Boko Haram: Jonathan Ignored Advice, Was Dancing Azonto On Television – Northern Elders

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) said that the former president Goodluck Jonathan did not heed their advice on the best approach to handling the war against Boko Haram.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, November 4, Dr. Paul Unongo, the deputy national leader of NEF said Jonathan would have taken the credit for defeating the insurgents if he had not ignored their recommendation, The Punch reports.

According to him, those recommendations were being used by President Muhammadu Buhari now.

Unongo said: “We (NEF) have not written any letter to President Buhari on Boko Haram. I am sure he picked up the recommendations we sent to Jonathan and they are working for him. NEF didn’t condemn Jonathan because he is Jonathan. We gave Jonathan a piece of advice.

“We were talking to him for over two years. We told him that he cannot fight Boko Haram with obsolete equipment and we told him that the battle was not only about using arms. We told him to use psychological intelligence.

“We actually wanted him to get the credit for winning the deadly Boko Haram war. He (Jonathan) doubted the kidnap of the Chibok girls and actually was seen on the television dancing azonto. Our people were being killed in hundreds. This was the height of insensitivity and we just had to complain about that. We complained creatively.”

The NEF leader wondered why the former president refused to implement the forum’s blueprint to end Boko Haram insurgency.

Unongo faulted opinion leaders who described Buhari’s anti-corruption war as selective, saying the president’s body language showed that he would not tolerate corruption.

He added that the group would not hesitate to criticise the new government if it acted against the wishes of the masses.

Three days ago, Tanko Yakasai, the chairman of the Northern Elders Council (NEC) warned President Buhari against the selective persecution of perceived political opponents in the name of fighting corruption. He noted that the overwhelming feeling today was that the country was returning to dictatorship.

He also dismissed claims by the military that northern leaders are the sponsors of Boko Haram, challenging the authorities to name the so-called sponsors they claimed were backing the insurgents.