Nigeria begins 'final onslaught' against Boko Haram: govt

   
Nigeria has begun the "final onslaught" against Boko Haram, the country's national security spokesman said on Tuesday, after the militants were ousted from the strategic town of Bama.
On a visit to London, Mike Omeri told AFP that "significant strategic military successes and gains" had been made against the Islamists in recent weeks.

"Bama (the second biggest town in Borno state) was retaken yesterday (Monday) and we have Abadam, Gwoza and Askira as part of the remaining areas where we still have this presence," he said. Abadam, Gwoza and Askira are also in Borno, which has been worst hit by six years of violence and was under emergency rule from May 2013 to November last year with neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa.

The military announced that Adawama was "cleared" last Friday and that Yobe was retaken on Monday from Boko Haram, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. There was no independent verification of the claimed successes, which followed the deployment last month of troops from Cameroon, Chad and Niger, as well as foreign mercenaries.

The operation not only aims at reducing the regional threat from the militants, after several cross-border attacks in recent months, but also to secure the northeast for elections to be held. Voting was initially scheduled for February 14 but was rescheduled to March 28 because of the counter-offensive on the grounds that soldiers would not be available to provide security on polling day.

Omeri refused to be drawn on when the insurgency would be declared over, although President Goodluck Jonathan said in an interview published last Wednesday that Borno would be free in three weeks. "As for the other three areas (Abadam, Gwoza and Askira), help is coming," said Omeri, who announced last week that 36 towns had been recaptured from Boko Haram.

"Soldiers are still out there working hard and we're en route to the final onslaught because it has started already from Bama." The insurgency has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2009 and forced some 1.5 million others to flee their homes.

But Omeri said that once the affected communities were free, "they will be advised to return home and continue with their lives". Jonathan is facing a stiff challenge from the main opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has attacked the president's record on tackling Boko Haram.

Buhari, who headed a military government for 20 months from December 1983, has accused Jonathan of consistently failing to provide leadership. Chief among the retired general and his party's complaints have been an alleged lack of support and equipment provided to soldiers, which only recently seems to have been rectified.

The opposition has also voiced fears for the integrity of the overall result if the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence in its northeast stronghold are disenfranchised. Repeated bomb and suicide attacks in recent weeks have raised fears about the safety of polling stations.

But Omeri told a separate news conference: "We are confident there will be a level of security to enable citizens to vote." Boko Haram were now "running with their tails between their legs", he added, indicating that the militants were being contained within the northeast.

"Boko Haram are not being pushed into neighbouring countries, we are pushing them to an area where we are finding a solution to their menace," he said. Reports have suggested that Boko Haram fighters were amassing in Gwoza, which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared part of a caliphate last year and is considered the group's headquarters.

On private military contractors, including South Africans who have been seen alongside Nigerian troops in the northeast, Omeri denied reports that some have been fighting on the front line. He maintained their presence was only for training purposes and no mercenaries were involved.

Source: AFP

New York Times calls GEJ lousy, says he's trying to frustrate Buhari

In an article titled 'Nigeria's Miserable Choices' Published on New York Times yesterday Monday February 16th, and written by the editorial board of the US newspaper, they described Nigerian president as a 'lousy incumbent' & described Buhari as a 'former autocratic leader'. 

 

See article below

The Nigerian government was supposed to hold presidential elections this past weekend, which presented voters with the dispiriting choice of keeping a lousy incumbent or returning to power a former autocratic leader. Now they will have to wait at least six weeks to cast votes.

The Nigerian election commission said earlier this month that it had pushed back the vote until at least March 28, after the country’s security chiefs warned that they could not guarantee the safety of voters in northeastern areas of the country where Boko Haram, the extremist militant group, captured international attention last spring when it abducted hundreds of schoolgirls. On Friday, Boko Haram fighters attacked a village in neighboring Chad for the first time, an alarming sign of the group’s expanding strength in a region that also includes areas of Cameroon and Niger.

Any argument to delay the vote might be more credible if President Goodluck Jonathan’s government had not spent much of the past year playing down the threat posed by the militants and if there were a reasonable expectation that the country’s weak military has the ability to improve security in a matter of weeks.

It appears more likely Mr. Jonathan grew alarmed by the surging appeal of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has vowed to crack down on Boko Haram. By dragging out the race, Mr. Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and institutions to bankroll his own.

That Mr. Buhari, who helped launch a coup against a democratically elected government in 1983 and ruled until late 1985, has emerged as potential winner is more of an indictment of Mr. Jonathan’s dismal rule than a recognition of the former military chief’s appeal.

Nigerian voters have grown increasingly worried about the stunning rise of Boko Haram, which has committed terrorist atrocities including bombings. 

The abductions and attacks by the group have exposed the weaknesses of Nigeria’s armed forces and the dysfunction of the government. Although Mr. Jonathan’s government has in the past been less than enthusiastic, and at times obstructive, in response to offers of American and European aid, he appears to be growing increasingly worried. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, he said he would welcome American troops to fight the insurgency. 

Beyond security matters, entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen have also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, and a relatively young democracy, cannot afford an electoral crisis. That would only set back the faltering effort to reassert government control in districts where Boko Haram is sowing terror. The security forces may not be able to safeguard many districts on Election Day. But postponement is very likely to make the security threat worse.

 

Source

Angelina Jolie condemns Boko Haram attacks

Actress and UN ambassador, Angelina Jolie has condemned the various attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria. She condemned the activities of the terror group in a statement released yesterday Jan. 13th,

"Each new crime committed by Boko Haram exceeds the last in brutality. This is a direct consequence of the environment of total impunity in which Boko Haram operates. Every time they get away with mass murder, rape and the enslavement of women and children, they are emboldened." her statement read in part.

She called on the United States government and the rest of the international community to work together so as to "bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice."

#BringBackOurGirls

By what form of education were the arms and ammunition used by these cowards called Boko Haram made? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls. By what form of education were the clothes worn by these cowards called Boko Haram made? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls. By what form of education were the vehicles used to convey the #ChibokGirls by these elements produced? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls.

Ndigbo Expresses Worry Over Boko Haram’s Incursion Into Igboland

Ndigbo Lagos, the umbrella body of all Igbo organisations in Lagos, has expressed worry over the news that 486 Boko Haram suspects were arrested in Abia State by Nigerian soldiers.

Lamenting the development, the group, in a statement issued Tuesday by its Director of Communications and Strategy, Chief Chuma Igwe, and obtained by THEWILL, the group said even more condemnable about the incursion is the official information that amongst those arrested was a notorious and wanted Boko Haram kingpin.

“It is instructive that the apprehension of these 486 suspected Boko Haram members in 33 Toyota Hiace buses in Abia State, along Enugu-Port Harcourt road at about 2.00 am, occurred just a few days after the timely discovery of six time-bombs at the Port Harcourt Road branch of Winners Chapel Church, Owerri, a church that reportedly has over 10,000 worshippers on Sunday services,” the statement said.

Ndigbo Lagos said : “While we salute the gallantry and courage of the Nigerian Army for intercepting the suspects, and the vigilance of the worshippers in identifying the bombs, there are indications that these recent subtle but deliberate push by the terrorists into Igbo land has included the use of Fulani herdsmen to penetrate and infiltrate the underbelly of South Eastern part of Nigeria from the remote frontier villages of Enugu and Ebonyi States.”

“It is on record that, among many such complaints, in recent weeks the people of Ezeagu Local Government of Enugu State have cried out about infiltration of their villages by AK47 wielding ‘Fulani Herdsmen’. “According to the Vanguard Newspaper of June 10, 2014, Dr. Obiorah Ozobu, the President General of Ezeagu General Assembly was quoted as saying that in a neighbouring village “… a farmer was shot dead by these Fulani people and we have had three reported cases of rape of village women that went to their farm.”

The group stated further: “When these occurrences are juxtaposed against the statement by Major General Chris Olukolade, Director of Defense Information (Vanguard, April 23; Leadership, April 24; Nigerian Tribune, April 24) revealing that the identification of these marauding semi-nomadic as including elements of the Boko Haram terrorists was made in the course of interrogating the Fulani herdsmen who were arrested after a series of killings of hundreds of innocent babies, children and the aged in Taraba State, then it is a great cause for concern.

“Such rape, arson and murderous attacks have also been visited on many minority ethnic nationalities in Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau States among others.”

The group maintained further: “Cattle rearing are private commercial ventures and not a public infrastructure. This is the 21st Century and nomadic cattle grazing are outdated. In saner climes, livestock farmers acquire land, cultivate vegetation or buy feed, sink boreholes and pen their animals. And this affords them better security, veterinary services and market accessibility.

“The Igbo Nation had in the past suffered the most, through a reprehensible genocide and a Military/Political diarchic conspiracy that has left them with little or no Federal infrastructure presence in a country that has spent budgeted tens of trillion of Naira over the past 40 years. Paradoxically, Ndigbo, who dwell peacefully all over the country, have laboured to develop many Nigerian towns and cities more than any other nationality group in Nigeria can claim.

“There is presently no doubt about the intentions of Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen to plunge this nation into darkness, including the invasion of the South Eastern region. We call on the Nigerian Government to unequivocally deploy all its military might in crushing this vermin called Boko Haram before it consumes the Nation.

“We also use this medium to caution those politicians, religious leaders and regional irredentists in the North whose rhetoric and body language have in the past two years stoked the amber of terrorism.

“We call on the Sultan, Emirs and Political leaders of the North with conscience to completely demonstrate their relevance by leading this war against terrorism from the front without recourse to sophistry, if together we must avert the calamity that is now enveloping Nigeria- a country we have all laboured to build in the past hundred years. They need to rein them in.

We warn those who ride the tiger that they are bound to end in its belly, earlier than they imagine.”

Ndigbo Lagos therefore warned that an invasion of the South East portends very dangerous consequences for the Nigerian nation, even on a scale previously unimagined.

Maintaining that Ndigbo are peace-loving and industrious people blessed by God, the statement said: “We at the leadership of Ndigbo are ever willing and ready to promote the peace and prosperity of Nigeria. But we are concerned about the possible reaction of our youths who have endured loss of lives and property with the attendant psychological degradations over the years, even as many of them have been forced to relocate back home as the only secure place they can live in peace.

“Now, they have nowhere to run to anymore. We are putting the Federal Government, the cultural and Islamic religion leadership in the North, and indeed all patriotic Nigerians on notice.”

- See more at: http://thewillnigeria.com/news/ndigbo-expresses-worry-over-boko-harams-incursion-into-igboland/#sthash.Tq2uv85O.dpuf

Bring Back Our Girls

By what form of education were the arms and ammunition used by these cowards called Boko Haram made? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls.

By what form of education were the clothes worn by these cowards called Boko Haram made? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls.

By what form of education were the vehicles used to convey the #ChibokGirls by these elements produced? If Western, then #BringBackOurGirls.

U.S. Criticizes Nigeria Over Kidnapping Response

U.S. Criticizes Nigeria Over Kidnapping Response

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Defense Department official on Thursday said Nigeria had been too slow to respond to the threat of Boko Haram but Washington is committed to helping fight the Islamist militants and rescue over 200 girls seized from their school a month ago.

U.S. officials have said the effort to retrieve the girls is now a top priority but has been complicated by Nigeria's early reluctance to accept assistance, and U.S. rules banning aid to foreign forces that have committed human rights abuses.

"In general Nigeria has failed to mount an effective campaign against Boko Haram," Alice Friend, the Pentagon's principal director for African Affairs, told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Africa subcommittee.

"The Department has been deeply concerned for some time by how much the Government of Nigeria has struggled to keep pace with Boko Haram’s growing capabilities," Friend said.

Friend said it was troubling that atrocities have been perpetrated by some Nigerian forces during operations against Boko Haram.

Robert Jackson, acting assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said Washington has urged Nigeria to reform its approach to the group. "When soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity, mistrust takes root," he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja offered help almost immediately after the kidnapping. But it was two weeks before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to offer aid, which was accepted on May 4, Jackson said. Friend said U.S. reconnaissance flights started days later.

Nigeria has been reluctant to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist threat at the United Nations, but Jackson said it has changed its position and he expected that designation imminently.

Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the subcommittee chairman, said that the odds the girls would get home safely were diminishing every day.

"It took too long for the Nigerian government to respond to the girls’ abduction. It took too long for the Nigerian government to accept offers of assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China, and once accepted, it took too long for that assistance to be fully implemented," he said. The U.S. officials said Boko Haram is a regional threat that is becoming international, with ties to al Qaeda. They said the Pentagon and Department of State were developing a "regional response," including improved security along Nigeria's borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

"We've definitely determined that there are links between al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb and Boko Haram. They have probably provided at least training, perhaps financial support," Jackson said. 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid, Andrew Hay and Ken Wills)

Source: Reuters Mobile

Goodluck Jonathan's Slow Motion Response to an Appalling Crisis

Goodluck Jonathan's Slow Motion Response to an Appalling Crisis

By Stephen Hayes - Associated Press 

The kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls, followed by the announcement by the leader of Boko Haram – the terrorist group which has claimed responsibility for taking them – that the girls are to be either sold or forced into slavery is beyond appalling. It amounts to mass rape. It also does no honor to Islam. Although child marriage may be permitted under Islam, certainly kidnapping and rape is not. It is primitive and barbaric that deserves the strongest condemnation of the entire world.

According to news reports, more than 300 school teenage schoolgirls were kidnapped from their school in a remote section of northeastern Nigeria last April 15.
The mass kidnapping and the response by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's administration may determine the future of his tenure and who is to succeed him. So far, the political leadership has handled the situation poorly. The question that hangs over the whole matter is how could more than 300 girls be kidnapped en masse and no one seems to know where any of them are? The president of Nigeria has admitted publicly he has no idea where the girls are, and only now has he begun to ask for outside help in finding the girls.

The whole matter raises many other questions, including why few, if any, of the northern governors, most of them in opposition to the Jonathan administration, have publicly been of assistance. One hopes that some have been quietly working with helping in the search. Nigerian politics, like those of many countries, are especially complicated. The northern governors, nearly all of them Islamic, believe that Jonathan has twice broken a political understanding that the ruling People's Democratic Party has that the presidency rotate between the north (mostly Islamic) and south (mostly Christian). Jonathan is a southerner who assumed the presidency in 2010 when his northern predecessor fell ill and died. Some northern factions believed Jonathan violated the agreement by standing for election to a full term in 2011 and then did so again by announcing that he will seek re-election. There may be no sense of urgency by the governors of the north to help Jonathan out of this. That they seem to know as little as Jonathan about the girls also raises questions about the connection between the rulers and the ruled, as well as the threat from Boko Haram that some may feel.

The Nigerian Government has also been slow in reacting to the crisis because much of their focus on Boko Haram has been a defensive one, aimed at protecting those participating in the upcoming World Economic Forum, to be held in Abuja this week. Several hundred of Africa’s top business leaders, along with various other representatives of Western governments and businesses are planning to be in Abuja for the group's annual Africa Forum. The forum’s presence in Abuja was to be a major feather in Jonathan's cap, and a showpiece of Nigeria for global business. Ironically, now the forum finds itself in a very awkward position of doing business as usual in the face of one of the most serious political crises in Nigeria since the Biafran Civil War. Yet, it is almost impossible for the group to cancel the forum, given that this program is a major part of their overall master plan for Africa. To cancel the forum would also be an enormous vote of no confidence in Nigeria’s ability to manage its most serious problems. The fact that the bulk of Nigerian security has focused on this meeting of the economic elite and not on the search for the schoolgirls has not gone unnoticed in Nigeria and elsewhere, as is underscored by demonstrations in New York and Washington.

How the Nigerian government handles these next 10 days may be not only the most important to Jonathan but to those that follow him.

Source: https://www.causes.com/causes/298145-for-a-corruption-free-nigeria/updates/911463-goodluck-jonathans-slow-motion-response-to-an-appalling-crisis?utm_campaign=post_mailer%2Fcause_update.cb_50474&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes&ctag=9a229f9453c00f0b2d3ff4b9245d18ba96&ctoken=i6I-mGH4jKHnp-fSBu9ri0VP9fACWFicf0MsaWd1ufNph5zQqHvLkor_CB2j4i3TT73QATCQbVQEML3o6blXpKqBybHLDltK&uid=91781643

Boko Haram Bombs Bridge Linking Nigeria and Cameroun

The Boko Haram Thursday bombed the sole bridge linking Borno State, Nigeria and Cameroun. The strategic bridge is located at the border town of Gamboru, where the Boko Haram killed over 300 persons on Monday.

Residents of Gamboru told journalists that the downed bridge has cut off some of their relatives from Nigeria and left them stranded in Cameroun. One source who spoke to THEWILL said "The only option left for people traveling to and from Gamboru, is to go into Banki near Bama Local Government area of Borno into Cameroun and later enter Gamboru from another Camerounian village."

The source further revealed that 315 corpses were buried following Monday's attack.

Residents Malam Kolomi, a trader in the commercial city of Gamboru and Mamman Abu told reporters via telephone that several persons are still trapped under rubbles following the attack.

The Boko Haram a few weeks ago abducted over 200 teenage female students from a secondary school in Chibok town, Borno State and its leader Ibrahim Shekau has boasted that the girls would be sold into slavery or married off to men. The United States, UK, China, South Africa and the UN have promised to help Nigeria secure the girls' freedom.

Source: http://thewillnigeria.com/news/author/thewill_/

Stop those trivialising schoolgirls’ abduction, Falana tells Jonathan

May 8, 2014 by Ade Adesomoju

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to stop people from further trivialising the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 19.

The Lagos lawyer in a statement on Thursday said the comment credited to “some people”, including the President’s wife, Patience, that “no child was missing”, was “incendiary” and capable of deepening the agony of the abducted children’s parents.

“President Goodluck Jonathan should ensure that the abduction of the innocent girls is not further trivialised in the interest of our collective sensibility and public morality,” he stated.

He described as insensitive for some highly placed persons to insist that there was no missing child despite the step by the Christian Association of Nigeria to publish some of the abducted girls’ names.

He said, “In spite of the inauguration of the Presidential Committee to investigate the abduction of the over 200 girls  and the publication of the names of about 185 of the missing girls by the Christian Association of Nigeria some political leaders have insisted that no child has been abducted.

“Such level of insensitivity is being displayed by highly placed persons at a time that the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau has admitted that the criminal sect abducted the innocent girls and threatened that they would be sold into slavery.”

He queried the basis for the government’s accepting of international aid to rescue the children if truly the girls were not missing.

His statement also read, “Why has the Federal Government accepted the offer of the United States’ Government to join in the frivolous -search for the girls since they are no longer missing?

“No doubt, the incendiary statements credited to certain people to the effect that “no child is missing” must have accentuated the agony of the parents of the abducted some of whom had taken part in street demonstrations to demand ‘Bring Back Our Girls’.”

He asked the President to disband the committee set up by Patience to investigate the incident arguing that she had no power to do so.

He added that even the one set up by the President himself for the same purpose could best serve as a “ministerial act” and never as a Commission of Inquiry.

The Punch Newspaper.

US To Assist Nigeria In Rescue Of Chibok Girls

The US government has offered to assist Nigeria locate and rescue the girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, abducted three weeks ago in by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

Accepting the offer on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said Nigeria would appreciate any support that would be given in ending the insurgency in Nigeria’s north east, reiterating a statement he made during a media chat on Sunday.

A statement by a spokesman for the president, Reuben Abati, said President Jonathan welcomed and accepted the offer.

“The offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry in a telephone conversation, which began at 15:30 Hours on Tuesday, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the "search and rescue operation."

“Mr Kerry assured President Jonathan that the United States is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end,” the statement read.

President Jonathan thanked Mr Kerry for the call and offer of further assistance and told him that Nigeria’s security agencies, who were already working at full capacity to find and rescue the abducted girls, would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.

After speaking with the United States Secretary of State, President Jonathan on Tuesday met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted girls.

He also received updates on the ongoing search and rescue efforts, and gave approval for further actions as recommended.

The terrorist group, Boko Haram, has carried out series of attacks on villages, churches and schools in Nigeria’s north-east. Scores have been killed in bomb attacks, with the latest attack on Chibok on April 14 resulting in the abduction of over 200 girls of a secondary school. The abduction occurred same day that the members of the sect carried out a bomb attack on a Motor Park in Nyanya area of Abuja. The attack left at least 70 persons dead and over 200 injured.

The abduction of the girls has sparked protests in Abuja, Lagos and some other states, with the protesters mounting pressure on the government to take drastic action in efforts to rescue the girls.

Last week a bomb blast also occurred in Nyanya few meters away from where the blast of April 14 occurred. at least 19 persons were killed while over 60 were injured.

The Nigerian government had declared a state of emergency in three states in the north east in an effort to quell the increasing insurgency. But many are saying that the state of emergency has not changed the situation.

The recent attacks in Abuja raised fears of insecurity as the nation prepares to hold the World Economic Forum on Africa from Mar 7-9, but President Jonathan during the media chat reassured the international community of the government’s commitment to the safety of participants.

Ahead of the Forum, there is increase in Police presence in Abuja and surrounding villages.

Good Governance And Democratic Development As Trajectories For Socio-Economic Growth In Nigeria By Kayode Oladele

NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY

The Nigerian democracy is gasping for breath not only because of the poor performance by the political leaders but also because the people have been compromised! I would explain. While those that have been considered leaders have fallen short of our expectations and many cannot in good conscience be regarded as such, the ordinary man, common man or the people have also malfunctioned in a number of ways often justified by poverty, illiteracy or ethnicity.

First is the Monetization of politics and economy. The Nigerian politics is very lucrative and has therefore become a business activity. To contest for positions such as those of the president, governor, legislator, local government chairman or even a councillor, you must either be loaded or have a “godfather”. You either need to borrow massively from the bank or rely on someone, to bankroll your campaigns. Whatever the case, the money must be returned to the source. In Nigeria, we know that godfathers don’t bankroll a candidate for nothing, there is always a string attached. The tragedy is that some of the people are willing to sell their votes which represent their future for as low as  =N=5,000,($31) =N=2,000 ($12), or even =N=1,000 ($6). It is no news that votes are bought for as low as =N=500 ($3) or even with a pint-size portion of rice! With the buying of mandate, political office holders have no social contract with the people to improve their economic well-being. Who suffers? The people! Also, because of what has been termed “representational corruption”, Nigerian politicians earn far more than their colleagues in more developed societies like the UK and India. All this means that the funds that ordinarily should have been available for catering for the economic well-being of the people are reduced.

Second is the tragedy of avoidance of politics by some of the best brains in Nigeria. Nigeria does not have a dearth of thinking individuals who truly have the interest of the country at heart. The problem is that most of these people avoid politics. Where are the intellectuals? You hear them say, “It’s a dirty game” and that they don’t want to stain their hard earned reputations. This has not been helpful as can be seen in the crop of leaders that rule the country today. Nigeria indeed has and can produce better leaders. Again, good governance can only be championed by a ruling class that is developmental in every sense of the word. Therefore, our good materials must be encouraged to come out to salvage the country in every stratum of government the lack of which at the moment injures the prospects for good governance while also contributing to the impoverishment of Nigerians.

Third, good governance is again harmed by the ease at which people resort to violence. Political violence is becoming a habit in Nigeria. With violence, good governance becomes a secondary consideration in political chess game. A leading scholar simply captures it as “violence against democracy”. Today, violence (including the use of bombs) is now an instrument that is deployed for group and individual interest. For the political class, the habit of violence is one where political competition amounts to what Claude Ake referred to as “warfare” to the extent that almost all the politically motivated murders in Nigeria are still unresolved!

At the level of the people, violence is also becoming rampant as buttressed by mob actions and violent ethno-religious conflicts. This was the case in Jos and Niger. Today, the Boko Haram violence has made the worth of the Nigerian life trivial to a point that people are no longer moved with news headlines of tens of deaths. Violence thus diminishes good governance and also undermines human development.

Four is the absence of issue-based politics. With the massive developmental challenges facing the country, it is pathetic that issues of zoning and clandestine term agreements are enjoying the attention of contenders and their followers. What sense is in zoning in the midst of poverty, hunger and disease? Does poverty have an ethnic name that makes it only Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo? Good governance is driven by minds that are less concerned with petty issues of state of origin and other sectarian considerations.

Five is the issue of corruption. Along with the Boko Haram crisis, the fight against corruption is the most important fight in today’s Nigeria even though, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and sister organizations are doing their bit and could do more with the support of the judiciary, the people and the civil society. Corruption, if left unchallenged will destabilize a country’s efforts at fighting poverty and hinder economic growth and development.  According to Mahmoud Moustafa of the World Bank fame, “empirical studies show that countries with better redistribution of wealth enjoy longer periods of economic development ... and countries suffering from corruption cannot implement sound redistribution policies and thus are not expected to take benefit from sustainable economic development despite embarking upon economic growth from time to time for some reason or the other”.

Thus countries that have low corruption index enjoy positive growth and development by providing greatest happiness for the greatest number of the people while harmful consequence is the case in a country with high corruption index.  In addition, countries with high corruption index also experiences dysfunctional institutions, unfair and unequal treatments and constant encroachment of the rule of law.

Six is the problem of ethnicity. I must say that ethnicity in its self is not a bad thing if it promotes healthy competition among the groups that make up the Nigerian state. But it has historically been a justification for violence, promotion of redundancy and bad governance. People have been killed for no other reason than by the fact that they are from another ethnic group. Mediocre and run of the mills individuals have been retained in public offices for no other reason than the ethnic group that they represent all in the name of satisfying the federal character thereby depriving the country of quality leadership based on merits.

Conclusion: What Role for the People and their Leaders?
I would conclude by stating that while good governance aid the economic well-being of the people, it is critical for both the people and their leaders to take certain actions. The leaders by now know what they should do as represented in the need to prioritise the economic well-being of the people, promote the democratisation of the polity through the strengthening of institutions and embracing transparency and accountability. Leaders should commit themselves to ensuring good governance at all levels. The legislature must strive to gain the support of the people by becoming proactive in its   promotion of good governance. The legislators in the performance of their oversights functions should watch the executive and ensure that good policies are implemented for the benefit of the people.

For the people, they must also become proactive. Civil society Organizations and community based organizations as representatives of the people should strengthen good governance from below by providing the people with the tools they need to question and take charge of their future.  The media must also continue to hold the government accountable to the people while Traditional rulers should avoid confirming chieftaincy titles on corrupt politicians or their cronies who don’t have any feasible means of livelihood other than being friends of political office holders or their spouses. The intellectual class should also take up the challenge of providing a critical intellectual opposition to government. Specifically, they should constantly engage the government on policies and actions that will boost the socio-economic well being of the people and thereby enhance our democratic development.
Being the excerpts of a paper delivered in Lagos recently

Source: Sahara  Reporters

BEYOND THE BOKO HARAM NEGOTIATION WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA

The Boko Haram crisis started on the heels of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential nomination processes of 2011. The wanton wastage of lives and property is strictly a political retaliation against the candidacy and eventual election of Goodluck Jonathan. The president confirmed this himself by saying that the Boko Haram has members in the present political ruling class including his cabinet. Recent revelations have indicted some of them but they are still free, with no meaningful investigation or prosecution. It appears that there is a high-powered conspiracy of the politically aggrieved to deal with the Jonathan presidency. It is rather unfortunate that the leadership of this same PDP have not engaged themselves on the fundamental issues troubling the party internally.

When the president came up with the idea of the single-term tenure, it was the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that opposed it vehemently. The Northern leaders who felt cheated by the election of President Jonathan in 2011 would have supported the single-term tenure if it has scaled through the National Assembly. Attacks are launched whenever there is any comment or debate that puts Jonathan forward as the best candidate for the 2015 presidential election. Attacks are however suspended whenever there is an anti-Jonathan campaign at any level e.g. the Fuel Subsidy Removal Protest at the Freedom Park in Lagos.

The Boko Haram leadership has defended the sect as “fighting for God”. But this is far-fetched, knowing fully well the genesis of the crisis – the election of President Goodluck Jonathan. Members of the sect pretend as if the mass destruction of life in the North, and the comprehensive economic wreckage serves anyone any good. The ruling class thought that the presidency can put an end to insurrection in any region of the country.

There were once the militants in the Niger-Delta creeks that fought vehemently against perceived marginalization of its people leading to wanton wastage of lives and properties. The Igbos are still aggrieved that they have not had a democratically elected president in the presidential villa since Independence over 50 years ago. It has been said over and over again that no region has the monopoly of violence. Those who think destroying the once peaceful and serene environments in most parts of the North would meet their agitation should have a rethink.

The whole crisis as it stands now is beyond Goodluck Jonathan, and his presidency as of today. It requires all Nigerians’ attention and collective response. The ruling class should not play to the gallery when it comes to the issue of security. It is when we have internal security that we can boast of political stability and economic growth and development. The convocation of a National Conference is long overdue. Many issues still trail the political injustices across the length and breadth of Nigeria. The National assembly should, for once, climb down its high legislative horse, and accept that Nigeria needs to realign its political infrastructure to survive.

There cannot be a State of Emergency when there is an avenue that accommodates every citizen irrespective of their political inclination to sit at a roundtable. The best time to call for a National Conference is now.