Yakubu Gowon now

General Yakubu Gowon then

By Steve Osuji

General Yakubu Gowon and Edith Ike were about to get married before the Nigerian civil war broke out. Gowon became commander in chief and head of state. The marriage was aborted for obvious political reasons.

But a child materialized from that relationship named Musa. For many years, Edith tried in vain to convince Gen. Gowon that he sired Musa. Gowon vehemently refused.

At a point, the public perceived Edith as wayward and opportunistic. Edith obviously frustrated and stigmatized, died prematurely, not able to get Gowon to accept his son.

Musa Gowon

Musa, bearing the label of a bastard, without the benefit of a father’s mentoring, was caught up in a drug rap in the US. He was slammed for 40years.

Musa was paroled recently after 20 years in jail. All through the years, he maintained he was innocent of the crime, more important, he acquired a law degree while in incarceration.

But even much more braver, Musa got a court injunction recently to get Gowon, an army general, former head of state, PhD holder and founder of Nigeria Pray, to be subjected to a DNA test over Musa’s paternity. And you know the result: Musa is Gowon’s son. Musa is 48 now!

And what does Gen. Gowon say? We should all respect the privacy of the family, etc.

We think not. Gen Gowon’s conduct in this matter is condemnable and indeed dishonourable and we think an unrestrained and effusive public apology is the honourable thing to do right now to reclaim his esteem in the eyes of Nigerians.

What do you think?

Source: Facebook