Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that in the early days of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, some of the founders of the terrorist group old him that poverty and unemployment was what drove them into the crime.
However, he cautioned that if the nearly 20 million children who are not in school are not immediately addressed, they will serve as a breeding ground for future members of Boko Haram.
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.’
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‘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.
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.