Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State in 2014 as a permanent scar on his administration, declaring that it is a wound that will remain with him till he dies.
Speaking on Friday at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja during the public presentation of a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, titled ‘Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum,’ Jonathan said no event defined his presidency more painfully than the tragedy of the Chibok girls.
He said, ‘One of the major scars on my government – and it will remain on my face, as Bishop Kukah said, no plastic or cosmetic surgeon can remove it – is the issue of the Chibok girls.
‘It is a scar I will die with. But perhaps later, more details may become known, and that too has to do with Boko Haram.
‘What did they really want? Our chairman once raised the issue when he interviewed some of them, and they gave him certain perspectives. But I pray that one day, some of the Boko Haram leaders may be literate enough to document what they have done, so that people will truly understand what they wanted. It is similar to the story of the Nigerian civil war.’
Reflecting on the insurgency that shadowed his presidency, Jonathan disclosed that his government had established several committees to explore peace options. According to him, during one of such efforts, the insurgents nominated then General Muhammadu Buhari to negotiate on their behalf with the federal government.
‘One of the committees we set up then, the Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government. So, I was feeling that oh, if they nominated Buhari to represent them and have a discussion with the government committee, then when Buhari took over, it could have been an easy way to negotiate with them and they would have handed over their guns. But it is still there till today,’ Jonathan recalled.
He admitted that his initial belief that Buhari would wipe out Boko Haram after assuming office proved wrong, underscoring the complexity of the crisis.
‘I thought that after I left, within a reasonable time, General Buhari would wipe them out. But even today, Boko Haram is still there. The issue of Boko Haram is far more complex than it is often presented,’ he said.
Jonathan further noted that Boko Haram’s operations went beyond hunger or poverty, pointing to the sophisticated weaponry the group deploy.
He urged the present government to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach while working with fresh strategies to overcome the menace.
Meanwhile, an aide to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Garba Shehu has refuted Jonathan’s claim that Buhari was nominated by Boko Haram as a negotiator.
Shehu while responding in a statement last night, said, ‘Muhammed Yusuf or Abubakar Shekau, the deceased leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist group, never nominated Muhammadu Buhari for any such role. In fact, Shekau routinely denounced and threatened Buhari, and their ideologies were in direct opposition.
‘In 2014, Muhammadu Buhari escaped a bomb attack on his life by Boko Haram in Kaduna, in which his personal staff suffered various degrees of injury.
Buhari’s campaigns focused on fighting Boko Haram and restoring security to Nigeria whenever he became president, putting him in direct opposition to the terrorist group’s leader.
He said, ‘The President, Dr, Good-luck Jonathan, had once alerted the nation of the ubiquitous presence of Boko Haram in his government, a fact aptly amplified by his erstwhile National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi.’
Shehu, while linking Jonathan’s comment to his 2027 presidential ambition said, ‘To win in 2027, Dr. Jonathan should look for a better story to tell Nigerians.
On his part, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who reviewed Irabor’s book, stressed that only a whole-of-society approach could tackle the intertwined threats of Boko Haram and banditry.
‘Those who have things to say about Boko Haram do not even know when Boko Haram stops and banditry starts. They are all mixed together. We must begin to do something about it; and we must do it collectively,’ Obasanjo said.
He recalled visiting Boko Haram members in 2011 after the UN House bombing in Abuja and discovered that they were not pursuing clear political or religious goals but simply seeking a better life.
‘The life of any nation has the good, the bad and the ugly. What is important is for us to confront our challenges honestly. Look at our past and present, and when it is time to proffer solutions, we must look beyond the ordinary,’ he said.
The event attracted dignitaries, including Defence Minister Muhammad Badaru, service chiefs, members of the National Assembly, senior military officers, royal fathers, diplomats and others.