Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday in Maiduguri described the Boko Haram insurgency as a scourge which incubated over time. He was delivering his closing remarks at the end of a two-day peer review meeting of the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic Forum which he is the chairman.

“Boko Haram did not start overnight,” he said, “It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long. And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldn’t have been Boko Haram.

“If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youth, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come. Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram,” he added.

DailyTrust