Former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has said his biggest regret was not allocating lands to himself while in power.
Gowon made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at the 26th anniversary exhibition and commemoration of the movement of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja.
He lamented that despite been the initiator of the idea that gave birth to the present Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the nation’s capital, successive governments marginalized him by not naming any street after him.
The former Head of State said that he had the powers to make Jos the Capital of Nigeria, but he did not do so.
This, he said was due to the fear of been accused of ‘parochialism’, given the fact that Jos was close to his place of birth.
“I had to officially complain to General Ibrahim Babangida, when he was the Military President, that I have been excluded from getting a street named after me in Abuja, while all other members of the Military Council who nurtured the idea, had gotten streets name after them.
“One of the places I saw that attiracted me was somewhere in Plateau, those of you who know the place especially close to Jos forest, will agree that the area is beautiful and I thought that place was beautiful for the capital city.
“But I did not make that choice because I would have been accused of parocialism, and favoritism, because it wias very close to my original place where I come from.
“So I said no, I must look at other places. The search for a new capital took me round the northwest, and in my state visits, I continued to look for other places; when I came to Abuja, I was attracted.”
