Irked that President Goodluck Jonathan has become the scapegoat of last month’s abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents, a former presidential aide, Clement Ofuani, has described the anger against him as “misplaced”.
Ofuani, a former Special Adviser to late President Musa Yar’Adua on Economic Planning, said the anger should rather be channelled against the abductors who have prevented the young girls from writing their examinations and pursuing their education.
Speaking in Asaba, the Delta State capital, Ofuani, also a former Commissioner for Economic Planning in the former Governor James Ibori administration, maintained that heaping the blame on the President would be misinterpreted in some quarters as endorsement of the activities of the dreaded Islamist sect.
He said: “It is unfortunate that the popular narrative is that the anger is not being channelled against the people who have abducted the young school children and prevented them from writing their examinations and pursuing their education.
“The focus is on what the President has done or has not done.
“And if you are not careful, it is almost an endorsement of the activities of Boko Haram.
“So we have to be very careful not to yield to excessive politics.
“Other nations that faced the challenge of terrorism come together.
“They unite to face a common enemy that endangers the society.”
Admitting that the security challenge had become a regional crisis, Ofuani, who is a Chartered Accountant, noted that he expected greater involvement between the Nigerian government and the governments of surrounding countries.
He said: “If the president of Cameroon is providing sanctuary for these people enter into Nigeria and wreck havoc, they should be able to reach a form of understanding not to allow that to happen.
“And they must understand the consequences that will follow if they continue that way.”
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