The military authorities are expected to present a common report and recommendations to the panel set up under the watch of the national security adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), last week where they would endorse amnesty for Boko Haram but insist on retaining soldiers on the streets of the volatile states.
President Goodluck Jonathan last week mandated the NSA to set up a panel to study the possibility or otherwise of granting amnesty to the Boko Haram sect whose members have been terrorising some states in the north.
At the meeting presided over by the president were the NSA; the chief of defence staff, Admiral S. Ola Ibrahim; the chief of army staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika; the chief of air force, Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; the chief of the naval staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba; the inspector-general of police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar; the director-general of the State Security Service, Ekpenyong Ita; the director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Brigadier-General Letam Wiwa; and the DG, Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), Major General S.Y. Audu. Others were the ministers of state for defence Erelu Olusola Obada, interior Abba Moro and police affairs Caleb Olubolade.
At the end of the meeting that lasted several hours, the committee set up was given terms of reference and its meeting would be held under the chairmanship of the NSA and has two weeks to submit its report.
The committee has as its terms of reference:
*To consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the Boko Haram adherents
*Collate clamours arising from different interest groups who want the apex government to administer clemency on members of the religious sect; and
*To recommend modalities for the granting of the pardon, should such step become the logical one to take under the prevailing circumstance.
Last Tuesday, the chief of defence staff, Admiral Ibrahim, met with all the service chiefs where they deliberated on the proposed amnesty for the Boko Haram sect members. The meeting, according to military sources, lasted several hours as they reportedly reviewed what transpired at the Security Council meeting. Each of the service chiefs was said to have presented his position before all were merged for onward transmission to the NSA panel as a memo.
Another source disclosed that the service chiefs, in their report, stated that the soldiers should remain on the streets as long as the bombing continued. They faulted those calling for their withdrawal, adding that ‘‘as long as the factor that brought the soldiers on the streets persists, our soldiers remain on the streets”.
If their recommendations are accepted, some retired military officers might be among those that would constitute the Amnesty Committee. Their recommendations might have been submitted ahead of next week’s Security Council meeting.
Why We Want Amnesty For Boko Haram – Shehu of Borno
Shehu of Borno Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi has said that an amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect would bring back the dwindling economic fortunes of the north.
The development came just as former military president General Ibrahim Babangida said that amnesty for the sect members would be part of the solution to security challenges.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Borgu International Festival holding in New Bussa, Niger State, the Borno monarch noted that the activities of the sect had severely devastated the serenity of the area, insisting that any move that would restore peace was welcome.
The royal father recalled that some northern elders had earlier called on the federal government to grant the amnesty to members of the sect, regretting that the suggestion was discarded at the time.
He said, “We are happy that President Goodluck Jonathan has deemed it appropriate to set up a committee to work out the modalities for the process.
“You know, we have been talking about the amnesty for long. We came out with the suggestion before, but we are happy that the federal government has agreed with our proposal. We are happy that a committee has been set up and we are waiting for the federal government. We understand that, in a few weeks, the report would be submitted,” the monarch said.
He added that the people of the north were optimistic that the amnesty would bring an end to the violence in the north.
Emir of Borgu Dr. Haliru Dantoro said the festival was initiated to bring a sense of togetherness among the various nationalities in the country.
“The festival is aimed at promoting unity among the people of the country. Nigeria is a great country. I have been blessed immensely in this country. What we lack is the unity of purpose that can bring about that greatness. That is why we started this festival. And thousands of people from across Nigeria and beyond will come here and participate in the festival,” he said.
IBB speaks on amnesty for Boko Haram
Meanwhile, Gen Babangida has said that amnesty for members of the dreaded Boko Haram is part of the solution to end the security challenges even as he stated that the elite and the government should share the blame in allowing the situation to reach its present level.
IBB told journalists in an interview in Minna yesterday that though the detail of the terms of amnesty for the committee to be set up by the federal government was not yet out, the amnesty programme would help to solve the security challenges.
IBB said, “I do not know the terms of reference of the committee; therefore, I cannot speak about the plan until the terms of reference had been released.”
According to him, “the problem did not start in one day but it was a gradual thing before it came to this level owing to negligence by the government, the elite and the people, but I cannot blame anyone”.
“Some 20 years ago, we did not have this problem. What was the state of things then? What have we forgotten that we have not done that led to the present challenges? This is what we have to look at too,” he added.
He stated that every Nigerian has a role to play in making sure the challenges were overcome. “If we all come together — elite, the media, the ordinary people and the government — by taking a common stand just as the people of Azare in Bauchi did to tackle their security challenges,” IBB declared, “the challenges would be overcome”.
Aliyu blames past northern leaders for the woes of the region
Also, Niger State governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has said that it was regrettable that the people of the northern parts of the country did not demand quality service from their leaders when they held the fort as leaders of Nigeria.
Aliyu, who received the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) on Wednesday in Minna, said the people took it for granted and did not demand quality leadership while the leaders did not deem it fit to offer good leadership.
Aliyu said, “ And regrettably people had not been demanding for quality service from their leaders, and when you wait and take things for granted just because you have a leader from a particular place and he also takes it for granted — that, oh, this is home and begins to mess up and you do not demand for good leadership, that is the situation that we are in and how we’ve ended up.”
He said the prevailing poverty situation and underdevelopment in northern Nigeria was divine because, from 1960 till date, if the citizenry subtracted the period that a northerner was the civilian president or military head of state, it would be discovered that the north has had more time to rule the country than any other part of the nation.
He stressed that the level of poverty in the north and the outcry by the northern leaders has shown that the people of the region had been deceiving themselves all along over their privileged access to political power at the centre.
Aliyu remarked, however, that now that the northerners and every Nigerian have since realised their past mistakes with regards to the dismal failures of some past national leaders, it was about time people demanded quality leadership.
He said, “Till today, even with the realisation, we still have problems everywhere because people still think they can run away from the general problem because nobody cares. And even if you steal money, there are times when money becomes ordinary papers without value.
“In fact, in the developed countries many people do not buy personal vehicles because when they come out of their doors there would be either a bus or a train or something else to take them to where they want to go, so why waste your time?” he added.
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