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by Sunday Aborisade
•President Goodluck Jonathan,•Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh and •Ozekhome
Nigeria’s
security challenges have prompted civil society groups as well as
government agencies to seek ways of finding a lasting solution to the
Boko Haram menace. This, perhaps, informed a one-day symposium recently
held in Abuja, writes SUNDAY ABORISADE.
Eminent Nigerians from all walks of life
recently converged on the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, to brainstorm on
how best to tackle insecurity and sundry challenges facing the country
in order to attain development.
The Director of Policy and Strategy in
the office of the National Security Adviser, Ambassador Layiwola
Lasehinde, and other prominent Nigerians like human rights activist,
Mike Ozekhome; a former presidential spokesperson, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi;
Mr. Umar Farouk, Dr. Inusa Tanko, Hajia Ramatu Bala-Usman, Hajia Aisha
Bako, Dr. Kunle Fagbemi, and Mr. Bankole Afilaka; among others, spoke
extensively on insurgency and how to tackle it. Most of the discussants
agreed that rather than expect Nigeria to break-up, every citizen should
encourage unity with a view to tackling the problems which have over
the years stifled its growth.
As it is often the case with such
gatherings, experts in various fields offered suggestions on what they
feel could be done to rescue the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the
Boko Haram terrorist group from the Government Secondary School, Chibok.
Some of the speakers recommended sustained military action while others
insisted that negotiation remains the best option if the country
expects to get the girls back alive. Speakers at the event unanimously
agreed that an early resolution of the Boko Haram insurgency was
desirable to enable the country fast-track national development.
Human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome,
urged Nigerians to pray for the quick release of the remaining
schoolgirls. He noted that God, who delivered him from captivity after
he spent 21 days in the hands of his abductors, was capable of
delivering the abducted schoolgirls.
Ozekhome said, “The Nigeria of our dreams
is a country that would become one of the greatest countries in the
world, a country that everyone would love to come and dwell in. I dream
of a country, which would always sponsor the talented ones amongst its
citizens, a country with no trace of violence. The Nigeria of our dreams
is a country where corruption will be a taboo in public service and
Nigeria will be sanitised not with the forceful hand of the law but with
impulsive self-censorship.”
He expressed the opinion that Nigeria’s case was still redeemable.
The lawyer was not oblivious of the
precarious situation Nigeria finds itself today. He said, Nigeria “is
swirling precariously on a dangerous precipice of unparalleled
corruption, pervasive insecurity, political bedlam, unfettered
tribalism, economic sabotage, religious bigotry, sectional chauvinism,
ethnic acrimony, travesty of justice, gross inequality, entrenched
impunity, and ubiquitous rights violation, among others.”
He lamented that the problems had
systematically reduced the nation from its enviable height as a
projected “giant of Africa” both in potential and prospect, to a
laughing stock, an anathema, and a political cretin with a near pariah
status among the comity of nations.
Ozekhome observed that whereas Nigeria
had a 2013 estimated population of 174.5m people and is the 7th most
populous country in the world with the world’s 26th largest economy
(GDP) of over $500bn, having overtaken South Africa, she remains bent on
her wobbly knees. He expressed concern that 100 years after the
creation of Nigeria and 54 years after its independence from Britain,
Nigeria had witnessed a steady decline.
The legal practitioner said the vestige
of corruption, nepotism, inequality, rights abuses, inefficiency and
ineffectiveness that had come to be associated with military rule has
remained like the rock of Gibraltar since 1999.
“From 1999 till date, many things which
were wrong with the polity were aggravated, reframed in a different
manner, or simply hibernated. None, as a matter of fact, has been known
to have been eliminated,” he said.
The Director of Policy Strategy in the
office of the National Security Adviser, Ambassador Layiwola Lasehinde,
in his presentation, gave insights into the enormity of the challenge of
confronting terrorism.
Lasehinde, however, explained that as
much as an end to the scourge was desirable, there were no quick fix
solutions to the hydra-headed monster of terrorism. Drawing inferences
from experiences of other climes, he enjoined Nigerians to be prepared
to confront the challenge for a few years more.
He said, “It took America 10 years to
locate Bin Laden and when you are talking of resources, the American
government spent huge amount of money in search of Bin Laden who was
sitting in a house close to a military station. America could not solve
the terrorism problem in Afghanistan and they were there for years,
spending $1m every day. They were also in Iraq, spending $1m everyday
also. In fact, what they have achieved there is worse than when they got
there. We are not saying that we will not get to the end of terrorism
in Nigeria, but don’t expect a quick resolution. It is a virus that has
entered the politics of the country and it will be extremely difficult
to remove it because there are many disgruntled people all over
supporting them.”
He maintained that there would be no meaningful development especially in the North-East until peace returns.
“If you try to build anything there, you
will be ‘killed’ so peace has to be returned there first to achieve
meaningful development in the area,” he added.
The security expert expressed delight
that the European Union and the Department for International Development
were already involved in a comprehensive strategy to ensure
transparency in the development of a blueprint for the North-East in
line with international best practices.
The initiative, he added, had long term,
short term and medium term measures to rejuvenate socio-economic
activities in the region.
On the issue of funding, he explained
that the programme would be jointly funded by the federal and state
governments as well as the development partners.
He said, “The government has also put in
place a victim support program. The office of the NSA has designed two
programmes to combat terrorism and discourage young people from buying
into the concept of terrorism.”
He stressed that the Federal Government
had remained focused despite the security challenges posed by the
activities of the Boko Haram sect. This, he said, explains why the
office of the NSA initiated a programme to protect critical assets of
the country by compiling a comprehensive list of their current locations
and condition of the assets.
Under the arrangement, strategic assets
including government and private buildings such as the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation headquarters, police headquarters, secretariats,
educational institutions, and other facilities, would be fully guarded
against terrorist attacks.
“The master plan is now in place for the
protection of assets particularly those vulnerable to terrorist
attacks,” he said. According to him, the main task before the Jonathan
administration at the moment is how to tackle insecurity in the
North-East. He said, “The presidential initiative for the North-East is a
plan for economic development and the committee is working with the
affected state governments and development partners for the post state
of emergency period.”
Not everybody appears convinced that
government is doing enough to ensure the safe return of the girls who
have been in captivity for over 106 days. Conveners of the Bring Back
our Girls group and the All Progressives Congress insist that government
needs to do more to regain public confidence.
A former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain,
Yusuf Mamman, urged the Federal Government to reverse the decay in the
nation’s education sector by drawing up a workable master plan. He also
stressed the need to build a country where equity, justice and peace
would reign when leaders and other people in position of authorities
would lead with sincerity of purpose by abstaining completely from
corruption.
Speaking in a similar vein, Adeniyi, who
is also the chairman, Editorial Board of Thisday newspapers, challenged
Nigerian leaders to create a positive impression of Nigerians in the
minds of younger generation so that they would be encouraged to engage
in activities that would make the nation great.
Similarly, Tanko, Fagbemi, Afilaka and
Bako spoke on the need for peaceful co-existence of all tribes in
Nigeria where politics would be played by the actors with the single
purpose of creating peaceful atmosphere for all citizens and to
guarantee all their needs.
Afilaka specifically asked Nigeria’s
ethnic regions to forget the idea of disintegration because having been
together for over 50 years all hands should be on deck to collectively
engender actions that would move the nation forward.
It is worthy of note that Nigerians are
never short of ideas. Each time there is a challenge, workshops and
seminars are often organised with experts proffering possible solutions.
Often times their recommendations remain on the shelves years after. It
is hoped that those saddled with the responsibility of implementing
government policies will rise to the occasion this time around.
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