By Femi Adi/Kaduna
Comrade Shehu Sani, Kaduna-based
author and activist, tells FEMI ADI how the Boko Haram menace could be ended.
What is your understanding of Boko
Haram’s lethal campaign?
 |
| Shehu Sani |
We have the Quadriyya,
Tijaniyya, Shi’a, Sunni, Ahmadiyya, Izala and many other sects. I believe that
if the same treatment meted out to the Boko Haram leaders had been meted to
them, they would have responded in a worse way. For now, it’s good for us to
separate the reality from the myth. I have always believed those from the South
don’t know the religious and political dynamics of the people of the North and
that is why it is easy, if you live in Lagos or Port-Harcourt or in the
Diaspora, after you have sipped a hot cup of coffee or orange juice, you
conclude your analysis by suggesting that Boko Haram should be crushed by all
means. For a Nigerian in Kano, Maiduguri or other northern states, which has
witnessed Boko Haram’s terror, the view may be different. And this not because
he’s in support of Boko Haram or sympathetic to the sect. It’s different in the
sense that the Nigerian security forces have proved incapable of protecting the
lives of Nigerians and have also proved incapable of fighting the sect. This
confusion is not only limited to the ordinary people, but also to the people in
the position of power. Boko Haram started as a non-violent Islamic group and
has been campaigning for an Islamic state and proper implementation of Sharia,
which they preach and propagate in their mosques and schools. There are hundreds
of sects in the North that also engage in such, but the difference is that Boko
Haram has picked up arms against the state.
Most people do not understand what
the demands of the group are.
Going by their statements, we know
that they have been asking for the release of their members from detention.
They have also been raising issues about the percieved injustice meted to them
in 2009 and nobody did anything about it. There is also the contentious issue
of Islamisation of the country. As an insurgent group, it should be obvious to
them that not all their demands are achievable no matter the number of people
bombed. One thing that is very clear, an Islamised Nigeria cannot happen even
if they bomb as many people as they want. But some of their demands can be
brought to the table if there is genuine peace parley like the one to which I
took former President Obasanjo last September and the one between the federal
government and Dr. Datti Ahmed. You could see the emphasis on the release of
their wives, children and members who have been in police cells and prisons for
a long time. As for me, all I will need is a commitment from the government,
with a guarantee from the group that if such demands are met, they will stop
what they are doing. But right from the start, there was no effort by anyone to
ensure that the demand for release of their members are met.
Is the bombing of innocent people
the appropriate way of pressing home their demands?
No. But if a country is faced with
these kind of terror attacks, there are measures you can adopt. The first
option is the use of force to crush the group before it gets out of hand. If
that was working, I would have been the first to support it. But I am living in
the North and you are interviewing me here in the North. When I see our
security men only protecting their houses, homes and children, when I see
security forces sometimes running away after a bomb blast and hiding, I do not
think that I can put my trust in them to end terror. If you’re in a city like
Kano or Kaduna, you’ll see heavy presence of security men at police stations,
commissioners’ homes, military barracks or in areas where top government
functionaries are or reside. If these are the people being protected by
security agencies, how can an ordinary man who is vulnerable to Boko Haram
attack advocate that the use of force is the solution? As I said, if you don’t
live within the firing zone, you could air views that do not reflect what is on
ground. We can use force if it will end it. But the force used over years has
not ended the insurgence. The strategy used by security agents is such that if
a bomb goes off in a certain district, everybody living there is punished for
it. Is that the kind of force that we should advocate? A guerilla insurgency of
this kind comes with a very heavy price. To get at one Boko Haram member, you
may end up bringing down more than twenty innocent lives. Killings and violence
are not things we can easily swallow as a country.
What do you have to say about the
recent attacks on the media?
The simultaneous attacks on ThisDay
in Abuja and Kaduna are a condemnable and repressive act. It is an affront to
freedom of speech. It is also one act that is most detrimental to whatever
cause the group has been fighting because no group fights the media and
succeeds. However, I will also make it very clear that the group has a policy
of issuing warnings. And if it issued warnings, it behoves on the government to
protect such institutions. But it didn’t happen. There were more than twenty of
such threats to the media before the attacks. They had said if the media
remains subjective, they would hit them. I expect a responsible government to
have taken it seriously and provided protection for the media houses before the
unfortunate attacks. But the people they are protecting are the members of
their families. The government can protect police stations, government
agencies, but not media houses. And I believe that it is the government that
has the responsibility to maintain law and order, keep peace and protect people
from terror attacks. It is annoying that the only thing you hear after any bomb
attack is condemnation. The Senate, House of Representatives and Presidency
will condemn it, but nothing will be done until another person is attacked.
Condemnation is good, but I believe in a proactive engagement with the group in
the interest of peace. When you have a dysfunctional government, we are not
secure as a people. One thing that the Boko Haram has been able to expose is
the inability of government to provide security for its citizens. It has also
exposed the long years of weakness, corruption and neglect of the Nigerian
state. What matters most to those in government is political power and
acquisition of wealth.
What solution would you suggest,
given the potency of Boko Haram’s threat to the progress of the North and
corporate existence of the country?
Three things. The first is to reach
out to Dr. Datti Ahmed for talks since members of the group trust him as one
who could mediate between the sect and federal government. Religious and
political leaders should also reach out to him for rounds of talks in order to
get a lasting ceasefire. The second thing we should do is to look for the
leaders of different Islamic sects in the North to come together and directly
reach out to Boko Haram as a group. All should come together and offer
guarantees and reach out directly to Boko Haram. The third option is the use of
force. But, as I said, it comes with a lot of consequences. Most of the
meetings over the insecurity in the North are held far away from the action
spot. I want to make my mark and contribute to finding a solution to the
problem of Boko Haram.
Why did talks between the government
and Dr. Datti break down?
Two reasons. The first one was that
the talks were meant to be confidential and the outcome made to public later,
but government betrayed the agreement for secrecy. Secondly, the talks were
supposed to be productive in terms of ensuring that both sides hold on to the
commitments. But right from the beginning, some elements within the Jonathan
administration made sure that every detail of the discussion was leaked to the
public. Also, there seems to be a sense of unwillingness on side of government
to give in to the demands of the sect for release of its members and guarantee
their security. If I was in government, I would divide Boko Haram detainees
into three. The first would be the high profile targets,who are their leaders
in prisons. The second would be the foot soldiers and the third category would
be their wives and children and innocent people arrested on the streets in the
name of Boko Haram. As a responsible government you can, as a kind gesture,
release the lowest category and see what the group will do. But when nothing is
done, it becomes a serious problem. All that is done now is to wait for a bomb
and condemn the act. This is quite unfortunate and retrogressive.
Source: TheNEWS
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What do you know about boko haram? And what they really need?
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