President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday toed a different path from his National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, when he disagreed with him outrightly on a statement credited to him in the media in which he blamed udemocratic practices in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the rise of insurgency by the Islamic extremist sect, Boko Haram in the country.
“I don’t believe that it is undemocratic practices in the PDP that could give rise to Boko Haram or any other groups. So probably, people need to ask NSA to explain what he really means. I have read it from the papers. I don’t believe it is undemocratic practices of the PDP that gave rise to this or any other militant groups” he stated.
Azazi, had at the second South-South summit in Asaba, Delta State capital, where insecurity was discussed hinted that “the extent of violence did not increase in Nigeria until when there was a declaration by the current president that he was going to contest”
But Jonathan said it was left for the NSA to explain what he meant when he declared that, while PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr. A can rule, Mr. A cannot rule, according to PDP’s convention, rules and regulations and not according to the constitution, the Zoning formula of the party created the climate for what has manifested itself in Boko haram.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call to Thisday Newspaper office in Abuja to inspect the level of damage by last Thursday’s twin bomb attack at the papers offices in Abuja and another which affected it office in Kaduna as well as the SUN and the Moment Newspapers respectively, the president, however, noted that although he read the news in which some journalists quoted the National Security Adviser, he must read the script by himself “and listen to him (NSA)” before deciding whether Azazi said so or not.
He said, “One thing I do know, like philosophers will say that human beings disagree because people use different words to mean the same thing and use one word to mean different things. That is the primary reason for disagreement. That is why public officers like us are extremely careful because words are extremely elastic. So sometimes, you have something in your mind you want to communicate but the way you communicate it , different people will give different interpretations. That is why some human beings who don’t think are quarrelsome. When they hear something, they only understand it in one way. They don’t give the opportunity to look the other way.”
