BOKO HARAM 'LL DESTROY JONATHAN IF… -AKINOLA

By NBF News

Former Primate of the Anglican Church Nigeria, Jasper Peter Akinola yesterday warned that the Boko Haram may destroy the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan if concrete step was not taken to stem the violence which the Islamist group masterminds.

The cleric lamented that the Federal Government was handling the issue with kid gloves, just as he stated that the single term tenure as being proposed by the federal executive should not be a priority.

Akinola, who spoke in Abeokuta insisted that what matters most was the re-orientation of the minds of Nigerian politicians.

'It is unfortunate that the government is not strong enough to deal with these evil people and if you fail to deal with evil, evil will overwhelm you.' Akinola expressed fears that if President Goodluck Jonathan failed to deal with the situation, 'this same evil will destroy his government.'

He described the investigative panel set up by the government to handle the Boko Haram issue as useless and exercise in futility and queried what they were to investigate.

Akinola, who alleged that some 'godfathers' were behind the Boko Haram sect also urged the government to fish them out for the appropriate sanction.

According to him, granting the Boko Haram members amnesty was not only hypocritical but also unrealistic.

'It is unfortunate that those promoting it (amnesty) have failed to realize that this 'sect has taken Nigerians hostage and all that we can do is to pamper them.'

He called on Nigerians not to see the activities of the Boko Haram sect in isolation, insisting that their aim is to 'Islamise' Nigeria. 'They (Boko Haram) believe our financial, education and political system is wrong so they should be 'islamised.'

On the single term issue, he said: 'If the motive behind the single term tenure is to give every section in Nigeria the chance to rule, then Nigeria is not going anywhere. What we should look for is the best candidate, it doesn't matter whether he comes from Zamfara or Ogbomoso.'

'The problem of this country is not our constitution but the operators so it doesn't matter whether it is single term, two terms, three terms or five terms. It is the minds of the politicians that needs to be converted'.

The Primate who also commented on the zoning system described it as a myopic idea which might have worked in the '18 century', added: 'Good governance is all that Nigerians want so we must concern ourselves with who is disciplined, honest, diligent and intelligent to move Nigeria forward, no matter where the person comes from'.

He charged church leaders to be courageous to speak against evils in the society instead of fraternizing with politicians who have questionable character.

'My advice to them is to choose to be on the side of God. If they do so, they will not be on the pay roll of the governments and they will not take handouts from the government.

Akinola warned that if the government did not take immediate steps to address the worsening living standard of the people, the end result might not be pleasant, 'Because the revolution that we don't want might happen'.