Jonathan 'misread' Boko Haram threat

Abuja - Influential ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo has accused the current
leader Goodluck Jonathan of misreading the Boko Haram crisis and allowing
the threat to escalate to "gargantuan" heights.
Obasanjo, still a key power broker in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), has launched a series of scathing attacks against Jonathan in recent
months and has publicly urged him to not seek re-election calls the
president has ignored.
"Initially President Jonathan's understanding of the Boko Haram
phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation," Obasanjo
said at a book launch event late Wednesday.
"That is what led us to where we are today."
He described the five-year Islamist uprising as a "gargantuan danger to the
nation" and blamed Jonathan for taking "more than three years" to
understand the root causes of the conflict, including poverty and
unemployment.
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Jonathan has been roundly criticised for his handling of the Boko Haram
conflict but the comments from Obasanjo may take on added significance
with less than three months before Nigeria's vote.
Obasanjo plucked Jonathan from relative political obscurity to serve as
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's running mate in 2007 polls.
Jonathan rose to the top after Yar'Adua's death in 2010 following an illness.
Obasanjo called on Jonathan, a southern Christian, to stand aside before the
2015 polls in favour of a Muslim from the north to preserve the PDPs
unwritten rule of rotating power in the divided nation.
But after Jonathan fought off his opponents and secured the PDP nomination,
some expected Obasanjo to fall in line and support the candidate of the party
he helped create in 1998 as the era of military rule was ending.
But in Wednesday's speech, Obasanjo appeared intent on continuing his
attacks.
He also slammed the president's economic management, saying that if
Nigeria stays on its current course and fails to contain graft, "we will all sink
deeper into poverty".
Some Nigerians will likely pay little attention to anti-corruption speeches
from Obasanjo, who was widely suspected of misusing public funds during
his 1999-2007 tenure.
His current political clout is hard to quantify but experts say that if Obasanjo
actively works against the PDP in the coming vote, it could hurt Jonathan's
re-election prospects.