Turai, wife of former President Umaru
Yar'Adua, has urged President
Goodluck Jonathan to forgive the Boko
Haram sect as her late husband did to
former militants in the Niger Delta.
The former first lady advised Jonathan
not to listen to anyone who advises him
not to grant the sect amnesty.
She said this in Lagos on Friday night
during the Award Gala Night organised
by the Niger Delta Young Professionals.
Turai said, "When Yar'Adua saw that
the people in the Niger Delta,
particularly the children were dying
callously, he (Yar'Adua) took it upon
himself to grant amnesty to the
militants to ensure lasting peace.
"There is poverty in the North. What
Yar'Adua did in the Niger Delta, let
Jonathan do the same thing to the
North.
"Mr. President should not allow his
advisers to deceive him. Let him sit
down and think about the insecurity in
the North."
She said she respected her late husband
and would continue to do so till her
death.
She also advocated youths'
empowerment, saying if the youth are
empowered, the country would be
empowered.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck
Jonathan has blamed northern leaders
for the continued Boko Haram violence.
The President, who was represented at
the event by the Minister of Special
Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs,
Kabiru Turaki, said northern leaders
had not done enough to unmask those
behind the group's activities.
He said, "When the issue of Niger Delta
was raging, and I will say this with all
sense of responsibility, leaders of the
region, particularly the governors, were
the drivers of the process.
"They reached out to the people and to
the militants, they spoke and took their
discussion, to an appreciable level
before the Federal Government stepped
in and then harnessed everything.
"What efforts are the northern leaders
making? We need to learn because
every incident of Boko Haram in Nigeria
is situated within the geopolitical
confines of a region. What are the
leaders doing?
"Security agencies are not magicians –
they are not spirits. These people who
perpetrate these crimes do not come
from the moon; they live within them.
Why are they not helping the security
agencies with the needed information?
The problem of insecurity is not only the
problem of government – it is the
problem of all of us."
He said the Federal Government was
making efforts towards solving the
problems.
"What we solicit from Nigerians are
understanding and patience," he stated.
He said when the late Yar'Adua and
himself decided to take the initiative to
address the restiveness of Niger Delta
militants, they knew the people they
were speaking to and knew where they
could go and see them, either in their
creeks, headquarters or homes.
"We reached out to them and spoke to
them. We understood each other and on
the basis of that, an understanding was
reached and it was this understanding
that was faithfully executed that led us
to the amnesty in the region," he said.
He said in the case of Boko Haram, their
perpetrators were unknown, except for
a few of them who spoke on the Internet
or to the press.
At the awards five persons were
recognised including late Yar'Adua
(posthumous); Akwa Ibom Governor
Godswill Akpabio; his Lagos State
counterpart, Babatunde Fashola;
Chairman, Arik Air, Mr. Joseph
Arumemi-Ikhide and 10-year-old author,
Daniella Dan-Jumbo.

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