Northern Elders Forum - Goodluck Jonathan Failed Because He Ignored Advice

L-R: Ex Presidents, IBB, Muhammadu Buhari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Goodluck Jonathan

Paul Unongo, a leader of the Northern Elders Forum, said Goodluck Jonathan failed in his quest to end insurgency because he refused to listen to the advice of the forum. In an interview with a Punch correspondent on Wednesday, the Deputy National Leader of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF),

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.

He said NEF wondered why Jonathan refused to implement the group’s blueprint to end the war against the Boko Haram sect, adding that the recommendations which Jonathan allegedly ignored were being used by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He berated some opinion leaders who said President Buhari’s anti-corruption war was selective and said the NEF would not hesitate to criticize the new government if it acted against the wishes of the masses.

"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 (APC) to strengthen its internal democracy and concentrate on providing quality leadership that would move Nigeria forward.