The rejection of the planned offer of amnesty by the shadowy Islamist militant sect, Boko Haram is an act of brigandage and blustering that is condemnable and unacceptable, to say the least. Against the background of the mindless killings and terror unleashed by the group on innocent citizens; the rejection signposts the levity with which Boko Haram trivializes their despicable criminality. It calls to question, the role northerners should play to end the insurgency; and it throws up a number of issues that border on insecurity of life and property. Above all, it underscores the hidden agenda of the group: to disrupt governance and ultimately destabilize the country. President Goodluck Jonathan must bite the bullet and face down the terrorists, even as he keeps all windows of opportunity for engagement open.
The President has been under intense pressure over the issue with politicians from the violence-torn north, including Nigeria’s highest Muslim spiritual figure, the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III calling for amnesty. When the Sultan called for amnesty, the appropriate response from the President was that the shadowy group remains faceless therefore, amnesty could not be granted to ghosts. Inevitably, members of the sect came out to say they were not ghosts. Even if they are ghosts, the ghost is real and continues to haunt Nigeria with devastating effects.
Against his good judgment, the President caved into the pressure and formed a panel to look at the possibility of offering amnesty to the group, whose insurgency has left over 3,000 people dead. The panel’s report was due later this month. But even before the report was submitted, Boko Haram’s formal response was a categorical rejection. Insisting it hasn’t done any wrong; the group said they should rather be the ones to offer the federal government amnesty for its “atrocities” against it. This posturing is utterly ridiculous especially as the amnesty had provoked outrage from those at the receiving end of the violence, who believe that the atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram cannot simply be wished away, and that the pain the group has inflicted is too deep to countenance any amnesty.
That Boko Haram, for no cognizable reason, has visited untold agony on the body and soul of Nigeria and currently threatens the nation’s life is an under-statement. But their rejection of the amnesty is downright provocation and an insult on the collective sensibility of Nigerians and proof that Boko Haram is unrepentant and incorrigible in its wrong-doing. The group has given no reasons for the rejection. It therefore behoves those who clamored and pressured the President to grant the amnesty to bring pressure to bear on Boko Haram to call off their bluff.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that neither the federal government nor the Northern leaders who clamored for clemency ever thought Boko Haram will reject
the principle, even without knowing the details of the offer. However justified their grievances may be; it is unacceptable for them to reject dialogue. This is the by-product of ignorance about their ability to achieve their goals through violence. That ignorance has to be addressed to ensure a paradigm shift. This is the task that requires the urgent attention Northerners and the leadership of the President. In other words, the rejected amnesty, ought to now be secondary and any further consideration of amnesty must wait until all the fundamentals have been addressed.
Political pundits on all sides are bound to interpret the Boko Haram posturing with cynicism depending on the point they wish to make. Although the President is hemmed by the fawning adulations of loyal and disloyal aides and sycophantic advisers, he must rise to the occasion and send a clear message to Boko Haram that, they are not in a position to be dictating terms and conditions. They either renounce violence as a means of political expression, or face the consequences. It will of course take time; and the cost might be high in terms of blood and treasure, but in the end Boko Haram will be defeated. That much the group should be made to understand.
Northerners must as a matter of urgency, convince the sect of the pig-headedness of their campaign. They must take it upon themselves to re-orientate the discontented masses in the North, who are aggrieved by years of impoverishment foisted on them by leaders such as Gowon, Shagari, Buhari, IBB, Abacha, Abubakar and others – who over time appropriated so much to themselves and their children at the expense of the people; that the problem of the north has nothing to do with western education or President Jonathan. That may well be wishful thinking, but until they understand that, any offer of amnesty will amount to putting the cart before the horse.
Beyond promises of improved security, the northern leaders must also demonstrate sincerity of purpose and political will to address the problems of internal security in their part of the country. Owing to the gravity of the rampaging mayhem and its implication for national development, the northern leaders should match words with action by identifying the terrorists who live among them and bringing them to the negotiation table or cooperate with security agencies to end the insurgency.
That security agencies in the country have lost control over the activities of hoodlums is worrisome. The time has come for the President to live up to his primary duty of ensuring the security of lives and property in the country. There has been so much bloodletting, and the terror calls for soul-searching. The government must begin to interrogate the economic and political bases of terrorism in order to get the unemployed youth gainfully engaged.
Ever since he was sworn into office after his 2011 election victory, it has been difficult to determine how best to relate to the embattled President and the challenges he faces, especially the Boko Haram insurgency. Should we sympathize with the President or sneer at him? It’s a tough question. In the muddied cesspool of the politics of 2015, the setback of the Boko Haram amnesty is a grievous political miscalculation indicative of leadership dysfunction and a pointer to the manner in which the country is run. The president needs to get his act together and seriously address the appalling situation.
The President’s offer of amnesty was an historic opportunity for northerners to show real generosity, in saluting the President’s courage, and in making the point that Jonathan was bending over backwards to keep the country united. Jonathan might not yet be established in the public mind as a statesman, and the task before him is a far trickier one – to negotiate with terrorists from a near position of weakness, without holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic up to public ridicule. In offering amnesty to Boko Haram, the President took a risky political gamble and acquitted himself splendidly. The question now is Quo Vadis?
Huhuonline.com Editorial
