- Ex-president Obasanjo admitted that Boko Haram incubated for a long time without being tackled
- He said this was made possible because of low education of people in the northeast who did not challenge the ideology
- Obasanjo said the same could not happen in the southwest where he came from
Former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo has made a big admission and also revealed the major reason why Boko Haram insurgency lasted for so many years in the northeast.
According to Obasanjo, the lack of proper education of citizens in the region aided continuity of the insurgency.
Daily Trust reports that Obasanjo made the claim in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and one of the most targeted venue for attacks by Boko Haram.
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Obasanjo, a former army general and military head of state in the 1970s, noted that the Boko Haram would not have survived in the southwest where he comes from because of high level of education of Nigerians there.
Obasanjo also noted that Boko Haram incubated over time and could have been stopped if the people had better education.
“Boko Haram did not start overnight,. It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long. And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldn’t have been Boko Haram.
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“If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youth, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come. Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram,” he said in his closing remarks at the end of a two-day peer review meeting of the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic Forum.
In a separate event, NAIJ.com gathered that Obasanjo allegedly advised Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, not to give up on the anti-open grazing law, urging him to continue to work with people that have the state's and the nation’s interest at heart.
The former president insisted that Nigeria needed to get it right for it to move forward.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo explains why Nigeria needs to be treated like love - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng