Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday,
disclosed why Boko Haram insurgency was launched in the North-eastern part of
Nigeria.
This
discovery, he said, was made while conducting a research for his degree in
Christian Theology. According to him, abject poverty arising Nigeria’s corrupt
system led to the formation of kick against western education otherwise known
as Boko Haram.
His words: “One of the reasons that members of the extremist
group – Boko Haram, gave for their insurrection is that they became
disillusioned when they saw how corrupt that Western educated leaders were.
According to them, if those who occupied government offices by virtue of their
Western education would corruptly enrich themselves and deprive others of the
basic things of life, then that education is ‘haram’ which means forbidden.”
“I am
told that when Mohammed Yusuf, the original leader of Boko Haram and his early
followers first started, they all gathered and tore their certificates because
they said a certificate, which could not fetch them a source of livelihood is
useless to them. Similarly, they saw Western education as corrupting the
individuals.”
“We may
not agree with their position, but the disappointment and disillusionment of
citizens over the inadequacy or poor performance of their leaders is real”.
Obasanjo
made this submission while delivering the 2017 Foundation Day Public Lecture
entitled: Corruption and the Challenges of the African Child, to mark the 14th
anniversary of Dorcas Oke Hope Alive Initiative (DOHAL) held at
Theophilus Ogunlesi Multipurpose Hall, University College Hospital (UCH),
Ibadan.
The
programme which was chaired by a legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola, was
attended by the Presiding Bishop of the Sword of the Spirit
Ministries, Bishop Wale Oke and his wife, who founded the organisation in
October 2003 after the demise of their only daughter, Dorcas Oke in 2001 as a
result of complications from adulterated drugs.
Obasanjo
lamented how anti-corruption agencies established by his administration had
been politicized by the succeeding governments.
- Sun News
- Sun News
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