Obasanjo: Don’t blame me for Jonathan’s errors

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken yet another swipe at Goodluck Jonathan, the immediate past president.

Obasanjo, who did not spare Jonathan the length of his tongue in the build-up to the 2015 general election, said on Friday that Jonathan misused the opportunity that the minority ethnic group had in producing the president of the country.

He said the consequence of Jonathan’s actions while in office would affect the Niger delta for a long time.

Obasanjo made the remarks while responding to questions after delivering a lecture at Benson Idahosa University,‎ Benin city, Edo state.

“You can help anybody to get a job but you cannot help him to do it. There is no particular person who got there without the people,” he said.

“I believe that the opportunity that afforded itself in 2010 was for somebody from the minority to become the president of Nigeria. We should never lose such opportunity but what he did with that opportunity is entirely up to him. What he did or did not do with it will reflect for a long time on that part of the country.

“And don’t take that lightly, what he did or did not do with it, will reflect for a long time on that part of the country.

“For those blaming me, was I the only person that supported him? I was not the 18 million voters who voted for him. Who did you vote for, is it not Jonathan?”

He expressed confidence in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and suggested that education should be used as a tool in the fight against insurgency.

Obasanjo noted that the social media could play a key role in the war against Boko Haram, saying it could be used to re-orientate the militants.

“Education is a moral enterprise which we need to re-engage, the issue of Boko Haram. President Buhari should also tackle it (insurgency) from the angle of moral education, if we are able to tackle Boko Haram with education in our schools, both in the social media that they use, we will dilute their messages and positively win their hearts,” he said.

“The capacity of all teachers would be strengthened to deliver such messages; morning and afternoon assemblies of our primary and secondary schools should have a strong dose of such messages, our airwaves and social media should also be saturated with such positive messages even if we defeat Boko Haram on the battle front, we need education to sustain the victory.”

Obasanjo and Jonathan’s relationship broke down after Jonathan won the 2011 election and efforts to reconcile the duo did not yield fruits.

It is believed that Obasanjo’s lack of support for Jonathan contributed to Jonathan’s loss of the March 28 election.