Jonathan didn't believe girls were abducted- Obasanjo

Jonathan didn’t believe girls were
abducted — Obasanjo
JUNE 1, 2014 BY LEKAN ADETAYO,
LEKE BAIYEWU AND BAYO AKINLOYE

Olusegun Obasanjo
| credits: www.gbooza.com
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
has said President Goodluck
Jonathan’s failure to immediately
order the rescue of the over 200
schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram,
spoilt the chances of rescuing them.
The sect had abducted some female
pupils of Government Girls’
Secondary School, Chibok, Borno
State on April 14. The group later
released a video where its leader,
Abubakar Shekau, threatened to sell
the girls.
According to Obasanjo, the President
did not believe the pupils were truly
abducted until after 18 days.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV,
which was aired on Saturday, ex-
president
Obasanjo said, “On the kidnapping or
abduction, the President did not
believe that those girls were abducted
for almost 18 days. If the President
got the information within 12 hours of
the act and he reacted immediately, I
believe those girls would have been
rescued within 24 hours, maximum,
48 hours.
“Don’t forget, they are almost 300
girls. The logistics of moving them is
something (delay the sect would have
encountered). Unfortunately, the
President had doubts; ‘Is this true? Is
this a ploy by some people who don’t
want me to be President again, who
is doing this?’
“I think that was unfortunate aspect
of the whole exercise or situation.”
When asked to comment on the
performance of Jonathan, whose
candidacy he supported, Obasanjo
said Jonathan had performed below
the expectations of Nigerians.
“It is not about disappointment; I
don’t believe he has performed up to
the expectations of many Nigerians,
not just me,” he stated.
While he disagreed that he ‘helped’
Jonathan to the presidency, he said it
was God who made him president.
He, however, said people could be
instrumental to one’s achievements.
Obasanjo added, “I always tell the
President himself; ‘if God doesn’t
want you to be there, you won’t be
there.’ On instrumentality of people,
yes, because God wants him to be
there. But having been there, you
have to perform. That is what I
believe. When you get there, no
matter how, just perform and keep on
performing.”
Confirming the recent meeting he had
with some relatives of Boko Haram
members and the outcome of it, the
ex-president stated that he made a
similar reconciliatory effort three
years ago but his recommendations
were not implemented.
Obasanjo said, “People have
forgotten that three years ago, I went
to Maiduguri. That was when Boko
Haram attacked the United Nations
building in Abuja and they accepted
responsibility.
“Then, I went to Abuja to meet
security leaders, the Inspector-
General of Police and the National
Security Adviser to know what is their
(Boko Haram’s) objectives. Do they
have grievances? Can we reach out
to them? The feeling I got was that
‘they are a bunch of riff-raff; just
forget about them.’
“I then went to the President and
asked if I could take it upon myself for
a fact-finding visit. I want to find out
things. The President was gracious
and said ‘I trust your judgment. You
can do that’
“I could not do that without people
leading me. There was a lawyer who
knew most of them (insurgents) and
their leaders. He acted as proxy to
talk to them and talk to me. He
communicated my arguments, my
ideas and my questions to them.
“I reported to the two most important
principals – the state governor and
President at that time. I believe that if
action had been taken at that time, as
recommended, maybe we would have
gotten to this stage.”
Obasanjo said while he had not been
officially mandated to lead the
mediation, his next step was to get
an approval from the government. He
insisted that the President must know
about his moves.
He emphasised the need to raise the
standards of education in the
northern part of the country,
especially for female children. He
said the relegation of girl-child
education in the area was one of the
factors responsible for the Chibok
girls’ abduction.