Former Nigerian President Obasanjo gives a ’cause and effect’ account of the most pressing insurgency ever to threaten the country since independence. He said that the current Boko Haram insurgency has its cause and their grievances are very legitimate and actually a result of the social-economic forces that shaped them to this path of destruction of seeking to destroy others. He said this during an interview with International Business Times, UK at the Global Education conference in Dubai on Monday, March 16th.
He cited the main factor as the lack of educational opportunities and descent employment for these youths and the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has failed to tackle this social-economic issue, leading to these disenchanted youths to seek a destructive path.
“The response of the government initially was definitely not enough. When Boko Haram started showing their fangs about four years ago, the reaction should have been firm and unmistakable. If Boko Haram is ready to talk, we should talk. But they will need to be pounded a little bit by the military and then, they would be ready to talk.”