AFRICA/NIGERIA - "One does not want to thoroughly fight Boko Haram" says a Nigerian Bishop

Jos (Agenzia Fides) - "Nigeria does not want for the time being the end of the Boko Haram threat. The members of the security services have proven to know who are those behind this threat, but are not able to catch them. This is a very bad situation." This is what His Exc. Mgr. Gabriel Leke Abegunrin, Bishop of Osogbo, Osun State capital, in south-west of Nigeria said in a lengthy interview with the Nigerian Tribune. The Bishop complains that because of insecurity, the Nigerians "cannot move freely within the Country. Currently citizens of Nigeria are not protected and this is a sad thing."
The Boko Haram sect, originally from northern Nigeria, for some months now have been expanding its activities to other areas of the Country, carrying out attacks also to places of Christian worship.
Mgr. Abegunrin also claims partisan divisions (which also lead to the instrumentalization of violence) and forms of patronage related to the parties: "If you do not have the party card you do not get a job."
The Bishop also notes that the deficiencies in public facilities, in particular in the healthcare system and education, stem more from bad management than by the lack of funds. "Why do private schools gain ground?" Asks Bishop Abegunrin referring in particular to Catholic schools. "Because we recruit our staff and keep control" he responds, "we tell them: if you do not do your job well, leave. It is not that there are better teachers in private schools, but we make sure that our staff work hard and bring out the best students."
Mgr. Abegunrin concludes saying: "The government pays its teachers better than we pay ours. We have no money, but we have the means to make our teachers happy in the workplace. The government has everything but does not know how to use what it has." (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/05/2012)