BY Taiwo George
Five days after former president Olusegun Obasanjo rated the administration of President Goodluck below average, he has again directed another attack at Jonathan.
Obasanjo accused Jonathan of “destroying democracy” and being intolerant of opposition.
He was speaking on Wednesday during the book launch of Mustapha Akanbi, a retired justice and former chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, (ICPC).
Obasanjo, who is in strong opposition to the reelection bid of Jonathan, accused the president of a poor handling of the insurgency in the country.
Despite being invited to the public declaration of Jonathan for a second term in office, he stayed away without providing reasons for his absence and held meetings with stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) three days later.
“President Jonathan’s understanding of Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation. That is what led us to where we are today,” he said.
“Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition but essentially a socio-economic problem that is tainted with religion.
“It took even the president more than three years to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible mix of poor education or lack of education, misinterpretation of what is almost and the Quran teach and stand for, poverty, unemployment, injustice, drug, gun trafficking, human trafficking, fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle against inequality, imitation of international terrorism leading to training and part of the absorption by international terrorists groups and general poor governance including corruption.”
“I have always maintained that the solution to Boko Haram lies in the application of stick and carrot.”
Like in August when Obasanjo compared the economic policies of Jonathan to that of Abacha, Obasanjo decried the present state of the nation’s economy and the rate of unemployment in the country.
“I have no doubt in my mind that youth unemployment, youth dissatisfaction and youth frustration were part of the causes of Arab Spring,” he said.
“We must learn the right lessons and put in place, programmes that will address youth empowerment and youth employment.
“I am made to understand that Saudi Arabia used $68 as benchmark for the 2015 budget. Our inadequate protection of almost all local industries with heavy cost of energy has dealt a hard blow on most indigenous industries.
“We may have to borrow to pay salaries and allowances. Revenue allocation to states and local governments has already been drastically reduced. Capital projects at all levels may have to be drastically cut or stopped.”
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