Education, devp must to nip Islamic radicalisation: Ex-Nigeria prez

Education and development are key to tackling Islamic radicalisation, Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo said, citing education disparity in different regions of the strife-torn African country. Obasanjo, who headed a military government in the 1970s and was Nigeria's first president when civilian rule was restored in 1999, also described disparity in literacy as an "invitation to disaster" for any country grappling with extremism. "I think the remote cause of what you call Islamic radicalisation is poor development," Obasanjo, on a personal visit to India recently, told PTI when asked for his views on Islamic radicalisation -- an issue faced by both Nigeria as well as India. He explained that Nigeria has six geopolitical zones -- three in the south and as many in the north, and added that the literacy rate in the southern zones was at least 80 per cent, while that in the northern zones was much lower. "There is no geopolitical zone in the south where the literacy is less than 80 per cent. Now if you compare it with that in the north and that among female children, it would be much less. And as we have seen, it (illiteracy) is an invitation to disaster for any country which has such disparity in education," he said. "Of course, the immediate cause, partly, is when you look deeply it is the lack of education, lack of development, lack of infrastructure and lack of employment," he said on the sidelines of an international conference-cum-festival organised by spiritual organisation Brahma Kumaris where he was the chief guest. Islamic radicalisation and violence in Nigeria, a phenomenon whose latest manifestation through the activities of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Ladda'awatih wal-Jihad (widely known as Boko Haram), have attracted considerable concern. More than 20,000 people have been killed and over two million have been forced to flee their homes since 2009 when the group waged an armed campaign in northeastern Nigeria. United Nations' estimates indicate that at least 8,000 children have been recruited and used by the Boko Haram since 2009 till 2016 end. "And if you are going to deal with the issue of Boko Haram or any similar issue you have to deal with the issue of development.

This applies to Nigeria or any other country," Obasanjo said. He said he had started schemes for free basic education in Nigeria, just like what India now has in the form of Right to Education Act, during his regime under which states could access federal funds. But when the coverage of free education was expanded to include the higher level, he said, the states moved court against the move and got a stay on the order. Obasanjo's term as president ended in 2007. In 2009, nearly 1,000 soldiers were killed in clashes between Boko Haram militants and Nigerian soldiers throughout northern Nigeria, beginning the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the region. The 80-year-old influential African leader said India and Nigeria have always had very cordial and harmonious relations. "India was one of the countries which helped in Nigeria's admission to the United Nations in 1960s. And from then the relations between India and Nigeria have gone from strength to strength," he said.

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