Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani Kayode has raised eyebrows over claims by Tom Tugendhat, a British MP, who said former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, looted half Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the UK.
Kayode who stated that despite Gowon’s role in the mass murder and genocide of three million Igbos during the civil war, added that Gowon did not loot Nigeria’s treasury as claimed by MP Tom Tugendhat.
Recall that Tom Tugendhat, during a debate on a petition bothering the killings of peaceful #EndSARS protesters, stated that Gen. Yakubu Gowon, looted “half of Nigeria’s CBN to UK”.
Kayode said the greatest looters in the history of humanity were the British themselves and their Empire enslaved, who looted and pillaged entire nations and continents.
He said, “Whatever you may say or feel about General Yakubu Gowon it is NOT true that he took half of Central Bank with him when he went on exile to the UK & studied at Warwick University after being removed in a coup by General Murtala Mohammed.
“I have my views about Gowon and what I consider to be his role in the mass murder and genocide of 3 million Igbos during the civil war and I have often expressed those views but he was NOT a thief and neither did he amass wealth for himself when he was Head of State.
“As a matter of fact he was the darling of the British Government and no Nigerian leader, living or dead, has been as close to successive British Governments as him.
“This very young British MP is trying to revise history and demonise a man who served and protected British interests in Nigeria when he was in power more than any other and this is most dishonourable and unfair.
“The truth is that the greatest looters in the history of humanity were the British themselves and their Empire enslaved, looted and pillaged entire nations and continents.
“If he wants to criticise Nigerian leaders let him do so with facts and not fabricate lies in a scurrilous and essentially racist attempt to confirm the stereotyping of every Nigerian and African leader as being corrupt.
“The truth is that even though they pretend and sweep it under the carpet, there are as many corrupt British leaders, government officials and public servants today as there are Nigerian and this has always been the case.
“The difference is that they are not so obvious and brazen and they cover theirs up very well in a very sophisticated banking system which thrives on taking in dirty money and keeping it.
“Whoever this MP is, should get his facts right and stick to talking about the #EndSARS protests rather than talk about our history which he evidently knows nothing about.”
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting, Obinwannem News
