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Self-sabotage is when we say we want something and then go about making sure it doesn't happen. (Alyce P Cornyn-Selby)
It's an attempt to sabotage the process set in motion, ... a silver lining has started to appear in the dark clouds of violence (Farooq Abdullah)
n May 14th, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three security challenged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Unlike Obasanjo, the President allowed the governors and legislators in these states to continue in office. According to the vanguard: "States of emergency in the history of Nigeria, both during the First Republic, when it was declared in the defunct Western Region, and during the years of the President Olusegun Obasanjo rule, always involved the removal of elected political functionaries in the Legislative and Executive branches. Obasanjo had the habit of sending retired military officers to run the states, such as Plateau and Ekiti, after sending the Governor and the State Houses of Assembly packing. In a clear departure from the dreaded military approach, President Jonathan also opted to dialogue with the Governors of the affected states before declaring this emergency. There is a clear indication that he wants to work together with the elected leadership of the affected states to solve the extraordinary security problems posed by foreign-armed and inspired terror networks. The cooperative approach adopted by the president has shown there is no ulterior political motive other than to allow the Nigerian armed forces to bring out their best to crush an insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and rendered the economy of Northern Nigeria almost comatose".
The President said that "the Federal Government can no longer fold its arms while the citizens of the country are massacred on a daily basis. As a responsible government, we will not tolerate this. I hereby declare a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe." Previously, precisely in January 2012, and shortly after the Christmas Day bombing attack at Saint Theresa's Catholic Church, Abuja (about 40 people killed), the President declared state of emergency in some local governments in Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Niger States. But, unfortunately, that 2012 state of emergency was lifted after six months, without it achieving the desired purpose.
The President has relented in declaring this current state of emergency, after all the havoc wrecked by the terrorist group; as he didn't want to antagonize the northern elites through that means. Before now, the President wanted to please everybody at the same time, but, he ended up pleasing nobody. The delay by the President was a mistake as many lives and property could have been saved, had he taken the initiative earlier. In other words, the current move was belated and should have happened many months earlier. The President, in his nationwide broadcast, acknowledged that violence and widespread destruction had overwhelmed Northern Nigeria, noting that his administration had attempted to combat the violence, but conceded that the insurgent's systematic approach continued to thrive. In his words: "We have taken robust steps to unravel and address the root causes of these crises, but it would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve".
This is not a time to criticize President Jonathan for what he didn't do, but rather a time to praise him for this bold initiative, although his best here hasn't been good enough. One thing is to try all you can, and another is to achieve the desired result. President Jonathan has tried to fight the insecurity unleashed by the Boko Haram terrorists, but, due to certain constraints, Nigerians haven't seen the difference his efforts have made. Truly, the President has tried in containing the insurgencies happening in the north; he has put the terrorists on the run because of the forces hot on their trail and has diminished their operating capabilities. But, the forces also working against the president's efforts on that front seem insurmountable, faceless and very powerful. One thing many of us have known for a while is that sabotage has prevented the outright victory against Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations.
The problems are: There's a lack of collaboration among the various security agencies; some military personnel are giving out information about the troops movement to the terrorists; some northern political elites are the sponsors of the terrorists and the unseen faces behind their operations; some northern Islamic religious leaders, through their fiery preaching, have helped in swelling the numbers of willing converts for Boko Haram; some northern children and women are used as spies and informants for the terrorists. When one sums up all these moves aimed at sabotaging the war against the terrorists, then any effort to contain the terrorists becomes inadequate, as the government has been fighting the enemies it really doesn't know who they are or how many they are. Without sabotage, the government forces would have put the terrorists to rout long time ago. This column would elaborate the above points more in the subsequent parts of this article.
As this writer wrote in one of his articles few weeks ago, President Jonathan hasn't fail here, because, "Boko Haram is just the military arm of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), formerly the Kaduna Mafia, that was formed when the north lost control of the Nigerian military and the political power. It was created by the northern leaders to further their political agenda, but, they miscalculated as they never envisaged that Jonathan's government would confront Boko Haram frontally as it has done despite being unable to curb the insurgence. Fact is that Jonathan's government hasn't given the terrorists enough room to operate as they wanted, and, they have failed to expand their operations beyond few states in the north due to the governmental forces against them". Any lingering doubt about those sponsoring the Boko Haram group dissipated few days ago. On Tuesday, June 4, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared Boko Haram a Terrorist Group, approving the proscription of the group and authorized the gazetting of an order declaring the group's activities illegal and acts of terrorism. Under the new Act, members, supporters, collaborators of the terrorist sects will now be prosecuted. Then a day after, the Punch wrote that "The North on Wednesday (June 5, 2013) disagreed with the National Assembly on the proscription of two Islamic militant groups - Boko Haram and Ansaru - by President Goodluck Jonathan. The North through its two prominent groups, the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Northern Elders Forum, faulted the ban. To the ACF and the NEF, the Jonathan administration has through the ban thrown a spanner in the works in its efforts to end bloodletting in the North through amnesty for Boko Haram and Ansaru members. They said they were waiting to see how the Federal Government would address the crisis in the North". Previously, the northern elders have claimed that the declared state of emergency is tantamount to declaring a war on the north. The Voice of America reported on May 29, 2013, that the Nigeria's Northern Elders Forum (NEF) met to review a strategy toward the state of emergency recently declared in three northern states by President Goodluck Jonathan. The Forum spokesman, Ango Abdullahi, said the government did not consult the northern elders before declaring the states of emergency, despite seeking the group's help to resolve the country's internal security crisis. According to VOA, Abdullahi said: "The proclamation of the state of emergency came to us as a surprise because of the way it came about soon after a change of policy and strategy, which incorporated dialogue and reconciliation. We thought the proclamation was ill-advised and ill-timed because if really the government (President) was serious about reconciliation and dialogue he won't declare war on his on people. We condemned the states of emergency as a declaration of war with residents of the country's north. I don't think anybody can convince me that Boko Haram has killed more people than the Nigeria military and the police as at this point in time. Yes, the government is mandated to protect life and property, but in doing so the government must not be seen to be the one that is killing more people than the insurgents that they are trying to attack".
Boko Haram, just like the kidnappers in the south or the Niger Delta militants, was created by politicians to further their ambition and along the line these dreadful groups became monsters which want to devour their creators. The politicians created and armed these groups to fight their political opponents and after the elections, these groups refused to disband and then metamorphosed into something more deadly, just as Buhari recently noted that "Every Nigerian that (who) is familiar with happenings knows this. The Niger Delta militants started it all. What happened is that the governors of the Niger Delta at that time wanted to win their elections, so they recruited youths and gave guns and bullets to them to use against their opponents to win elections by force. After the elections, they asked the boys to return the guns, and the boys refused to do so. Because of that the allowance that was being given to them by the governors was stopped." Although Buhari singled out only the Niger Delta militants here, but, this column is adding that Boko Haram was also created by the politicians in Borno State for election purposes, and with time the group refused to disband, and then started operating as a terrorist group against the government of Borno State. But, when President Jonathan won the presidential election, the northern elders, who promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for him, looked for a mean to sabotage the president's effort, and so they found the local terrorist sect, Boko Haram, an already available means to carry out their threat. So they equipped the group and incorporated it as the military arm of the Arewa Consultative Forum, since the north has lost the control of the military, or else the best bet for them would have been a coup to take out Jonathan and return the presidency to the north.
It was not hard for anybody to notice the deceitful and irresponsible attitudes of the northern elites; although many of them are the unseen sponsors of the Boko Haram, they were still accusing President Jonathan of doing nothing to stop the terrorists' onslaught. Then when the President declared the state of emergency in the three northern states, the same elites started shouting that the move was a declaration of war against the north. What can the President do to please them except to abdicate the throne for them? But, it's not enough to seek power for the sake of it; rather the question becomes what they can do with the power? Afterall, for all the years they held it (power), they didn't make meaningful use of it for the betterment of their region in particular and Nigeria in general. What's the assurance that if they ever get the power again, that it will be a whole new different and positive ball game for the region in particular and Nigeria as a whole? The northerners should exercise patience, their turn will definitely come again, but, not until those who haven't tasted this power before have gotten their own chance.
The respected lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), also supported the declared state of emergency. In an interview with SaharaTV, he appealed for the national assembly's approval of the declaration and the appropriation of adequate funds for the upgrading of the security of the nation. In his words: "In the face of incessant terrorist attacks, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes, the Federal Government ought to stop playing lip service to the security of life and property in the country. It is not sufficient to deploy more troops to the affected states if the terrorists and other nihilist groups have more sophisticated weapons than the Joint Task Force. However, President Jonathan deserves commendation for acting within the ambit of the constitution. Unlike President Olusegun Obasanjo who illegally removed elected governors under the guise of a state of emergency President has not dissolved democratic structures in the affected states. That is in order because an elected governor can only be removed by impeachment, resignation or on ground of infirmity of body or mind and NOT through a state of emergency. For the avoidance of doubt the proviso to section 11 (4) of the constitution which empowers the National Assembly to take over the legislative powers of a state in case of emergency states that " nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the Governor or the Deputy Governor of the State from office". Having complied with the constitution with respect to the state of emergency in 3 states, President Jonathan should henceforth demonstrate to Nigerians that the days of presidential impunity are gone for ever in the country".
Falana, just like this column, while likening the situation to a state of war, acknowledged that the declaration actually came too late, adding that the situation had now become a national tragedy, not only in the north but for the entire country. In his words: "It's not a northern phenomenon, it's a national calamity. They have killed 4,000 people in the last three years. We've lost property worth over 2 trillion naira. They've set churches on fire. They've attacked people at the mosque, killing innocent people. They've bombed the UN building in Abuja. They've attacked the police headquarters. They've attacked military barracks and police stations". As a summary, Falana said that the source of Nigeria's crises, including Boko Harm, cults and poverty are corruption, lack of support for security personnel, and unemployment. For him, if you want a long term solution; if you want law and order in the country, you must provide for the majority of the people. Supporting, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, just said that the measures so far employed to fight insecurity in Nigeria were cosmetic. According to him, mass employment generating measures would have helped combat the malaise. In his words: "The vicious circle of unemployment, poverty and insecurity constitutes a grave social malady in our body politic. Sadly, the debilitating insecurity situation has forced us to declare a war on consequences rather than causes. For now, it may be imperative to fight the consequences in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the prosecution of the war against the causes. It is important to realise that along the line, we must commence the war against unemployment and poverty as a consolidation strategy".
But before commending the President further, there are loose ends which must be tidied up; there are rough edges which need to be polished; we need to get down to the nitty-gritty of the whole matter. This column just wants to help the President to have a well defined or seamless approach to the whole issue! These are few of the matters arising which must be addressed, just as C.V. Akuta wrote:
- On paragraph 1, of President Goodluck Jonathan's speech, of May 14th 2013 (Declaration of State of Emergency), he mentioned eleven states (Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau, Bayelsa, Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa) as states with serious security challenges, but he ended up declaring state of emergency on only three states (Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa). He didn't outline the security measures for the remaining states and the remaining parts of the country.
- State of emergency was declared before by his government, in most of the affected states. Could the President, please shed more light, on the achievements, gains or otherwise of that previous exercise.
- On Paragraph 13, the President directed the Chief of Defence Staff to deploy more troops. This is what Mr. President should have done since, and perhaps save more lives and properties. Let me add here that, deployment of troops would not yield the desired results without effective intelligence gathering.
- President Goodluck Jonathan should have also declared a state of emergency on high rates of kidnapping at the South East, South South, South West etc.
- On paragraph 6, Mr. President acknowledged that the activities of these terrorists, insurgents (I would add, criminals and kidnappers) amounted to a declaration of war. Therefore, a state of war exists. In war situations, the leader should mobilize the entire citizens, for the common objective of defeating the enemy. Without mobilizing the local and indigenous people, this exercise might not go far. Effective policing is a collective effort(s), it requires the active support and participation of the local communities. He needs to win their hearts, minds, loyalty and support. These, he is yet to do or failed to do.
- Nigerian Customs and Exercise deserves a state of emergency too, for failing to protect our borders, from where numerous arms and ammunitions have found their way into the country. Nothing short of disbanding the organization will be acceptable. May God bless Nigeria.
To be continued!
TIT BITS
This weekend, June 8 to be precise, is Best Friends Day. All my readers are my best friends, so I dedicate this day (weekend) to you.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12N8G2GUDIE
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzMCl9-YdA
THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!
