Yakubu Gowon,
former military head of state of Nigeria, has apologised to Niger Delta
communities for the neglect they have suffered in the hands of the
successive governments.
Gowon, who was the special guest of
honour at the premiere of Oloibiri, a movie about the Niger Delta, urged
the government; across all levels, to be humble enough to dialogue with
aggrieved people.
“Watching through the movie, I cannot
help but feel with the plight of Oloibori and all other oil producing
communities and their people in the land. I agree that the movie mirrors
a clear manifestation of the collective negligence and failure of
leadership in successive governments in our country,” said Gowon.
“Looking back today, I must confess here that the people of Oloibiri have felt badly neglected and of course, they are hurt.
“We must, however, acknowledge as a
nation and as a people that along the way, we have made mistakes,
clearly Oloibiri community has not been treated fairly, they deserve our
sympathy, consideration, and collective resolve to develop this once
vibrant community.”
The 82-year-old Plateau indigene also urged the government to seek ways of redressing the wrongs of the past.
“I move as a former head of state to
offer the nation’s profound regrets and my personal apology to the good
people of Oloibiri with the prayers to the present and future government
at all levels in the land to work towards redressing the wrongs of the
past to these people.
“I also request the people of Oloibiri
to forgive the oversight and mistakes of the government and the
corporate government of Nigeria.”
“I have great faith in our youth in the
Niger Delta region. The future is yours if you keep it whole, you will
be able to build a better country than we would leave to you today. It
is up to you to love your country, defend it whether good or bad but try
to make it right.
“In the Delta region, do not go on
destroying all these facilities that you would need to develop, for
God’s sake, stop doing that because you are hurting yourself and you are
hurting the nation as a whole.”
The movie premiere, which held on
Thursday at the Muson Centre in Lagos, had dignitaries like Onyeka
Onwenu, Chris Anyaoku, Olu Jacobs and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, in attendance.
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