The Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday faulted the Federal Government’s reaction to comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the activities of Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP).
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed in a statement in Abuja had said Obasanjo’s remarks attributing ethno-religious motives to attacks by the terrorists were deeply offensive and divisive and below the status of an elder statesman.He said the former president’s prescriptions for ending the crisis, which include seeking assistance outside the shores of the country, were belated, as President Muhammadu Buhari had already performed outstandingly on the matter.
The minister further said it was tragic that a man who fought to keep Nigeria one is the same seeking to exploit the country’s fault lines at the twilight of his life. He concluded that Obasanjo’s call for consultations with various groups to tackle Boko Haram were neutralised by the ill-advised, tactless and distasteful comments.
But spokesman for Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, in a reaction, noted: “It is only the sympathisers of herdsmen and Boko Haram, and the herdsmen, that would condemn Obasanjo, judging from the serious havoc the two militants groups have wreaked on Nigerians and the image of the nation.”
He told The Guardian that it was least expected of the government to have reacted to Obasanjo’s comments if truly it was making concerted efforts to address the crisis.
Obasanjo is someone who is not given to frivolities. There is no way he would have made such a comment, given his security background, without some element of facts, Odumakin said, stressing: “What I expect the government to do is intensify its efforts to curb the menace of the two deadly groups instead of attacking the former president.”
He said: “Apart from the fact that several lives and property have been wasted in the last couple of years due to the crises caused by the two deadly groups, their activities have also led to the grouping of Nigeria among countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. If a government is vilifying Obasanjo for saying what he said, on whose side is the government?”
Source: Guardian Newspaper
