Former President Goodluck Jonathan said he thought the Boko Haram insurgency would end during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan made the disclosure at the public presentation of SCARS: Nigeria’s Journey and The Boko Haram Conundrum, a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor, at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, on Friday.
Reflecting on the insurgency that defined much of his presidency, Jonathan said his administration devised several ways to curtail the insurgency, but with little success.
He explained that during one of the processes aimed at getting the terrorists to surrender, the insurgents nominated former President Buhari as their preferred negotiator.
Jonathan admitted that with such developments, he believed Buhari’s presidency would eventually bring an end to the insurgency.
He said, “One of the committees we set up then, the Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government.
Jonathan added that he had hoped that, were that to have led to a dialogue when Buhari later became president, it might have been easier to secure a surrender. “But the insurgency still persisted,” he noted.
Recalling earlier efforts, Jonathan referenced the processes he supported as vice-president under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua that helped end militancy in the Niger Delta. He said the persistence of Boko Haram demonstrated the complexity of the crisis.
He said, “If you conduct research and interview many people, you will only get part of the story, but never the full story of Boko Haram. I was there. Boko Haram started in 2009 when I was vice president. I took over in 2010 and spent five years battling the insurgency until I left office.
“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.
“So, it’s a bit complex, and not a matter of a single story. But I believe, as a nation, we have to look at the Boko Haram issue differently from the conventional approach. I believe one day we’ll overcome it. Once again, let me thank General Irabor for this, because I always appreciate people who document events clearly. That way, when we write our own accounts, we can borrow from such documentation.
“I also believe that all the military officers involved in the Boko Haram saga should provide information about what the group truly stood for.”
Jonathan also said the issue of Boko Haram was beyond hunger, adding that his administration employed so many strategies, but they did not work.
He said, “If it was only about hunger—because we tried different options—I don’t want to sound like I’m defending my government. That will be left for history when we document our books.
“But I believe we did our best: we set up different committees and tried various approaches during the five years I was in office. I believe the late Buhari, too, must have tried his best.
One of the major scars on my government is the scar of the Chibok girls. It is a scar that will die with me,” Jonathan said. “I pray that, perhaps one day, the leaders of this group will be literate enough to write a book or come out to tell Nigerians what Boko Haram was all about.”
He said that in efforts to tackle the insurgency, which began before his presidency in 2009, his administration set up several committees to explore options for peace. “During one of such processes, the insurgents put forward Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with government,” he said.
Jonathan urged the current administration to consider a mix of incentives and pressure in addressing the insurgency. “The issue of carrots and the stick may be adopted,” he said. “If it was only about hunger — because we tried different options — I don’t want to sound like I’m defending my government, but I believe we did our best: we set up different committees and tried various approaches during the five years I was in office.”
He also questioned the source of the group’s weapons and ammunition, suggesting external involvement. “Where are these guns and sophisticated weapons coming from? You begin to see that external hands are also involved,” he said.
