By Martins Ayotunde
A former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, has stated that efforts of former president Goodluck Jonathan to fight Boko Haram insurgency was frustrated by many northerners for political reasons.
Babangida, who said this in an interview with The Punch accused leaders of Northern extraction of making the implementation of policies that would have gotten rid of Boko Haram impossible during Jonathan’s tenure as president.
“When Boko Haram started and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan’s government started doing something about it, it fell on former President Jonathan to carry on. Many northerners misconstrued his (Jonathan) position at that time and for political purposes, they threw many arguments that made it impossible for the proper articulation and proper implementation of policies that would have got rid of Boko Haram and now, we still have them till today,” he said.
“I think based on the thinking that probably former President Jonathan wouldn’t have handed over power even if they had won, but he handed over. He congratulated them even before the conclusion of proper counting of votes which then took away whatever purposes of bringing those people would have served and I would have thought that if that is true, then those who brought them in would compensated them to go back to where they came from.
“It is really unfortunate that we have allowed the situation to reach this level,” the former Niger State Governor added.
He lamented that the security situation of the country has worsened under the present administration.
“We need to look at how our people are really enjoying their lives and unemployment. Before, we used to beg parents to allow them take their wards to school. Now, they have allowed them to go to school. Many of them have been uprooted from their local culture, many of them are farmers and now, they can’t go back to their farms. They have had their degrees or whatever courses they have gone for and now, unemployment is facing them for five years, six years and thereafter, we are not thinking of any innovation to engage them.”
On the forthcoming 2023 presidential elections, the PDP stalwart threw his weight behind the candidature of Vice president Yemi Osinbajo describing him as the best man for the job in spite of their political differences
“If you look at today, amongst all those who have indicated interest either publicly or privately, I’ll have Osinbajo because we have seen what he has done so far as the Vice President and the few times he has acted, what has transpired,” he said.
Credits | The Whistler