It is paramount to know that no government can get everything done but all government should try to get something done which is where i have concerns with this government.
Going by the a term used in the court of law that says "He who come to equity must come with clean hands", so is it necessarily for any one sincerely willing to tackle the menace of Boko Haram to be a straight forward person. Sadly Goodluck Jonathan is not the person to do so, not only has he not got the will power to do the right thing he is also one of the most timid president in the history of man kind. This is a man few weeks ago was saying he will never consider granting amnesty to ghost because people were against it then, the moment people start to say amnesty should be considered in one of the options to tackle Boko Haram now he's the one championing the idea.
Why would any one even think amnesty can work when the group has not shown any signs of remorse for their actions? And why should amnesty even be a monetary reward? Amnesty can be in form of granting partial pardon or total pardon to members of the group and the pardon shouldn't be free, anyone wanting the pardon must bring something to the table like giving the security service information on how they operate and how catch the big fish among them.
It is common knowledge that backers and financiers of Boko Haram are in government and even in the corridors of powers. If so how come no big fish has been arrested and prosecuted? There is no way Goodluck Jonathan can tackle this kind of dynamic problem unless he is willing to sacrifice himself which is not a common trait of any African leader with the exception of few.
From my point of view this government can not solve the problem of Boko Haram because its too corrupt to do so. Even the president said it himself that there are members of Boko Haram in his government and yet he has not make any high profile arrest and prosecution because they are busy trying to suppress "Fuelling poverty" and arresting journalists for doing their job.
The government kill more people than the Boko Haram they are trying to arrest. They kill on daily basis, any death in hospital due to lack of adequate medicine and medical equipment is their fault. Any accidents on the road caused due to the poor state of the road is their fault. Any death from malnutrition caused by the high level of poverty is their fault. Any death caused by ignorance due to low level of education of an individual caused by inadequate funding of education is their fault. In fact the Jonathan led government to be called "Jonathan Haram".
The actions or the inactions of the government fuels the thriving of Boko Haram directly and indirectly. When you pardon a corrupt former governor this is a direct indication that no matter how corrupt you are you can get away with it, therefore making the group to know that no matter what they do they can be pardoned and a clear indication is the amnesty package in the pipeline. No doubt the activities of the group is paralysing economic activities in the north leading to unemployment, unemployment leading to idleness and we all know that an idle mind is the devil's work shop add that to the poor state of education, its a perfect mix needed for the group to boom.
A men with no job, no hope of getting one soon, have little or no education, has loads of time in his hands and sees the people responsible for his problems lavishing what is suppose to be the wealth of the nation and granting pardon to one another when caught, definitely that kind of man is a easy recruit for the menacing group.
For the people in power to proffer an adequate solution to this problem they need to feel the heat like average Nigerians buy from the same market as we do, use the same hospital, roads, schools e.t.c. Until they start seeing the problem as "our problem" and not "their problem" solution will never come.
My recommendations to solve the havoc called to Boko Haram.
1. The government need to know and understand that there's is no partial approach to the problem, no one size fits all, no stone must be left unturned and no one should be spared. The should walk the walk and not talk the talk. Unless they show that they mean business nothing will get done. Be a government that live and die by its word, not only on issue concerning Boko Haram in other area as well. When you say you will construct a road within a certain period make sure its so. So when you say you are going to tackle Boko Haram they will be quaking in their boots. But unfortunately that's too late for this government.
2. A man can not adequately protect his family if his front door and back door is not properly monitored. How can Boko Haram members be captured when all they have to do when the heat on them is too much is to stroll across the boarder to Niger until the heat subsides. The government should make sure the country has a defined and properly monitored boarder. Limit the movement of Boko Haram members and restrict their supplies this will cripple their activities and break their resolves.
3. Kill corruption. Punish people found guilty to have mismanage and embezzled money with out fear or favour. This will send a clear sign to Boko Haram that the government mean business. Even the government can build a reputation on that.
4. In as much as what Boko Haram backers in government offers to the group is better than what the government is officially offering them, then their activities is likely to continue. Fish out their members in the government and charge them accordingly. With out the pillar supporting a fence the fence is likely to collapse.
5. The concept of punishment and reward is there for a reason. Amnesty can not give giving out like a carnival balloon, one has to deserve it to earn it. Granting amnesty should be one of the approaches not the only approach in solving the problem of Boko Haram. With what Boko Haram has done someone has to go to prison or else this is a great injustice to the people that have been killed and their families. Amnesty must have grades ranging from reduced sentence to total pardon and these should be given based on what each member brings to the table in terms of information. Monetary reward should not be an option. Boko Haram members providing information of their activities and members to the authority is also a way to separate a genuine member of the group from someone that just want to seize the opportunity to earn money.
6. The government need to be closer to the people so as to be able to get a direct and unadulterated information from them. Its very difficult to talk to the president directly, his facebook is not managed by him there fore chances of getting your message deleted if it doesn't suit the person that manage the account is high. His monthly TV interview is so restricted that even the wife of the president can't get through to him if she tries and the moderators are so timid to ask a genuine question because of the fear of being arrested after the show.
For a country with so much wealth and abundant intellectual and man power Nigerian should by now be a developed country and not a developing country.
Written by A. Alabi
follow me on: @akuna_matata24
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