IT is difficult to place an exact value on the property destroyed
while human lives wasted run into thousands since the Boko Haram extremists
emerged on the national scene as a serious security problem. The vicious sect
has continued its bombing campaign with security agents, government
institutions and places of worship — particularly churches — as special
targets. Apprehensive Christians can no longer perform their religious
obligations in certain states. The fear of bombs has been compelling them to
stay away from their churches. Pleas to the group for a respite during the
Ramadan period fell on deaf ears. It was during that very period that Boko
Haram gave President Goodluck Jonathan the ridiculous conditions for peace to
reign in the country. He was asked to convert to Islam or in the alternative
resign from the office of president into which he was voted in accordance with
the country's constitution. The bombings and killings have continued in spite
of the government's assurance that it would put an end to the nefarious
activities of the sect by June this year.
ONE major source of worry about the Boko Haram menace is the
approach of the government which suggests a lack of will to deal decisively
with a very serious problem. At the initial stage, the government described the
sect as a faceless group and sounded determined to rein it in. The same
government later started negotiating with the sect through a third party. The
third party pulled out of the negotiations on the allegation that the
government leaked to the press discussions that were meant to be kept secret.
Recently, there was another report that the Federal Government had gone into
direct talks with the group. Subsequent reports even said the government was
considering some of the sect's conditions which were believed not to be too
difficult to meet. What came after this was a statement in which the sect
refuted holding any negotiation with the government. It was after this
refutation that the government came out to say that it had had direct talks
with the sect.
THERE have been different dimensions to the Boko Haram problem.
President Jonathan has himself openly said that he knew the sponsors of the
ruthless sect. He has said that the group has sympathisers and supporters in
the various arms of his government including the security agencies. He has,
however, failed to take the vital step of isolating and neutralising such
elements whom he knows as the sources of the major problem confronting his
government. His recent pronouncements have shown very clearly that the dialogue
option is his preferred line of action. When and how negotiations with the
implacable and brutal band of religious fanatics will produce the desired
results is what Nigerians are waiting to see.
THE Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) has been consistent in
its position on the vexed issue of negotiation with the sect. Governor Martin
Elechi of Ebonyi State also recently spoke against dialogue with the sect. So
many commentators and prominent individuals have spoken in the same vein. Our
position has always been that there is no basis for negotiation with
extremists. As we have consistently argued, negotiation is a matter of give and
take. What concessions can the government grant to a religious sect which has
the objective of imposing its own religious faith on the entire North and sees
the Qur’an and not the constitution as the fundamental law that must regulate
the lives of the people? Can the government subject the individual's right to a
religion of their choice to negotiation? Can the government barter the people's
basic constitutional freedoms for any concession it may want to grant to Boko
Haram?
THE recent demand that Jonathan either converts to Islam or
resigns has further underscored the sect's extremist posture. This is why we
are disappointed at what the President said during his recent visit to Senegal
that the use of absolute force to contain Boko Haram is not the best option. He
had earlier been reported as saying that he could not crush the Islamic sect
because "they are our siblings and you cannot set the army to wipe out your
family." This is a complete reversal of what he had said before and an
outright display of lack of will. What is the level of force necessary to deal
with a band of mass murderers who have brought and are insistent on bringing
sorrow and tears to countless homes? What level of force is appropriate — if
not the absolute — for a group of anarchists who have been killing innocent
worshippers with their bombs and gunning down security operatives with relish?
THE statement credited to the Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs, Mohammed Nurudeen, that Nigeria is the most Christian populated
Islamic country in the world should have attracted the attention of the
Presidency. If indeed he uttered those words, they were highly reprehensible
and utterly irresponsible. It is a clear evidence that Nurudeen as a state
official lacks the competence to portray Nigeria correctly to the rest of the
world. What Nurudeen is saying is that the objective being pursued by Boko
Haram is already a fait accompli. The counter statement by the substantive
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru affirming Nigeria's secularity is
not enough. Jonathan has to muster the will to deal effectively with Boko Haram
and call the like of Nurudeen to order. He has violated the Constitution that
upholds Nigeria's secularity.
