Northern governors and Boko Haram

IT is very encouraging that the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum has spoken unequivocally and unanimously on members’ determination to “unmask and punish” sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgency as it did the other day. That statement must be an elixir for both the soldiers in the trenches who are laying down their lives as they strive to put out the flame of Boko Haram and for all Nigerians, especially in the North East, who are traumatized by the blood-curling exploits of the insurgents.

To this end, the governors have inaugurated a committee to “look at the condemnable activities of the sponsors of the insurgency and recommend appropriate punishment. However, the efforts of the concerned governors should go beyond identification and punishment to include recommendations for a holistic approach at routing out such insurgency and preventing anything like it in any part of Nigeria.

The Committee, consisting of the Attorneys-General/Commissioners of Justice in the 19 states, was inaugurated at the meeting of the Forum, which took place in Kaduna with the current Chairman, Borno State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima presiding. As had been decided in an earlier meeting, the committee will look into the Criminal Justice System in the states and also carry out a thorough review of the existing Penal Code which they noted was inadequate to cope with the contemporary complex challenges: insurgency, cattle rustling, armed robbery, inciting preaching and kidnapping, the case of abducted Chibok girls which has attracted worldwide attention and many more cases.

The governors identified a major cause of the complex situation in the northeast to be especially the hateful preaching by the Boko Haram sect. Indeed, the governors seemed to echo the words of Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis to the American Congress the other day that “no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism.” And people must guard against such indoctrinations.

It is commendable that the governors recognised and stated the multi-dimensional nature of the challenges facing Nigeria and indeed the whole of contemporary humanity. Especially since the bombings of the World Trade Complex in New York, United States on September 11, 2001, humanity has been woken up to the realisation that dangerous religious zeal is a threat to all mankind, arising from perverted interpretations of true teachings of the Holy Books.

The crisis may, therefore, not be ended by arms alone but by knowledgeable teachers and leaders willing to stand up to the extremists and let the people see the bigots for who they are. For the puzzle remains, as one writer once noted: armies are already on the march against terrorism, but where are the teachers and philosophers to engage them in the battle of ideas? Which is why the option of an engagement with Boko Haram which President Muhammadu Buhari has placed on the table is a desirable one.

It is equally reassuring that in an address during this year’s Ramadan, the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi reiterated the same call and the need to tackle the progenitors of terror: rampart ignorance of the believers and the sects that exploit them. The solution must, therefore, encapsulate appropriate education and effective healthcare services in a social system that accounts for every citizen. And it is hoped that the governors would put up appropriate investment in this regard.

It is not unlikely that there are many people who would question the continued relevance of any platform fashioned after the erstwhile regional political demarcations of the country and ones that, therefore, appear sectional. However, in a country aspiring to true federalism, stakeholders should be free to gather based on any form of homogeneity as long as they are pursuing the agenda of development for the nation. It is indeed alright that the constituent states of any region have a platform for managing their common assets and forging an agenda for peace and prosperity.

It has always been desirable that the elite should do more among their people. The elders have always said that a situation of one rich man among 10 poor people is one of 11 poor people in reality. And the belief that a thief is not a spirit, but one who lives among the people is real.

The sponsors of Boko Haram now being focused on by the governors, therefore, have lived amidst the people all along and their communities must know them. Also known in the communities are the parents whom the Forum described for as willing to give out their children for a pittance, to be used as suicide bombers. The process of identification which the governors have embarked upon is, therefore, appropriate to stem these and other menaces. But the real solution must begin with an appropriate investment in the education of the people.

The governors have spoken. As Nigerians await the outcome of their committee of legal officials from the 19 states, as well as the details of the Forum’s plan to actualise its expressed intention, there is need to involve all stakeholders across the country so that peace can reign all over Nigeria.