Boko Haram: Stop blaming governors,Nyako tells Jonathan

Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako on Sunday said President Goodluck Jonathan  had  once again demonstrated a lack of humility in his approach to issues.

Nyako was reacting to Jonathan’s comment at  the North-East rally of the Peoples Democratic Party  on Saturday, that the abdication of the responsibility of providing primary and secondary  education by  the governors in the zone  was responsible  for the Boko Haram insurgency.

Jonathan  had said, “It is shameful for a governor who has stayed in power in his state for up to six years or more, to come to me and talk about bad leadership when you have youths in your state, more than half of whom have not attended primary school and you are doing nothing about it.

“State governors should be ashamed of themselves when our children do not go to primary and secondary schools and they decide to carry arms.”

But Nyako, through  his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Ahmad Sajo, said it was unfortunate that the President had chosen once again, to blame everybody but himself, for things going wrong  under his leadership.

According to him, blaming  governors for his failure to do the right things, is not a mark of good leadership.

He said “We wish to draw the attention of the President to the fact that over 800 classroom blocks were destroyed in Borno State.

“Over 2,000 classroom blocks were destroyed in Yobe State, including those belonging to the Federal Government. Recently, some classrooms were destroyed in Adamawa State as well.

“Several schools were damaged and closed down in the affected states including Federal Government colleges even though the President said his government had no responsibility for secondary education.

“The President’s persistent refusal to visit the affected states could be interpreted to mean an abdication of his constitutional responsibility to cater for the welfare and safety of the people of the zone.

“If he could go to Bauchi State on a political jamboree, why not visit Borno and Yobe states as part of his constitutional responsibility?”

The governor said if there was  any proof of bad governance, it would  be located in the way and manner the President executes his priorities and the kind of statements he and his spokespersons make.

Governors,he said,could not be held responsible for security challenges since they had  no control over the nation’s security apparatus.

“The President is the Commander-in-Chief with powers over the Armed Forces, Police and other security agencies. On the issue of education, the President is either being misled or is totally ignorant,” he added.

The governor also challenged Jonathan to tell the world what his administration had  done to improve Adamawa State since he assumed office.

The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, however said he did  not want to join issues with the President.

His Special Adviser on Media, Malam Isa Gusau, explained that the President must have been misquoted because, he had  a grasp of what the issues were.

He said, “If you will recall, the Minister of Special Duties who met some of the Boko Haram members, announced that he  spoke  with First Class graduates, who are  adherents of Boko Haram.

“There are many who dropped out of school to join the Boko Haram, there are also  graduates among them who tore their certificates.

“So, it is not about education per se. We believe that the President understands the issues and must have been misquoted in this case.” 

John Alechenu