We didnt know corruption during our time Gowon
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earlier nobel laureate prof wole soyinka said nigeria had been bled dry by corrupt leadership over the years and challenged the anti-graft agencies on the prosecution of past and current corrupt leaders1 former military head of state gen. yakubu gowon rtd said on monday that his regime never experienced anything such as corruption for the nine years it was in power1 the former leader said although some of his ministers were being accused of corruption the regime made sure that it did not happen1 during our time i can assure you we did not know anything of the sort such as corruption1 yes some of my ministers were being accused of corruption but i can assure you it was something that we tried to make sure it did not happen especially in the public service1 when i left office in 1975 apart from my salary it was those staff who were with me during the oau meeting kampala uganda that contributed their estacode to make sure that at least i had something to live on after i had been asked to leave office1 and i said i wish i had done something to provide for the future and i think it is that experience that probably made those that came after i left office to make sure they provided for the future1 gowon said he was saddened by reports in the media suggesting that all the countrys former heads of states or presidents were corrupt noting that such allegations were denigrating the office1 the former military leader therefore urged nigerians to make sure that those elected or appointed into public office were made to be honest transparent and accountable1 he also challenged participants at the conference to come up with effective measures not only to prevent looting of public funds but also recovery of stolen money and its use for the people1 gowon whose government ruled from 1966 to 1975 made the statement at the 8th commonwealth regional conference for heads of anti-corruption agencies in africa hosted by the economic and financial crimes commission efcc in abuja1 i took the trouble yesterday to visit the new headquarters of the efcc i wanted to see what would be the mode of hospitality for some of our leaders who will surely sooner or later pas through the doors of that beautiful building not far from here1 until we make sure that some of our leaders pass through those doors this struggle against corruption in this country will not be won1 i spoke to magu efcc acting chairman that i want to see the presidential wing in this place. i said i am a human rights person and i want to make sure you treat them right when they come here1 but he said sorry it is an egalitarian institution. and i said ok i will take that message back to them that they should get ready to go down a little bit in status when justice catches up with them1 soyinka said efccs major responsibility for now was to help the nation to recover the rest of the loot still hidden across the continent fill up its detention room with corrupt leaders1 the chief justice of nigeria cjn justice walter onnoghen called for more political will by governments in the continent in the fight against corruption1 onnoghen advised that the masses should be carried along in the process because anti-graft agencies could only effectively wage the fight with information from the people1 on behalf of the judiciary the cjn assured the countrys anti-corruption agencies of the judicial support to sustain their efforts in reducing corruption to its barest minimum1 in his address of welcome acting chairman of the efcc mr ibrahim magu said nigeria was lucky to have the administration of president muhammadu buhari which he said is committed to the anti-graft war1 magu said there had never been a more focused and committed team in the ant-corruption anywhere in africa than the current leadership in nigeria1