President Goodluck Jonathan has blamed northern governors for creating the conditions that gave rise to Boko Haram insurgency. Speaking yesterday at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) North-East Unity Rally held at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, Jonathan lambasted northern governors for trying to shift the blame to the federal government. He declared that it is the failure of leadership in the North that gave rise to terrorism and continues to sustain it.

“I spent eight years at the state level and handled security challenges in Bayelsa State. It was the state where the first commercial kidnapping took place. More than 70 per cent of the state is slums. I was deputy governor and governor in that state and we know how we handled things,” President said, advising northern governors to do their job and stop looking for whom to blame for their failures.

Continuing, he said: “A governor will come and say bad leadership, the question to ask is, bad leadership from who? If we have security issues, whether Boko Haram or kidnappers or whatever, these are people who could not have primary school education, could not have secondary education and they have no hope. And miscreants, criminals recruit them and use them. If you see what they wear, they wear rags, they don't wear normal cloths. All they put on is not worth N10 but they carry assault rifles with bullets that are worth more than N250,000. Somebody gives them food to eat so that they will have strength to kill.

“You ask, how do we build army of unemployed youths? The federal government does not control primary and secondary education and a governor has been on seat for almost eight years and he has people in that state that can't go to primary or secondary school. He has so many children who do not go to school and he opens his mouth and says bad leadership.”

Jonathan boasted that while the states have failed in effectively managing primary and secondary education, the federal government has been delivering in its constitutionally-assigned duty of managing tertiary education.

“I made sure that every state had a university, that is the responsibility of the federal government and I have done it,” he said of his administration’s track record, adding:

“Governors must make sure that our students and our children go to primary schools and secondary schools. Somebody hides under the cover of politics and he cannot do his work for eight years or seven years. You still have so many children in their states not going to primary schools, not going to secondary school and you open your mouth to say bad leadership. The federal government should come and make your children in primary and nursery schools to go to school?

“Is it the federal government or Mr. President that will come and send your children to secondary schools?

“Federal Government, by our constitution, faces only tertiary education.” Despite the constitutional provision, he said the federal government had intervened at the primary education level with the provision of Almajiri education, in collaboration with the states.

“I have done my part and we will make sure that we fund these universities and improve the quality of education in these universities, but the state governors must do their job.”

The rally was attended by PDP chieftains from across the country, including Vice President Namadi Sambo, PDP Chairman Adamu Mu’azu and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State.

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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