Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
Wednesday gave a press conference at the
Geneva Press Club to a packed audience of
diplomats, policy makers and journalists
where he gave details of his post presidential
focus and touched on some of the roles his
administration played in key areas of the
Nigerian and West Africa polity, with
particular emphasis on Security and
Education.
Read speech below
Press conference on Security, Education and
Development in Africa Geneva Press Club -
Wednesday the 27th of January, 2016
Protocols
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, I thank
you for coming to hear me speak on the twin
issues of education and security.
Though this event is billed as a press
conference on a Better Security and Education
for West Africa, for the sake of time, I will
focus on my experience in government which
gave me a practical demonstration of how
education impacts on security.
I will thereafter touch on my post presidential
focus which is on advancing democracy and
good governance in Africa and increasing
access to opportunity for wealth generation in
Africa.
If you peruse the official UNESCO literacy
rates by country, what you will find is that all
of the top ten most literate nations in the
world are at peace, while almost all of the top
10 least literate nations in the world are in a
state of either outright war or general
insecurity.
Lower education levels are linked to poverty
and poverty is one of the chief causative
factors of crime whether it is terrorism or
militancy or felonies.
With this at the back of my mind, I began the
practice of giving education the highest
sectoral allocation beginning with my very
first budget as President in 2011.
My policy was to fight insecurity in the
immediate term using counter insurgency
strategies and the military and for the long
term I fought it using education as a tool.
As I have always believed, if we do not spend
billions educating our youths today, we will
spend it fighting insecurity tomorrow. And you
do not have to spend on education just
because of insecurity. It is also the prudent
thing to do.
Nigeria, or any African nation for that matter,
can never become wealthy by selling more
minerals or raw materials such as oil. Our
wealth as a nation is between the ears of our
people.
It is no coincidence that the Northeast
epicenter of terrorism in Nigeria is also the
region with the highest rate of illiteracy and
the least developed part of Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the Federal Government actually
does not have a responsibility for primary and
secondary education, but I could not in good
conscience stomach a situation where 52.4%
of males in the Northeastern region of Nigeria
have no formal Western education.
The figure is even worse when you take into
account the states most affected by the
insurgency.
83.3% of male population in Yobe state have
no formal Western education. In Borno state it
is 63.6%.
Bearing this in mind is it a coincidence that
the Boko Haram insurgency is strongest in
these two states?
So even though we did not have a
responsibility for primary and secondary
education going by the way the Nigerian
federation works, I felt that where I had
ability, I also had responsibility even if the
constitution said it was not my responsibility.
Knowing that terrorism thrives under such
conditions my immediate goal was to increase
the penetration of Western education in the
region while at the same time making sure
that the people of the region did not see it as
a threat to their age old practices of itinerant
Islamic education known as Almajiri.
For the first time in Nigeria's history, the
Federal Government which I led, set out to
build 400 Almajiri schools with specialized
curricula that combined Western and Islamic
education. 160 of them had been completed
before I left office.
I am also glad to state that when I emerged
as President of Nigeria on May 6th 2010,
there were nine states in the Northern part of
the country that did not have universities. By
the time I left office on the 29th of May 2015,
there was no Nigerian state without at least
one Federal University.
Now the dearth of access to formal education
over years created the ideal breeding ground
for terror to thrive in parts of Nigeria but there
are obviously other dimensions to the issue of
insecurity in Nigeria and particularly terrorism.
You may recall that the fall of the Gaddafi
regime in August 2011 led to a situation
where sophisticated weapons fell into the
hands of a number of non state actors with
attendant increase in terrorism and instability
in North and West Africa.
The administration I headed initiated
partnership across West Africa to contain
such instability in nations such as Mali, which
I personally visited in furtherance of peace.
And with those countries contiguous to
Nigeria, especially nations around the Lake
Chad Basin, we formed a coalition for the
purpose of having a common front against
terrorists through the revived Multinational
Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
Those efforts continue till today and have in
large part helped decimate the capacity of
Boko Haram.
Another aspect of the anti terror war we
waged in Nigeria that has not received enough
attention is our effort to improve on our
intelligence gathering capacity.
Prior to my administration, Nigeria's
intelligence architecture was designed largely
around regime protection, but through much
sustained effort we were able to build
capacity such that our intelligence agencies
were able to trace and apprehend the
masterminds behind such notorious terror
incidences as the Christmas Day bombing of
the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla,
Niger State.
Other suspects were also traced and arrested
including those behind the Nyanya and Kuje
bombings.
Not only did we apprehend suspects, but we
tried and convicted some of them including
the ring leader of the Madalla bombing cell,
Kabir Sokoto, who is right now serving a
prison sentence.
But leadership is about the future. I am sure
you have not come here to hear me talk about
the way backward. You, like everyone else,
want to hear about the way forward.
I am no longer in office, and I no longer have
executive powers on a national level. However,
I am more convinced now than ever about the
nexus between education and security.
My foundation, The Goodluck Jonathan
Foundation, was formed to further democracy,
good governance and wealth generation in
Africa.
Of course, Charity begins at home and for the
future, what Nigeria needs is to focus on
making education a priority.
Thankfully, the administration that succeeded
mine in its first budget, appears to have seen
wisdom in continuing the practice of giving
education the highest sectoral allocation. This
is commendable.
I feel that what people in my position,
statesmen and former leaders, ought to be
doing is to help build consensus all over
Africa, to ensure that certain issues should
not be politicized.
Education is one of those issues. If former
African leaders can form themselves into an
advisory group to gently impress on
incumbent leaders the necessity of meeting
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended
allocation of 26% of a nations annual budget
on education, I am certain that Africa will
make geometric progress in meeting her
Millennium Development Goals and improving
on every index of the Human Development
Index.
Data has shown that as spending on
education increases, health and well being
increases and incidences of maternal and
infant mortality reduce.
In Nigeria for instance, Average Life
Expectancy had plateaued in the mid 40s for
decades, but after 2011, when we began
giving education the highest sectoral
allocation, according to the United Nations,
Nigeria enjoyed her highest increase in
Average Life Expectancy since records were
kept. We moved from an Average Life
Expectancy of 47 years before 2011 to 54
years by 2015.
I had earlier told you about the connection
between education and insecurity.
I believe that it is the job of former leaders
and elder statesmen to convince Executive and
Legislative branches across Africa to work
together to achieve the UNESCO recommended
percentage as a barest minimum.
I intend to offer my services, through The
Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, for this
purpose and I invite interested organizations
to help us make this happen.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, this, in a
nutshell are some of my thoughts for a Better
Security and Education for Africa and I will
now entertain your questions...

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/604814/

The most educated President Nigeria has ever had. Keep soaring while wailers keep wailing.

He tackled Boko Haram by eating all the yam allocated for the battle and sending our troops to the war front with cutlass and a prayer.

GEJ my role model!

I don't like the dude much but that quote is an eternal truth.

there is no place he condemned this buhari government. but I remember buhari travelling to London to criticise GEJ and insult Nigeria exposing our self before our common enemy

By allowing your goats to eat our collective yam....including that meant for arms to fight BH

This guy is a soul-less clown. You tackled boko-haram? And yet they flourished althrough the 6 years you spent in office, maiming and destroying lives.

Now that sanity is gradually being restored to the terror ravaged region, he is trying to share in the glory.

You tackled Boko Haram by going to dance Yahooze in Kano a day after Nyanya bombing in Abuja.

You tackled Boko Haram by travelling to France and ridiculing the nation saying "we will build better walls" to protect innocent children being kidnapped by Boko Haram.

You tackled Boko Haram as your own NSA turned himself into a National Cake Distributor right under your supervision.

Don Fortunato, your day of utter disgrace almost here!

Tackle BH are you serious After allowing the insurgency to escalate as a result of your weakness and incompetency, now that somebody who is up to the task has dealt a massive blow on Bokoharam you are now trying to claim what is not yours.

Those who condemn this eternal presentation has no idea of leadership. Leadership is about the future not the present.

You don't stop a tree by cutting it down but by uprooting it.

Yet under him one of longest closures of universities took place, a!most a year. Polytechnics lecturers were not even given a hearing and left on strike back to back

Seriously, I've so tried to avoid commenting on this post but I don't think I can hold my grieve any more. What do u mean Mr. YOU TACKLED BH?! Like seriously?? Ooooooooooh! Someone should just get a hold of me before I go naked right now to release some powerful CURSES on this Hippopotamus of a Man.... Under your clueless watch, the most outrageous outright loot of Public(Security) fund was perpetrated by a mere NSA and sharing the security of Nigerians to bastards and vagabonds in your useless camp as President. You have the guts to say trash! Shame on you Mr.!!!! You are the wost thing ever that has happened to this country! Please Mr., since when did sending vulnerable military men to combat a World-dreaded terrorist group without even Average Ammunitions a brave and commendable stride The massive bloodshed caused by your cluelessness in Nigeria will surely haunt you so dearly.....(SAME TO BUHARI IF HE DOESN'T DELIVER HIS *CHANGE) #teamNeutral #greatNigeria #OneNigeria.

facts!

Those of us here that have brain and still think rationaally, will read this piece and comprehend well. But zombies will read and throw tantrums.

Before i forget, some nothern zombies alledged that pdp and jonathan are the boko haram. Has buhari arrest and jail any of them

God bless G . E. J