Tobias Sylvester
The former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has accused former United States president, Barack Obama, of frustrating his administration’s efforts to rescue schoolgirls kidnapped by a terrorist group, Boko Haram, in Chibok, Borno State over four years ago.
In Goodluck Jonathan’s new book, titled ‘My Transition Hours’, he said even though Obama’s administration lent its security services towards rescuing the girls, he also tactically set his administration up for failure in the pursuit of the girls’ freedom.
According to him, Obama’s administration refused to sell military hardware to Nigeria’s Armed Forces and frustrated efforts of his administration to get the weapons from Israel.
As an aside, while thanking the men and women of the US security services who were deployed to Nigeria and toiled day and night in the Northeast in search of the Chibok Girls, my surprise at the role played by the then U.S. President Barack Obama, still calls to doubt his genuine intentions for Nigeria.
“For some strange reasons, the Obama administration had tactically pencilled Nigeria and my administration for failure. Amongst many manoeuvres, was the refusal to provide any real military backing to Nigeria’s Armed Forces.
“President Obama and his security adviser, Susan Rice, bluntly refused to sell any military hardware including jet fighters and attack helicopters to Nigeria.
“Obama cited the Leahy Law as the reason his regime prevented the American Government from supporting Nigeria in providing weapons to fight Boko Haram.
“Even when the State of Israel expressed the willingness to sell attack helicopters to Nigeria, the gesture was frustrated by the Obama administration that kept waving the same Leahy Law like a banner.
“My administration, including a team of international partners with their respective governments, devoted considerable amount of resources in the search and rescue of the girls.”
In the book, Goodluck Jonathan also said he felt humiliated when Barack Obama interfered in Nigeria’s 2015 elections which he lost to the current president, Muhammadu Buhari. Read the report HERE.
