The Deputy National Leader of the
Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Paul Unongo, said former President Goodluck
Jonathan would have taken the credit for ending insurgency in the
country if he had listened to the advice of the forum.
Unongo said NEF wondered why Jonathan refused to implement the group’s blueprint to end the war against the Boko Haram sect.
In an interview with our correspondent
on Wednesday, Unongo said the recommendations which Jonathan allegedly
ignored were being used by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The NEF leader berated some opinion leaders who said President Buhari’s anti-corruption war was selective.
Citing the trial of the Senate
President, Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Unongo said
the President’s body language had shown that the new government would
not condone corruption.
He said the NEF would not hesitate to criticise the new government if it acted against the wishes of the masses.
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.”
Unongo advised the All Progressives
Congress to strengthen its internal democracy and concentrate on
providing quality leadership that would move Nigeria forward.
He said Saraki acted within his right to contest the Senate Presidency against the directive of his party.
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