Nigeria would’ve been better if Yar’Adua completed his tenure – Gowon

Former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has said Nigeria would have been a better country if late President Umaru Yar’adua had completed his tenure.

Gowon said Yar’Adua achieved significant milestones for Nigeria during his short stint in office.

Speaking on Monday during a first President Umaru Musa Yar’adua international leadership conference and awards organised by Global Initiative for Leadership Success in Abuja, Gowon said the late former president granted amnesty to the Niger Delta militants as a way of restoring the economy of the country.

Yar’adua became president in 2007, but in 2010, he died due to ill-health.

Gowon said, “He was a decent man; a man with absolute integrity. He was an honest man. He did very well and he has to be remembered.

“He was so honest that he said the process that brought him to power was not right. And he set up a committee. But it was not followed by successive leaders.

“However, I believe that one day, we shall have a solution. He was honey and sincere in dealing with any problem, and he was incorruptible.

“You cannot blame him for corruption; he was clean. His various activities, including the amnesty programme that he brought to the Niger Delta ensured our economy was protected.