The Senator Representing Borno South Senatorial District, Senator Ali Ndume has reflected on the origin of Boko Haram during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, noting that the situation was initially politicized by people in the North. He acknowledged that the blame doesn’t solely rest with politicians; he noted that the local community also shares responsibility for failing to expose and report the early signs of the insurgency.
He highlighted the complexity of the current situation, pointing out that the insurgency has now attracted external forces such as ISWAP from ISIS, alongside various criminal elements. Given this escalation and the involvement of multiple factions, he cautioned against expecting a complete eradication of the threat. Despite this, he noted significant improvements in the region, particularly in Gwoza, where resettlement efforts under the current state government have seen 10 villages, including Gwoza itself, being repopulated.
He said in an interview with Channels TV from 41:09, ”When Boko Haram started during Jonathan’s government, people in the North were politicizing it. It’s not an issue that you can only blame the politicians, we also in our place are blaming ourselves. Because by the time this thing started, people were not coming out to expose these people and provide information that would have led to nipping it in the bud until it started getting out of hand.
And now we even have external forces joining them and that is the ISWAP from the ISIS. And we have criminals among them. So one cannot say that this thing will be brought down to zero level. But as it is now, Gwoza is coming back under the present government in the state. In my local government, 10 villages including Gwoza itself were resettled. And now more villages are to be settled. There is a tremendous progress being achieved by the state government.”….Seë_Morë