President Goodluck Jonathan’s interview with Christiane Amanpour has generated a lot of reaction with several observers supporting his stand and others not quite impressed with his response to the questions thrown at him by the show host.
What follows are some of the important quotes:
On whether Boko Haram is an existential threat
“If it (Boko Haram) is not contained, it can become a threat not just to Nigeria, but to West Africa, Central Africa and North Africa. Nigeria is committed to working with other friendly governments to make sure we contain the problems in Mali.”
On whether Boko Haram is as a result of misrule and poverty
“Boko Haram is not as a result of misrule. Definitely not. Sometimes people feel it is as a result of poverty. Definitely not. We want the rest of the world to work with us, because our belief is that if we allow terror to exist in any part of the world, it will affect the rest of the globe. We should not play politics with Boko Haram.”
On accusations of high handedness by security agencies fighting Boko Haram
“That is not correct. Those are insinuations by some interest groups. People get wrong information from the US State Department. They have means of knowing the truth. They should try to filter the truth.”
On the issue of power supply
“That is one area in which Nigerians are quite satisfied with government. Even civil society agrees that government has kept faith. We have not got to where we should be, because even if you have the money and political will, you can’t do it overnight’. We are working very hard, and I promise you by the end of this year, power will be reasonably stable in Nigeria.”
On crude oil theft
“We want the international community to support Nigeria, because this stolen crude oil is bought by refineries abroad, and they know the crude oil is stolen. The world must condemn what is wrong.
