Is Amnesty the Panacea to the Insecurity, Terrorism & Boko Haram Crises in Nigeria?

7/28/2019 Is Amnesty the Panacea to the Insecurity, Terrorism & Boko Haram Crises in Nigeria?

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Is Amnesty the Panacea to the Insecurity, Terrorism & BokoHaram Crises in Nigeria?

Food for thought: While attempting to broker a deal with Napoleon, Pope Pius VII(1742-1823) said, ‘’we are prepared to go to the gates of hell- but no further’’.

Caveat:In a country renowned for thunderous bandwagon sycophancy and where dissenti

opinion or criticism is seen as ‘’Opposition’’, let me quickly point out that this treatise



apolitical and is devoid of tribal or religious inclination. It is out of profound Love for countrPatriotism and Passion that I undertook to invest my time in articulating these views. Thisnot aimed at traducing anybody, organization or section of the country.

Lately there have been so much brouhaha and well-orchestrated angling for Boko Haram be granted an amnesty. The Sultan of Sokoto tested the waters and since then notabNigerians mostly drawn from the north have also added their voice.



Rather than pestering the federal government to grant amnesty to impenitent Boko Haramembers, let the Sultan and other prominent northern leaders persuade the leadership anmembers of Boko Haram to embrace peace, surrender their weapons and plead fclemency.

If Boko Haram wants amnesty, they must come out, show remorse and ask for pardoThey cannot get an amnesty by proxy. They must yearn for it and demonstrate it ceasing wanton killings. It does not behove the government openly beseeching Bo

Haram to negotiate or accept an amnesty. It portrays sheer helplessness and weaknes



Boko Haram is playing a dangerous psychological war with the government. It will be veembarrassing to the Goodluck Jonathan government if Boko Haram snubs its overturesdeduce they are lackadaisical over this amnesty thing, so why force it down their throat?is a waste of time reciting poetry to somebody who does not appreciate poetry. It is humnature not to appreciate something one did not ask for or pay a price for. If the bolanguage of the Presidency cum Political expediency/2015 election permutations anything to go by, Aso Rock will sooner than later succumb to this wishy-washy estrategy.



Let’s get something clear here. There is a parallel between the agitation of the Niger Demilitants and that of Boko Haram. The motive, ideology, philosophy and modus operandi these two groups contrast. Niger Delta militants were fighting for equitable distribution of OMoney and environmental protection of their communities while Boko Haram says thabhor Western education and that Nigeria must become a full-fledged Islamic country. Thactivities of the Niger Delta militants largely involved sabotage/bombing of Oil installatioin the creeks while Boko Haram is kamikaze and undiscriminating: they target everybodSchool children, fellow Muslims, Christians, foreign doctors, Youth Corpers etc. The Nig



Delta militants had a semblance of a Unified Command and Control Structure whereBokites have a very loose structure, splinter groups and purportedly affiliated to Al-Qaida.

Contrary to widespread believe and in fairness to Boko Haram, the sect may not after all bresponsible for all the acts of terrorism and atrocities credited to them. People settle scoresomewhere and the Sect basks on it. An example is the sporadic clashes in Plateau Sta(Jos) and other places involving Fulani herdsmen.

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Iran are the bastion of Islam yet these countries don’t witnethe unprecedented and sporadic killings that we have in Nigeria. There are also Muslims



America, Ghana, Cameroon etc and these places are relatively calm. Let’s stop thwindow dressing and get to the root of this matter.

Beyond the guise of religion and politics, there must be a strong force that will galvanize aindividual to waste his life and that of others as a suicide bomber. That strong force is ttrio of abysmal poverty, hopelessness/frustration, and joblessness. It’s not simplistic!hungry man is an angry man. It will take an amazing brain-washing prowess to convincegainfully employed young man or somebody with a thriving business to abandon th

trappings of his work or business and be a slavish stooge for kidnapping or terrorism.



Nigeria and Nigerians exigently yearn for good governance and a no-holds-barrrestructuring. I dream of a Nigeria that is SAFE, PEACEFUL and where ALL her citizeirrespective of their ethnic and religious background, have a sense of belonging. We wantNigeria where JUSTICE and EQUITY reigns supreme; a Nigeria that has a zero-toleranfor CORRUPTION, NEPOTISM and TRIBAL JINGOISM. We want a Nigeria where meritnot sacrificed in the altar of mediocrity and godfatherism. We want a Nigeria where sompeople are not above the law. If I may borrow a word from Barrister Onyekachi Ubanidream of a Nigeria where a private citizen will write a letter to a governor or a minister a

get a prompt reply.



Beyond the razzmatazz of an amnesty, it is high time Nigeria articulated a ‘’Coherent anComprehensive Terrorism, Counter-terrorism Policy/Strategy cum a NationDefence/Military Policy/Strategy’’. I also advocate an ‘’Extensive Vulnerability Resilience Test/Audit of Strategic Public Infrastructures in Nigeria’’. Let us do awwith our fire-brigade approach and mentality. Let us do away with our predilection frandomly setting up committees and sub-committees every time something happens. Evethoughtful and security-minded country or individual, hopes for the best but prepares for tworst. A wise saying goes, after a battle, sharpen your sword.



We want lasting peace in Nigeria not a simulated/semblance of peace. We want lastipeace not sustained deferment of the evil day. Amnesty is tantamount to treating tsymptom of a disease rather than exterminating the latent causative agent. The BoHaram miasma is the butterfly-effect of a dysfunctional society. Something is not right wthe foundation and structure of Nigeria. Urgent action must be taken againunprecedented corruption, acute poverty, culture of impunity/arrogance of power, soariunemployment rate and whittling radical religious fundamentalism by run-of-the-mill clericGood governance will largely nip growing insecurity, instability and terrorism in Nigeria



the bud. Former President Obasanjo stated the obvious when he recently opined th‘’rising unemployment in Nigeria is a time-bomb’’.

Imagine the socio-economic transformation that will take place if the N6bn ‘Security Voand the so-called ‘Constituency Allowance’ accruable to all 36 State governors amembers of the National Assembly respectively are judiciously utilized and channeled intruly uplifting Nigerians.

A culture, penchant and antecedent of a promiscuous amnesty is a subtle invitation future anarchy. The Igbo’s have a saying that ‘ ’aru gbaa afo, oburu omenala’’ . In Engli



this roughly translates to ‘’when a crime/atrocity lasts for too long, it becomes a culturWith an amnesty, we can presuppose that the likes of Kabiru Sokoto and other detaineterrorist/insurgency suspects will now be left off the hook and given a pat on the back forjob well done. Brilliant precedent! Since what is good for the goose is also good for tgander, in the Spirit and Season of Presidential Pardon and amnesty, proponents of tforegoing, should also clamour for James Ibori and Henry Okah to be repatriated to Nigeand lavished with this magnanimity. Perhaps very soon the United States government walso remove the name of the Boko Haram leader- Abubakar Shekau, from its list of mo

wanted ‘’global terrorists’’.



Our bane in Nigeria is paucity of healthy debates and our predilection for polisummersault. Recall President Jonathan recently said he cannot give amnesty to ghostnow he has recanted. I sincerely sympathize with government appointees, especially Nigeria. It’s not easy being one. Just few days ago, the Chief of Army Staff-Lt. GeAzubuike Ihejirika was busy spewing fire and brimstone during the Military-Media RelatiSeminar in Lagos. The COAS was reported to have said that, ‘’only force will end the BoHaram crises’. Now he will eat his words. The Service Chiefs were all smiles aftermath their meeting with President Jonathan. In an ideal country, you will hear that so and



person has resigned his appointment because he does not agree with the position of thgovernment on an issue. Not in Nigeria, business as usual.

My take is that the malaria drug (amnesty) that was used to simulate Peace in the NigDelta may not necessarily work for a typhoid fever (the Boko Haram imbroglio). Right noMEND is threatening to resume hostilities. It appears they implemented their threbecause a while ago, Niger Delta militants reportedly killed about 13 Police Officers Bayelsa State. Of course the culprits of this dastardly act are still covered by President

amnesty immunity. From the foregoing, one can safely prognosticate that an amnesty f



Boko Haram is not a guarantee that they will not relapse in the near future. Is that the typof peace we want in Nigeria? I have been around for a while and old enough to recall whethe dreaded Maitatsine reigned terror in the northern part of Nigeria. Was it an amnesty thwhittled this group? The symptom of the disease was treated and the disease hmetamorphosed again. Empirical evidence suggests a more virulent Sect or breakawfaction of Boko Haram may just be in the offing.

At the risk over-egging the pudding or been dubbed a pessimist, I postulate that with

without negotiation/amnesty, pockets of sporadic terrorist incidents, kidnappings will pers



across Nigeria unless far-reaching measures are taken to shrink abject poverunemployment, hopelessness, wanton corruption, religion fundamentalism and injustice.

So what is your take, do you think amnesty is the panacea to the Insecurity, Instability athe Boko Haram brouhaha bedeviling Nigeria? Is amnesty the magic wand that will brilasting peace to Nigeria? Will an amnesty automatically obviate the philosophy and psycof Boko Haram members? Will Boko Haram members also undergo psychotherapeucourses abroad as part of the amnesty package to wean them their bloodletting strea

How much will this amnesty Project cost the government or will it be Private Sector driven



Taking a cue from the Niger Delta amnesty package, I am pretty sure that this time tomonies will be doled out to Boko Haram amnesty beneficiaries. How will the governmedecipher real Boko Haram members and impostors that will want to avail themselves of thimpending largesse? What happens to families that lost loved ones during the onslaughwill they be adequately compensated? Boko Haram is said to have an unholy alliance wAl-Qaida, if you exonerate the Nigerian elements, what happens to their external allies. Wthey be given amnesty too?



With the setting up of the ‘Presidential Amnesty Panel’, what started as a mere speculatioand a fairy tale now appears to be a fait accompli.

Given that this amnesty thing is fast becoming an ongoing thriving and money spinninindustry in Nigeria, perhaps it is high time the Presidency established a full-fledged ‘Minisof Amnesty Affairs’.

One of the traits I profoundly appreciate in Western democracies and advanced societiesthe profundity of interesting debates on issues of national interest. An example is t



ongoing Gun Control debate in the United States of America. Let us replicate the same Nigeria.

I have noticed a deafening collective apathy towards discussing or debating the fareaching implications of this blossoming amnesty industry in Nigeria. Please let us havehealthy, matured and intellectual public debate devoid of myopic ethnic or religioleanings before this haphazardly conceived concept is rammed into our throat. I am tryito stimulate a vigorous National public debate on this burning issue in Nigeria. Let superi

reason prevail. Let the discussion continue in the streets, markets, on Soc



Media/Networking Platforms-FaceBook, Twitter, Print and Digital media etc. Stand up abe counted.

No individual or country will make meaningful progress in an atmosphere of unpredictabiland wanton killings. Let’s make Nigeria great again! Let’s give peace a chance; nobody group has a monopoly of wisdom or violence.

God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

Don Okereke



(Security Analyst & Consultant)Abuja, [email protected]

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Is Amnesty the Panacea to the Insecurity, Terrorism & Boko Haram Crises in Nigeria?

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