Obasanjo blames radicalism, extremism on failure of homes, churches, mosques

A former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Friday blamed the rise in violence, extremism and insecurity in the land on the failure of homes, schools, churches and mosques.

According to him, those key institutions have failed in their responsibilities in inculcating the right values in children.

He spoke at the 2016 National Summit and 4th International Colloquium themed, “Human Security,Violent Extremism and Radicalisation, Seeking Sustainable Solutions.”

The event was organised by the Centre for Human Security at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library,Abeokuta, as part of his 79th birthday celebration.

“If we do not get it right from home, we have started losing the battle. Communialism is going down the drain'” Mr. Obasanjo said.

“There is a popular saying that four eyes brought a child to the world, and 200 eyes nurtured the child, but where is the 200 eyes of the community. Unless we are able to deal with present problems.

‘We do everything with impunity. We have been dealing with issues beyond us. We ought to prevent it. Prevention is even cheaper than cure. Can we prevent? Can prevention be part or best of our solution?

“We can also see where things are going down. We have home or houses, what happened at home, What do we teach? Moral training, values start from home. Home is very important, but parents do many wrongs.”

The former president urged the international community to rise up to the challenge posed by global insecurity, warning that their indifference poses serious consequences for innocent citizens.

He pointed out that the international community should also be conscious of the need to ensure there is justice and fairness in tackling insecurity to ensure sustainable peace.

Mr. Obasanjo cited some countries now witnessing serious conflict as a result of injustice and negligence on the part of the international community.

“I went to Syria when I was President of Nigeria, one of the places I was taken to was a refugee camp, where those refugees have been since 1948, nothing has been done to them. How do you want their children to think,” he stated.

“In Norway,I met some members of the Taliban, we spent two days together. They were in the second echelon of the leadership. I was told the top ones will not come out, and when we listened to them, we said yes, they can get something better than they were getting.”

He lamented that the international community was not doing enough in ensuring that democracy and good governance were effectively practised in developing countries.