Obasanjo blames Jonathan’s ignorance for worsening Boko Haram activities

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday, said the lack of clear understanding of Boko Haram by President Goodluck Jonathan gave the militant Islamic sect the opportunity to flourish and deepen insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.

He reiterated his call for what he described as the “application of stick and carrot” in finding a solution to the activities of the Islamic sect.
The ex-President also slammed the Jonathan’s administration and accused the government of naked display of corruption, which, he said, had constituted a threat to the economy.
He accused the President of elevating corruption and incompetence.
Obasanjo spoke in Abuja during the public presentation of two books – ‘The story of my two worlds: Challenges, experiences’, (an Autobiography of a former President of the Court of Appeal and pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission, Justice Mustapha Akanbi) and ‘A life of service and grace: Shared perspectives’, (a collection of Essays by scholars)
He said, “Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition. It is essentially a socio-economic problem that is tainted with religion. It is a gargantuan danger to the nation and to all Nigerians.
“Initially, President Jonathan’s understanding of Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation. That is what led us to where we are today.
“It took even the President more than three years to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible mix of poor education or lack of education; misinterpretation of what Islam and the Quran teach and stand for; poverty, unemployment, injustice, drug, gun trafficking, human trafficking, fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle against inequality, imitation of international terrorism leading to training and part of the absorption by international terrorists groups and general poor governance, including corruption.
“I have always maintained that the solution to Boko Haram (or any organisation like it) lies in the application of stick and carrot.”
The ex-President also accused the Jonathan’s administration and members of the National Assembly of increasing the tempo of graft and poor governance system in the country.
Obasanjo said, “Nigeria cannot continue to indulge in disdain for truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, condoning of heinous crimes and celebration of mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti-democratic practices in states and National Assembly.
“Like prostitution, corruption is almost as old as man on the surface of the earth. It is needless to say that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, the combined and complementary efforts of ICPC and EFCC made Nigerians and non-Nigerians to know that corruption can be checked and put to flight.
“When I came out of prison, and I was persuaded to run as President, corruption was one of the priority items I chose to confront.
“Corruption in the National Assembly also includes what they call constituency projects, which they give to their agents to execute, but invariably, full payment is made with little, or no job done. In all of these, if the executive is absolutely above board, the offending members of the National Assembly resort to subtle or open threat, intimidation and blackmail of the executive.”

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