At long last, Jonathan beards the lion in its den

At long last, Jonathan beards the lion in its den

By Clem Oluwole

(First published on May 17, 2013).

Nine governors under the aegis of the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC) have done what their president could not dare until now. Penultimate Thursday, the nine gladiators, joined their chief host, Kashim Shettima, took Maiduguri, the epicentre of the dreaded Boko Haram, by storm, walked the streets freely and even congregated at the beleaguered Monday Market as if they had the authorization of the dreaded suicide bombers and gunmen to do so. There was no shutting down of the ancient city as it was the case when the Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo and the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, visited recently.

Many had feared the worst for the fearless VIPs for putting their lives in harm’s way against security reports just to demonstrate solidarity with the government and people of Borno state who had longs been abandoned to their own devices since the escalation of hostilities some two years back.

When the birth of the mega party was announced a few weeks ago, I did a piece in this space and drew an analogy to the famous medication, Aspirin, Paludrine and Codeine (APC), used for the treatment of fever, cold and pains years back. But a colleague in the office had a different meaning for it. He decoded it as Armoured Personnel Carrier. Little did he know that the 10 gladiators would transform into his own definition of APC a few weeks later as demonstrated in Maiduguri.

By their historic manifestation in Maiduguri, the gladiators have sent a strong message to the Nigerian people that they are ready to risk their lives for the good of the nation. They are epitomes of patriotism. I never knew any high profile public office-holders could risk their lives to that dangerous extent just to score a political point. I admire their uncommon courage. They did not only go on a road show to the consternation of the Maiduguri residents, but they also doled out a whopping sum of N200m to the victims of the insurgency in Borno and Yobe states.

By today, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, should be in Maiduguri on an official visit which has long been overdue… an instant of better late than never? A little over a year ago, I wrote in this space a piece entitled: Jonathan and Bornophobia. In that write-up, I criticized the president’s preferential show of compassion by paying sympathy visits only to the towns and cities in the states controlled by the ruling party, the PDP, while Borno and Yobe, the hotbeds of the Boko Haram insurgency, were avoided as if they were not part of his constituency.

Mr. President was in Yobe yesterday on a similar visit. According to his itinerary, he was supposed to spend the night in the state capital of Damaturu and have a feel of what it is to sleep with one eye open, a life which the inhabitants of the state have been subjected to in the past two or so years, despite the watertight security that would have been thrown around him.

It is hoped that his visit will signal the beginning of the end of the insurgency. He has a constitutional responsibility to make things happen. Did he not swear to defend this country against internal and external aggressions? Allowing the situation to degenerate to this grave level in the belief that the insurgency was created to bring down his government speaks volumes about his limitations as a statesman. If he had borrowed a leaf from his late principal, Musa Yar’Adua, by addressing the Boko Haram insurgency at its inchoate stage, we would not have found ourselves in this terrible mess where there are different versions of Boko Haram among which are political Boko Haram, criminal Haram, Ansaru Boko Haram, among others. Yar’Adua ignored cynics and went out of his way to grant amnesty to the Niger Delta militants. Today, the region enjoys relative peace and many of the warlords like Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and Boyloaf are not only wallowing in opulence, but are also regular callers at the Aso Villa.

Yar’Adua applied a Nigerian solution to the Niger Delta crisis after the military approach used by his predecessors had failed. In his view, the therapy for headache was not to cut off the head. Similarly, the way out of the lingering Boko Haram conundrum does not lie in saber-rattling. The group can be likened to Medusa the Gorgon that had snakes for hair. When one snake was cut, two or more sprang up as soon as the blood hit the ground. Many had thought that the elimination of the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in 2009 would sound the death knell of the group. Now, we know better.

Jonathan’s visit to the beleaguered axis would only be meaningful if the senseless killings and wanton destruction of properties are halted as a result. The people of Borno, Yobe and those states that have been caught in the circle of violence deserve to live in peace and pursue their legitimate businesses without any let or hindrance. It is their inalienable rights. And no price will be too much to pay for the restoration of peace and normalcy to the distressed region. Those who are averse to the Yar’Adua’s formula to the Boko Haram riddle should step into the shoes of the inhabitants of the Borno/Yobe axis and know where they pinch.

Be that as it may, it smacks of simplicity to insist that the insurgents are ghosts that cannot be dialogued with. If the federal government is genuinely committed to ending the crisis, the ghost rebels can made to manifest in flesh and blood through the same mechanism employed by the Borno government that led to the recent ceasefire declaration by the sect.