God help our country nigeria oooo.
Never mind the barefaced denial from
Dr. Reuben Abati, Presidential Spokesman that the Commander-In-Chief,
President Goodluck Jonathan, did not offer the Islamist group, Boko
Haram, amnesty. On democracy day, we heard the speech of the Minister of
Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, loud and clear, and should anyone
be in doubt, here are his words, verbatim: “President Goodluck Jonathan
has declared amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect.”
The minister added that, “Series of
integration programmes have been lined up for the members of the sect
who would surrender their arms and embrace peace.”
Reiterating his earlier declaration,
he emphasised: “Let me use this opportunity on behalf of the Federal
Government, to call on the members of the Boko Haram sect to embrace the
government’s gesture and key to amnesty programme.”
To all intent and purpose, every line
of that statement by the minister on behalf of the federal government
was denied by Reuben Abati. How low can an administration sink when it
thrives on falsehood and deceit? How can a government continue to speak
with discordant tune on a critical issue like national security that
requires a clear and emphatic position? Who is fooling who? When will
this government show some responsibility, sincerity of purpose, courage,
seriousness and true leadership to begin to actually lead? How is the
citizenry expected to support the fight against terrorism when the
government does not even know what it wants? We know that should
Abubakar Shekau (Boko Haram leader) contact Mr. President this very
moment requesting for amnesty, this administration will grant it. What
is the implication of this for the ongoing fight against the insurgents?
Is this how we will immortalize our armed forces for the sacrifice and
ultimate price they are paying in Nigeria’s north east? Is this how we
will honour the many innocent men, women and children Boko Haram has
visited with untimely death?
Government deliberately made plans
for such declaration not to come from Mr. President to create the
impression that he remains ruthless in his stand against the religious
extremists.
The greatest disservice we can do to
the lives that are being lost to the Haramite’s machetes, guns and
bombs, is to, in one fell swoop, blot away their atrocities and reward
them with billions, turning Shekau and his Amirs – as he calls his
generals – to the latest Tompolos, Boyloafs, Ateke Toms and
Asari-Dokubos in town who now waltz the corridors of power.
The proclamation of amnesty is
nothing new. For as much as we know, since last year, the government’s
amnesty offer has been on the table. Any attempt to declare amnesty for
the vicious group now or in the nearest future will throw up more
questions than answers like: When did Boko Haram request for amnesty?
Why is the President offering what wasn’t requested even in the face of
escalating bloodshed? Does he want to feign ignorance that the Islamist
sect bluntly rejected his first amnesty offer? What makes him think they
have changed their stance? Has the Commander-In-Chief lost confidence
in the ability of the Nigerian security operatives to effectively wipe
out the fundamentalists? Who are the sponsors of this terror groups in
Nigeria? Why is it taking so long for the government to expose them? Or
are they bigger than the country?
The emptiness and indiscretion of
that pronouncement by Mr Haruna was laid bare as the government had
hitherto make an offer of amnesty to the terrorists through the
Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Conflict
in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Their offer of amnesty is still on
the table. So why declare amnesty again for Boko Haram when they spat
on the face of the government by stating unequivocally and categorically
that they don’t need amnesty but the government should instead, plead
for amnesty from them. The government still doesn’t get it that these
terrorists don’t flinch at the thought of getting billions from
government as amnesty package.
In a desperate and clumsy bid to
bring the terrorists to the negotiation table, the government is
offering amnesty to faceless people – ghosts. Such ignominious gesture
is tantamount to ‘radicalising’ the youths across the country to think
that the way to get government’s attention is to pick up arms against
the state. We say no, to all forms of bestiality of our youths, which
this amnesty charade is all about. It defies every logic and rationale
that the FG even contemplated amnesty to faceless terrorists, mindless
killers and maniacs that have sent over 15,000 Nigerians to their graves
since their Jihad began. More than 4,000 of that figure have being
killed this year alone.
It is foolhardy to think amnesty can
de-radicalise a terrorist. To the Jihadists, terrorism is a way of life
they’ve come to know, a new religion and message that they are ready to
die for while forcefully propagating. Granting amnesty to Boko Haram is
yet another indication that the Jonathan government is at crossroads.
Besides, there is more politics in this amnesty charade than meets the
eye. The religious radicals have a warped ideology that everything about
Western Education is forbidden. How then, can government, in the name
of amnesty, send Shekau for instance, to study Aeronautic Engineering in
United Kingdom or Medical Science in Australia in the guise of
rehabilitation for integration? I don’t think the FG has thought this
through. Amnesty or any such thing can never completely dissect this
tumor out of the northern community.
Moreover, calling on Boko Haram
members to unconditionally renounce their evil acts and embrace peace
and days later denying that such a call was never made must have
heightened the curiosity and skepticism of the Islamist group over the
(in)sincerity of the government to any peace deal.
Dr. Jonathan, it appears, wants to
exploit the window that the prisoners swap for abducted Chibok
schoolgirls present to negotiate an armistice with the dreaded sect.
Their demand over the Chibok girls should not be misconstrued as
amnesty.
Sadly and expectedly, the present
administration has failed to take responsibility for the welfare of
soldiers who daily put their lives in harm’s way in the war against
terror. Nothing has been done to rehabilitate the victims of Boko Haram
bombings, no one talks about taking responsibility for the bereaved
families of our gallant fallen heroes in the frontlines, and no one
ensures that owners of properties destroyed are adequately compensated.
Before now, the government’s position
was to crush the marauders with military might but the war is now
beyond the capability and capacity of the Nigerian security operatives.
Though, the posture of FG signifies the carrot and stick approach as its
strategy, it is now glaring to every discerning observer that only the
‘carrot’ approach is now the Jonathan administration’s best bet.
That the President has buckled yet
again shows the FG lacks courage, political will, 21st century military
equipment, personnel and intelligence to challenge and discomfit the
salafist sect headlong. Begging terrorists cap in hand is tantamount to
resigning to fate and handing the initiative of the terror war to the
monsters. They’re now in a position of strength. This is indeed, the
impetus they need to overrun the troubled states. God forbid.
Apparently, we lived in self-denial
that our security operatives were up to the task, or underestimated the
capacity of the enemies to wage a potent, sustained campaign against the
state.
Rewarding terrorism, militancy and
all forms of hooliganism, cultism and brigandage are sure fire highways
to an irrevocable descent to a failed nation. There are handwritings on
the wall that Nigeria is on the road to Yugoslavia, Somalia or Syria.
Victims of the insurgency will not be
impressed. And such victims are many: immediate and long-term victims,
direct and indirect victims, individual and co-operate victims. Even the
terrorists are not impressed; they want a war with the Nigerian
military. They cherish a quick pathway to meet ‘Allah’ should they be
killed in such duels.
Amnesty to the Haramites is the
greatest disservice to the lives lost to the insurgency, while it takes
the assault on the collective psyche of Nigerians to dizzying heights.
