Ex-President Jonathan: Why I Believed Buhari Could Have Stopped Boko Haram Easily

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that he believed Muhammadu Buhari would have brought the Boko Haram insurgency to a swift end after assuming office in 2015, given the sect once nominated him as their preferred mediator in talks with the Federal Government.

Speaking in Abuja on Friday at the launch of Scars, a memoir by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd.), Jonathan recounted that during his tenure, Boko Haram had listed Buhari among respected northern leaders they wanted to represent them in peace talks. Although Buhari declined the role at the time, Jonathan said the nomination gave him the impression that Buhari’s emergence as president could pave the way for quick negotiations that would force the terrorists to lay down their arms.

Jonathan said, “One of the committees we set up then, Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government. So, I felt that if they trusted him to speak for them, then when he became president, it would be easy to reach an agreement and end the crisis. But here we are, the insurgency still lingers.”

The former president stressed that the persistence of the insurgency even under Buhari underscored its deep and complex nature. He explained that Boko Haram, which emerged in 2009 while he was vice president, proved far more challenging than many outsiders perceived.

Jonathan added, “I thought Buhari would wipe them out within a reasonable time after I left office, but the group is still active today. Boko Haram is not a single-story conflict. It is much more complex, and Nigeria must approach it differently from the conventional way.”

Reflecting on his administration’s efforts, Jonathan said multiple committees and strategies were deployed, but none produced lasting results. He emphasized that the insurgency could not simply be reduced to poverty or hunger, pointing out the group’s access to sophisticated weaponry as evidence of external backing.

He noted, “If it was just about hunger, then some of our approaches should have worked. But the weapons they use—even more sophisticated than what our soldiers sometimes carry—show clearly that there are external influences.”

The former president also described the 2014 abduction of Chibok schoolgirls as an indelible scar on his leadership. He expressed hope that, like participants of the Nigerian Civil War who later documented their roles, leaders of Boko Haram would one day write their own accounts to shed light on their true motives.

He urged the present administration to consider a carrot-and-stick strategy in dealing with the terrorists, stressing that only a nuanced and adaptive approach could eventually resolve the crisis.

Jonathan concluded by commending Gen. Irabor for documenting his experience, noting that such works would help future generations understand the complexities of Nigeria’s security challenges.