Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that the war against insurgency suffered serious set back under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan because he (Jonathan) believed that the terrorist was sponsored by the North to discredit his (Jonathan’s) government.
The former Nigerian leader who spoke in an interview with the BBC in Lagos said despite taking a risk in 2011 by visiting the Boko Haram base and reporting his findings to the then President (Jonathan), nothing serious was done to nip the menace in the bud.
In his words: “I went out in 2011 to Maiduguri. I took great risk to find out what is really happening. Boko Haram, do they have grievances, if they have grievances, what are their grievances and I brought all that to Jonathan.
“Jonathan didn’t believe that Boko Haram was a serious issue. He thought that it was a device by the North to prevent him from continuing as president of Nigeria which was rather unfortunate.”
Obasanjo added, “Even when Chibok girls were abducted, it took a while for the government to believe. Now if that is the situation, you can understand why the right attention was not paid to the issue of Boko Haram when it should have been paid.”
The former President observed that Boko Haram insurgency might not end soon, noting that it stemmed from underdevelopment, unemployment and youth frustration in the North-East.
“Boko Haram will not be over. It started from a position of gross underdevelopment, unemployment, youth frustration in the North-East. So, we must be treating the disease not the symptom,” Obasanjo submitted.