I wanted to write on the brazen, daylight electoral robbery committed “pro-Jonathan governors” during the last Nigerian Governors’ Forum c...
I wanted to write on the brazen,
daylight electoral robbery committed “pro-Jonathan governors” during the last
Nigerian Governors’ Forum chairmanship election but wasn’t able to summon
sufficient emotional strength to do so. Nothing has shaken my faith in Nigeria
in recent time as much as the video of the election that has now gone viral in
Nigerian cyberspace. It’s now official:
Nigeria practices what some people have appropriately termed “rigocracy.”
I would probably write about this next
week when I overcome my profound disillusionment, but I want to leave you with
some of the responses I got to my article with the above title.
"Freedom
from the consequences of our action can encourage a repeat of the action."
This quote says it all. That is why the almighty Himself prescribed reward and
punishment. I have always said that force has not failed in fighting Boko Haram;
it is suboptimal force that has failed. If only people in the north do not let
their antagonism towards the Jonathan presidency to always influence their
thoughts, they will judge the Boko Haram problem correctly. Now, many people
interpret these kinds of statements that I make to mean that I'm against
antagonising the president. Far from it, because I antagonise him, too. I'm
just saying that such antagonism should not influence how we see Boko Haram.
Dr. Raji Bello, Abuja
I always enjoy reading your articles and have
great respect for your views, but I am afraid I have to disagree with most of
what you said on this one. I think the analogy to Malcolm X days that you
portrayed is misplaced. The two scenarios are completely different. The enemy
here is not easily identifiable unlike the white supremacist KKK. The BH are
virtually blended into the society, and we all know the way and manner our
forces will handle the situation. It will just be another Odi, Zaki Biam and
Baga, and as you rightly pointed in your last paragraph, “the Nigerian
military’s scorched earth policy may not spare innocent civilian populations in
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe—as happened in Baga”. While I don’t subscribe to wholesale
amnesty (and as pointed out by Mr President himself that you cannot dialogue
with faceless individuals), my belief is that intelligence gathering should be
given more priority rather than this show of force that may end up antagonizing
the general public that they are seeking to protect.
Ibrahim Gashash, Nairobi, Kenya
You
have spoken the pure truth; on this count, the president deserves kudos. There
is no other reasonable way of dealing with this calamitous madness wrought by
the Boko Haram. Reports reaching me from a colleague who recently left
Maiduguri for Makurdi show that the government seems to be serious this time about
defeating Boko Haram. The president had contacted and secured the commitment of
neigbouring countries to the war against the terrorists some of whom have been
apprehended when they crossed into those countries in the face of the JTF
onslaught. Amnesty, forgiveness or whatever should come after military defeat.
The situation had become so bad that LG employees could not go to their offices
in northern Borno because anybody holding an ID card is a sure target for
cold-blooded murder by BH. The Meccans who had persecuted the Prophet (PBUH)
were forgiven after the latter had conquered Mecca. He was reported to have
said, “The best form of forgiveness is the one you grant when you have the
upper hand" (Al'afwu 'indal maqdirah).
The Meccans knew the Prophet's character very well; so when he asked them of
their expectations, they all chorused "forgiveness".
Abdulrahman Muhammad, India
You
are not an advocate of violence. We all know that, and you know what the JTF is
capable of; you wrote about what they did in Baga. Now they have a license. They
won't be any different. There are 36 states
plus the FCT, so we can sacrifice three to save the rest. That is what this is all about. I cannot
trust the JTF anymore than I can trust the enemy. By the way, the only clear
distinction between the government forces and Boko Haram when it comes to
violence is that the former wears a uniform and are paid from the coffers of
the tax payers.
Hussaina Umar, Sokoto
I
have always enjoyed your articles. They are usually concise, comprehensive,
expository, and clear people’s confusion. As for the amnesty talks, I'm in support of
your position because it’s very ridiculous to dialogue with terrorists or
"ghosts" as they are fondly referred to by Mr President. These are
set of sects that have not proclaimed what their grievances are. Some reports say
that Boko Haram wants the President to resign; some say he should convert to
Islam.
Another
thing I noticed is the presence of deception or ambiguity in the amnesty talks.
Shehu Sani withdrew from the committee. And just as Bala Muhammed wrote in his
leadership column, State of Emergency minus amnesty equals nothing. My opinion
is: let both parties be plain and avoid deception. Politics and sentiments
should be kept aside in dealing with such a great predicament. JTF should avoid
the violation of human rights and killing of innocent people e.g. the Baga
massacre.
Muhd El-Bonga Ibraheem, Abuja
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