Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday
told Nigerians to expect change in the
forthcoming general elections. Obasanjo, while
fielding questions from reporters after speaking
at the two-day Global Education and Skills
Forum (GESF) 2015 in Dubai on ‘growing
problem of attacks on schools,’ said the
forthcoming general elections in Nigeria would
bring about a change.

He also knocked President Goodluck Jonathan
for the poor handling of the Boko Haram
insurgency. According to him, the good thing
about democracy is that it brings change, such
as Nigerians will witness in the forthcoming
general elections. He said: “The good thing
about democracy which we are trying to practice
in Nigeria is that the people have a choice;
people have a choice of making the incumbent to
bring about a change; a change of policy, change
of direction or in the alternative, the people bring
about a change; change of regime, change of
personality.

And I believe that our election, when it comes
less than two weeks from now, will bring about a
change; either change of policy or change of
direction or change of regime or change of
personality. “I pray and I hope that that we will
have a free, fair, uninterrupted, transparent,
credible election. What is important in any
election is to ensure that nobody is
disenfranchised and those who want to vote are
able to vote freely and uninterrupted. And the
result is not interfered with in any way.

“I will decide who I will vote for when the time
comes for me to vote. When the time comes for
me to endorse anybody, I will say who I endorse.
But people are putting words into my mouth and
for now I will split it out.” Obasanjo also denied
tearing his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
membership card.

“I didn’t tear my PDP membership card;
somebody else tore it because I said to him,
‘here is the card, do whatever you like with it. If
you like, keep it; if you like tear it, if you like burn
it. Here it is because they say it is giving them
concern and they don’t know what is
happening.’ I do that to prove to them what is
happening.

At the moment, I do not possess the card of any
political party,” he said. Obasanjo, in his address,
gave an insight into why the Boko Haram
insurgency worsened under the Jonathan
administration. He accused the president of not
paying much attention to the insurgency until it
was too late.

He said the activities of the sect escalated under
the Jonathan administration due to politicisation
of Boko Haram. “When Boko Haram started
about four years ago, the present government
saw it as a manifestation of the certain areas of
the country that does not support the
government, rather than seeing it as menace.

So, it took about three years before government
really came to the realisation that Boko Haram is
more than an antigovernment group. “When the
news of the abduction of the (Chibok) girls came
to the president the morning after the night that
it was done, the president’s reaction was that it
cannot be true.

And if it cannot be true, then you don’t have to
do anything about it. And, for 18 days, the
president didn’t even have any meaningful
discussion with the governor of Borno
State,which he ought to have done immediately.
If immediate action had been taken, maybe those
girls may have been rescued very early.

“Now, the Boko Haram has festered like a bad
sore and it is no longer in evident in the north-
eastern part of Nigeria, it has gone beyond that
to other countries like Cameroon, Chad and Niger
Republic and now it has become a regional issue
and we have to deal with it regionally and that is
the combined military action that has been taken
now.

But we must not forget the underline cause,
which is development,” he said. He identified
corruption, incompetence and lack of
development as the root cause of the insurgency
and Boko Haram menace in the North-East. He
described the various terror attacks on some
parts of the world, especially attacks on schools,
as a symptom of a disease that needs to be
treated urgently.

He said an attempt to tackle insurgency without
providing solutions to the basic problems that
gave birth to terror would amount to “treating a
headache that emanates from high blood
pressure.” He added that tackling the insurgency
should begin with local communities before
looking for national or international solutions.

According to him, it has taken Nigeria a few
years to really realise the severity of the threat
posed by Boko Haram, which has now become a
regional issue that must be urgently tackled. He
said: “About threeand- a-half years ago, I
wanted to know what the Boko Haram is all
about; who are they and what are their
objectives?

The man who conducted the meeting by proxy,
because I cannot see them, told me that the
leader of Boko Haram, Mohammad Yusuf, who
was killed in cold blood by the police, has 27
children and part of the problem is how to give
them good western education. So, they are not
averse to education.

“One of the things that Mohammad Yusuf did
when he was alive was that he asked his
followers to bring out their certificates. Some
have first degree; first class, second class; some
have Master’s degrees. He asked them: ‘with
your certificate, where is your job?’ They told
him they had no job.

He told them; ‘of what use is your certificate?
Tear it.’ Some tore their certificates, some didn’t.
That is actually where their name came from;
Western education is good for nothing.” On how
to solve the Boko Haram menace in Nigeria, the
former president said: “In the short term, we
have to offer two things; the stick and the
carrot.

The stick will be the military and the carrot
would be where we have failed in the area of
development, particularly education and
employment, we have to address them. I believe
that in the long run, the gap in the area of
development and the real and perceived injustice
must be removed. But in the short, we have to
deal with it with stick and carrot approach.”

Obasanjo blamed poor leadership for insecurity
problems and terror attacks in some parts of the
world, especially in Nigeria. “Leadership matters
in virtually all human institutions and
organisations. So, any lapses or laxity in any
human community, particularly in our country
(Nigeria) is leadership problem.

I will say to a large extent, it is leadership
problem. “I have always maintained that political
leaders must, first of all, give good governance in
all its ramifications and that is very important.
You cannot have corruption and expect people to
feel happy. You cannot have corruption and good
governance as strange fellows; they don’t live
together.

“You have to be honest with the people. Tell
them the truth. You cannot be lying to the
people and expect that will give people
satisfaction. For me, I believe it is good
governance in all its ramifications. Good
governance which comes from good leadership,”
he added.


http://newtelegraphonline.com/obasanjo-nigerians-will-vote-for-change/

yes!!!
change comes 28th march!!!
sai Buhari

Obasanjo knows the truth. Majority of Nigerians already know the truth. The doubtful few are coming to realization. Jonathan has failed. I supported him in 2011, I regret that. I am voting for buhari now, I hope I don't regret.

If buhari doesn't make us really realise what we missed under Jonathan's weak and corrupt administration, we will sweep him out with his APC broom. For now, it is

Buhari for President.

OBJ pls rest.

OBJ trying fervently to atone for his past sin of imposing the clueless one upon us.
we forgive you obj.
its time for a change
#never again will cluelesness take the rein.
saiy buhari

deeplow:
Obasanjo knows the truth. Majority of Nigerians already know the truth. The doubtful few are coming to realization. Jonathan has failed. I supported him in 2011, I regret that. I am voting for buhari now, I hope I don't regret.

If buhari doesn't make us really realise what we missed under Jonathan's weak and corrupt administration, we will sweep him out with his APC broom. For now, it is

Buhari for President.

u r so on point my broda! Let anoda person come in and let's what he can offer.

This knock is hard like one hitting coconut on the head

Sai Buhari...screaming CHANGE forever.....................................

Whether Satanoids like it or not, Change is Inevitable! In GMB we Trust!