Obasanjo's comments on Boko Haram divisive, depressing - FG 8 hours ago 1143 views by Jerrywright Ukwu - The federal government has reacted to former President Olusegun Obasanjo's comments on Boko Haram and ISWAP - The government described the comments of the former president as deeply offensive and patently divisive - Minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said such indiscreet comments are far below the status of an elder statesman of Obasanjo's caliber. The federal government has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo's comments imputing ethno-religious motive to Boko Haram and Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) as deeply offensive and patently divisive. In a statement sent to Legit.ng on Tuesday, May 21, the minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said such indiscreet comments are far below the status of an elder statesman of Obasanjo's calibre. He said it was particularly tragic that a man who fought to keep Nigeria one is the same one seeking to exploit the country's fault lines to divide it in the twilight of his life. He said Boko Haram and ISWAP are terrorist organizations pure and simple, adding that they care little about ethnicity or religion when perpetrating their senseless killings and destruction. READ ALSO: Forget your bid to become president in 2023 - Arewa youths tell Tinubu “Since the Boko Haram crisis, which has been simmering under the watch of Obasanjo, boiled over in 2009, the terrorist organization has killed more Muslims than adherents of any other religion, blown up more mosques than any other houses of worship and is not known to have spared any victim on the basis of their ethnicity. “It is therefore absurd to say that Boko Haram and its ISWAP variant have as their goal the 'Fulanisation and Islamisation' of Nigeria, West Africa or Africa,” Alhaji Mohammed said. He said President Buhari put to rest the mis-characterization of Boko Haram as an Islamic organization when he said, in his inaugural speech in 2015, that “Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of.” The minister said Obasanjo's comments are therefore as insensitive and mischievous as they are as offensive and divisive in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like Nigeria, wondering whether there is no limit to how far the former president will go in throwing poisonous darts at his perceived political enemies. He said Obasanjo's prescriptions for ending the Boko Haram/ISWAP crisis, which include seeking assistance outside the shores of Nigeria, are coming several years late, as President Buhari has done that and more since assuming office, hence the phenomenal success he has recorded in tackling the terrorists. “Shortly after assuming office in 2015, President Buhari's first trips outside the country were to rally the support of Nigeria's neighbours - Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger - for the efforts to battle the terrorists. “The president also rallied the support of the international community, starting with the G7, and then the US, France and the UN. “That explains the massive degrading of Boko Haram, which has since lost its capacity to carry out the kind of spectacular attacks for which it became infamous, and the recovery of every inch of captured Nigerian territory from the terrorists,” Alhaji Mohammed said. He said Obasanjo's call for wide consultations with various groups as part of the efforts to tackle the Boko Haram crisis has been neutralized by his ill-advised comments. The minister called on the former president not to allow personal animosity to override his love for a united Nigeria, saying it will not be out of place if he withdraws his unfortunate statement and apologizes to Nigerians. READ ALSO: I was detained for criticising Buhari, says Bauchi cleric arrested by DSS Meanwhile, the West African Action Network On Small Arms (WAANSA) has advised President Buhari to declare a state of emergency on Nigerian borders. The group's resolution was passed at its emergency meeting in Nigeria to mark the United Nations International Day of Living in Peace globally celebrated on May 16. WAANSA lamented that Nigerian borders have t Read more: https://www.legit.ng/1239389-obasanjos-comments-boko-haram-divisive-depressing-fg.html