacha, Buhari, Gowon, Obasanjo among the founding fathers? This wan na aLOOTER continua.”
@Omojuwa, “I am not a fan of Gen. Gowon. I think rather than use his influence & privilege to speak truth to power, he often rather chose to cozy up to every government of the day. But to say he stole half the CBN considering how he left office? That’s irrational. People gotta be reasonable.”
@Dhan_yels, “Imagine stealing half of CBN worth when there were just 10 naira and 20 naira notes. No cash transfer, it just had to be cash. Now I see why our present government calls them heroes. Gowon and his team are legends.”
