20:37
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has declared that only the combination of education with military actions can defeat Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. President Obasanjo therefore advised Nigerians to either give education the priority it deserves or the dream to have a great Nigeria would remain a pipedream.
The former President said this in Benin yesterday while delivering a lecture, titled: “Effective Educational System: A Panacea for Societal Development and Transformation,” advising the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle Boko Haram insurgency with the power of education, even as it prepares to roll-out its full military might after the change of the nation’s Service Chiefs. Obasanjo said education remains the most powerful tool to neutralise the destructive indoctrination of citizens in the North by Boko Haram.
He said: “Do the needful to exterminate the scourge and social economic development of the area concerned and talk with thegroup that is ready to talk. “Boko Haram thrives on indoctrination.
Spreading hate messages to propagate its messages through popular media. We are able to counter Boko Haram hate messages with education in our schools and social media to dilute such messages for those who have been swayed by Boko Haram. “The Nigerian airwaves and social media should also be accentuated with positive messages.
We have to reverse the trend of educational backwardness of the North-East because Boko Haram was a menace waiting to happen. Empowering the youth with skills and taking the yoke of unemployment off them will neutralise promises by Boko Haram.”
Blaming Nigeria’s poor educational system for massive youth unemployment, Obasanjo said the moulding of characters of the youths has been completely ignored by Nigeria’s educational tutors.
He concluded that Nigeria must depend on the power of education to resolve massive youth unemployment, corruption, insecurity, infrastructural decay as well the economic shambles
