Press Statement by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu over the declaration of a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa States by the Federal Government of Nigeria
IMPOSITION OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY: A DANGEROUS TREND IN THE ART OF GOVERNANCE
It is now abundantly clear that
President Jonathan has finally bared his fangs confirming what was
widely speculated. By declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa, he has intimidated and emasculated the governors of these
States. We are witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and
a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.
The body language of the Jonathan
administration leads any keen watcher of events with unmistakable
conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised
intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is
clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship
geared towards 2015. Borno and Yobe states have been literally under
armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship
experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. This
government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced
by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to
the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.
Let me be quick to say that this
administration will be setting in motion a chain of events the end of
which nobody can predict. Experience has shown clearly that actions,
such as this one under consideration, often give root to radical
ideologies and extremist tendencies, a direct opposite of the intended
outcome of unwarranted and unintelligent meddlesomeness. The present
scenario playing out in the country reminds one of the classical case of
a mediocre craftsman who continually blames the tools of his trade for
his serial failure but refuses to look at his pitiable state with a view
to adjusting.
It has become crystal clear, even to
the most incurable optimist, that the country is adrift. That the ship
of the Nigerian state is rudderless is clearly evident in the consistent
and continual attacks ferociously executed by elements often referred
to as the insurgents in some northern states of the federation,
particularly Borno and Yobe states respectively. Indeed, no part of the
country is immune from the virulent but easy attacks, veritable indices
of a failing state. Unfortunately, the tenuous and uncoordinated
approach adopted by this government betrays a grossly incompetent
disposition which stands at variance with current realities in the
country, nay the international community where acts of terrorism are
engaged and contained. No Governor of a state in Nigeria is indeed the
Chief Security Officer. Putting the blame on the Governors, who have
been effectively emasculated, for the abysmal performance of the
government at the centre which controls all these security agencies,
smacks of ignorance and mischief.
Terrorist acts are perpetrated
routinely and the government at the centre appears incapable of stemming
the tide of the horrendous crimes unleashed on the hapless populace.
The considerable ease, with which lives and property are destroyed on a
daily basis, should excite deep introspection on the part of a
government truly desirous of finding a lasting solution. The
Constitution provides that the safety and welfare of citizens shall be
the primary purpose of having that structure of any political leadership
in the first instance. This Government, through acts of omission and
commission, has fallen far short of expectation. It actively encourages
schisms and all manner of divisive tendencies for parochial expediency.
Ethnicity and religion become handy weapons of domination. Things have
never been this bad.
The response to the pervasive chaos
in the Northern region of the country has been militarisation, mass
arrests and extra judicial killings by the Joint Task Force, JTF, a
convenient euphemism for an army of occupation seemingly set loose on
the people of the localities concerned. The tenor of the State of
Emergency declared by the Federal Government yesterday portends danger
for the polity. The full militarisation of security operations in these
states will compound the already tense situation. Both local and
international media are awash with news of reckless attitudes of the
invading forces. The fact that security operatives are killed cheaply
and reprisals from the state find expressions in organised pogroms in
the immediate communities is sure evidence of a government which lacks
basic understanding to appreciate the enormity of the current security
challenges. If development is about the people, all measures put in
place for the sustenance and maintenance of the super-structure of the
society must take into cognisance local contents.
It is evident from the grim
experiences in recent times that this government has failed, or does not
know that it is necessary for it to avail itself of the benefits
accruable from exchange of ideas and notes on the latest in terms of
technology and human resources among nations of the modern world,
especially those which have been fighting terrorist organisations over
the years, on the most effective mode of combating this menace.
Technologically advanced countries of the world will never discard the
idea on the need for the establishment of an effective local
intelligence outfit. Our suggestions along this path have always been
met with suspicion and acerbic criticisms from both the informed and the
ignorant alike. A government which stoutly defends its opposition to
the decentralisation of the police force from its present
over-centralised command structure is already experimenting with all
manner of means patently extra-legal.
The massacres of local communities
attendant upon the attacks on security agents by unknown elements will
further alienate the people who should, ordinarily, partner with the
government in securing their immediate environments. An army which
invades a community maiming, raping and killing defenceless civilians
will end up radicalising the youths whose parents and young ones have
been wiped out most cowardly and recklessly. This government should
concentrate more on encouraging the development of local intelligence
which will, inexorably, lead to the practice of true federalism.
Adopting the use of excessive force against those perceived as
harbouring terrorists does not portray this government as possessing the
wherewithal to find abiding solutions to the lingering security
challenges.
The President’s pronouncement, which
seeks to abridge or has the potential of totally scuttling the
constitutional functions of Governors and other elected representatives
of the people, will be counterproductive in the long run. A State of
Emergency already exists in the states where JTF operates. Residents of
these communities live in constant fear. Their rights are violated with
impunity under the guise of searching for terrorists in their respective
domains. Hiding under some nebulous claims which border on the
intractability of the security challenges posed by Boko Haram or some
acclaimed traditionalists who have killed some policemen to render
ineffective the constitutional powers vested in elected Governors and
other representatives of the people, perceived as not amenable to
manipulation for the 2015 project amounts to reducing serious issues
bordering on the survival of the country to partisan politics.
Let all those who love this country
genuinely advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates
of these Governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path
to take. If security of a society is about the protection of lives and
property of the citizenry, the involvement of the people is a sine qua
non to effective intelligence gathering. Any measures put in place which
alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives,
should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right thinking
person in the country.
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