Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon has come out to debunk the rumours making the rounds that he died on Monday, saying that he was not in a hurry to return to his maker.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the death rumour is currently trending on all social media platforms.
But his Personal Media Aide, Adeyeye E. Ajayi said in a terse statement on Monday night that the former military leader is not dead.
According to the Ajayi, Gowon said ‘I am still around and well. I am not in a hurry’.
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Gowon had over the weekend described the establishment of Federal Government Colleges widely known as Unity Schools during his time in government as a success.
In the foreword He wrote for the ‘Coral Beads’, a new book published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC) Benin this week, Gowon pointed out the schools have promoted friendship among young people nationwide.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the establishment of 12 additional Unity Schools in 1973, started when Gowon visited one of the first three Federal Government Colleges in Sokoto in 1970, soon after the end of the civil war. At that time, only three unity schools existed.
He described that visit as momentous and life changing.
He wrote: ‘The story of Government Colleges later referred to as ‘Unity Schools’ is very fascinating, and I have fond memories of the very beginning of the establishment of Federal Government Colleges for Girls.’
‘I keenly observed the sense of unity and camaraderie among the students, how they related with one another in such a joyful and cordial way regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds, immediately so soon after the Civil War as though nothing so traumatic had happened. I salute the courage of those young returnees and the warm welcome of their other colleagues. It taught me a long life lesson of reconciliation. My personal experience and encounter from that particular visit was what inspired the establishment of more unity schools across the then remaining 12 States of the Federation.”
According to a statement signed by Enuma Chigbo, on behalf of the publishers, FGGC Benin Old Girls’ Association, the 400-page book is a compilation of rich stories, from first experiences, to academics, arts and culture, fun times, milestones and a whole lot more.