Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed details of his encounter with Boko Haram leaders during the early days of the North-East crisis.
After the police executed its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in July 2009, the organization launched a violent campaign against the Nigerian state.
Obasanjo then offered to arbitrate between the organization and the Federal Government at the time in order to understand their issues and potentially broker peace.
In recounting specifics of his encounter with the group’s leaders, the former President stated that he was told that poverty and unemployment were to blame for the movement’s inception.
He stated this at an event in Lagos on Friday, June 16, 2023, to launch a book titled ‘Pillars of Statecraft: Nation-building in a Changing World’ published by his daughter, Dr Kofo Obasanjo-Blackshire.
“In 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 find out what they wanted,” he explained.
“I met with their representatives and discovered that all they wanted was a better life for themselves.” Can we blame them for wishing for a better life?
“They claimed to believe in Sharia Law. I assured them that Sharia law was not an issue in Nigeria. It is written into our constitution.”
The older statesman went on to say that some of the revolutionaries told him they were unemployed despite attending school.
“Do we blame them if they don’t have jobs after four years?” Aren’t they entitled to a living? This comes down to one of the P’s of nation-building: politics, which is concerned with governance and leadership.
“If that (leadership) is not properly addressed, everything else will go haywire,” Obasanjo remarked.
The former President also stated that Nigerians should learn to confront their own problems rather than blaming others for their misfortunes.
“We must ask, ‘What do we do with our people?'” Obasanjo asked. How do we bring them up and cherish them? ‘How do we regard them?’
“We have over 20 million children who are not in school.” Google how many countries have fewer than 20 million people. That doesn’t concern us? Do you believe there will be no Boko Haram tomorrow?
“Those are the pillars of your Boko Haram of tomorrow.” That should be our first focus. It should not be called externally induced. Is poverty also caused by other factors? Poverty is the deliberate or unintentional choice of our leaders. It would be no if we said no. It would be yes if we said yes.”
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