Obasanjo discloses what Boko Haram founders told him during a meeting

Obasanjo discloses what Boko Haram founders told him during a meeting

 Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday said in the
early days of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, he was told by the
founders of the terrorist group that poverty and unemployment drove them into
the crime.

 

He however warned that the country’s over 20 million
out-of-school children were a breeding ground for more ‘Boko Haram members of
the future’ if not urgently tackled.

 

He stated these at the launch of a book titled, ‘Pillars of
Statecraft: Nation-building in a changing world’ authored by his daughter, Dr
Kofo Obasanjo-Blackshire, at an event in Lagos.

 

Responding to a question by a member of the audience on why
government policies had become more political than people-centered in recent
times, he said part of the country’s major problems was looking for scapegoats
for its problems.

 

He stated further, “During the early days of Boko Haram,
when the man who started the movement was said to have been killed, I said I
wanted to meet with the members of the group to talk to them and know what they
wanted.

 

“I met with their representatives and found out that they
needed nothing but a better life for themselves. Can we blame them for wanting
a better life for themselves?

 

“They said they believed in Sharia Law. I told them that
Sharia was not a problem in Nigeria. It is part of our constitution.”

 

According to the former president, some of the members of
the insurgent group told him that they went to school but had no jobs.

 

He added, “Do we blame them if after four years, they have
no jobs? Are they not entitled to a livelihood? This boils down to one of the
P’s of nation-building – politics – which talks about governance and
leadership.

 

“If that (leadership) is not properly taken care of, every
other thing will go haywire,” he said.

 

He also added that Nigerians must learn to face their own
problems squarely rather than blaming others for it.

 

He said, “We must ask, ‘What do we do with our people? How
do we raise and value them? How do we value them?’

 

“We have over 20 million out-of-school children. Google how
many countries in the world have less than 20m. That doesn’t worry us? Are you
thinking there will be no Boko Haram tomorrow?

 

“Those are the foundations of your Boko Haram tomorrow. That
should be our concern. We should not say it is externally induced. Is poverty
also externally induced? Poverty is the conscious, unconscious choice of our
leaders. If we say no; it would be no. If we say yes; it would be yes.”

 

During the panel session, which Obasanjo was a part of, the
elder statesman highlighted what he termed ‘The Five P’s of Nation-Building”,
which, according to him, are population, prosperity, protection, politics and
partnerships.

 

Addressing the sixth P – prayer and pleasing God – which was
introduced by Kofo, and to whether Nigeria fell into a failed, failing, or weak
state, he said, “I take the condition of our states now as work-in-progress. We
cannot do anything until we have finished the work of statehood.

 

Speaking of an episode he had with a former World Bank
President when he was Nigeria’s Military Head of State, Obasanjo said the West
knew Nigeria’s weaknesses and that when leaders show them the weakness, they
exploit it.

 

He added, “There is a level of fragility in every state. No
state is perfect, even America. I used to joke with my American friends that
God gave them Trump to show that they are humans as well, and we are, more or
less, the same.”

 

He added that for Nigeria’s democracy to work, the country
must learn to manage its diversity, adding that all other forms of government –
autocracy, plutocracy, gerontocracy, etcetera – do not really work for a long
time.

 

Kofo, in her remark, noted that she had embarked on the
course based on the advice of her father during a trip in 2017 after expressing
a desire to serve others.

 

She stated, “As a young adult, I was incensed at the
injustice and persistent corruption I observed in Nigeria. The disparity
between the nation’s resources and the living standards of the average Nigerian
brought me to my feet in outrage and frustration during conversations,” she
said.

Source: Obasanjo discloses what Boko Haram founders told him during a meeting

 - NigerianEye
Invest in US dollars: https://hashflare.io/r/CF2F6691