By Adeola Aderounmu
I have read several reports that indicate that the militarily weak Nigerian government has planned to grant amnesty to terrorists in Northern Nigeria.
The ruler of Corruption ridden Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. A confused, clueless man?
These reports are ridiculous and all but indicate a government that is clueless and useless.
There is a war going on in Northern Nigeria. This is no longer news. What is news it that both local and international media have lost tracks of the different battles and incidents.
Boko Haram
(Scanpix photo)
Terrorism held fast in Northern Nigeria. It is also glaring that the war between the Nigerian military and the Boko Haram sect is now full force. About 200 people were reported killed in gunfire and arms battle this last weekend (week 16 of 2013).
According to reports in the PUNCH newspaper, 2,000 houses, 62 vehicles and 486 motorcycles were either burnt or vandalised during the clash in the early hours of Saturday.
Who declares amnesty in the middle of a war?
The terrorists have no plans to lay down their arms. They are on the rampage, killing, maiming and destroying both living and non-living things.
School days are over in Northern Nigeria because Boko Haram has ensured that several hundreds of schools have been razed.
Church days are over because Christians have been murdered in cold blood.
Life is gradually coming to an end in many parts of Borno under the control of Boko Haram. Government houses are been shut or sacked and police stations and prisons have been set open in many states to free criminals.
In the last year alone, more than 3 000 have died. For unreported incidents, we are talking about a toll that may hit 10 ooo in a country where records and statistics are scanty.
Boko Haram remains a mystery to the Nigerian presidency that described the sect as being constituted of ghosts.
BokoHaram
So who needs amnesty?
Boko Haram is determined to end the regime of Goodluck Jonathan and I thought the message and actions are clear.
What is the amnesty about?
The weak central government of Nigeria is definitely misusing the word amnesty.
The government is planning a re-election in 2015 in a country that lies in ruins. You won’t find a crazier selection of politicians anywhere in the world. Nigerian politicians are crooks and blood suckers.
I think it is better to say that the government of Jonathan is channeling some free funds into private pockets by using the word amnesty.
Boko Haram is on the rampage. The sect has not denounced its objectives which include a violent overthrow of the corrupt and stupid Nigerian government. The sect also wants to institute Islamic codes and forms of government across Nigeria. The ambition is huge but has been largely successful in Northern Nigeria where Mr. Obasanjo provided the catalysm of aiding the establishment the Sharia governments across the North.
Amnesty is given to a people who have denounced their cause, become repentant and involved in negotiations to restore peace, order and the rule of law.
Book Haram fighters never told anyone that they wanted amnesty or that they have abandoned their causes.
As far as I am concern, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan becomes a sponsor of Terrorism when he starts to send funds and money to those pursuing terror acts whether in Nigeria or anywhere else. When the amnesty package starts to roll out, I will call for the arrest and prosecution of Jonathan for sponsoring terrorism.
My hope is that Mr Jonathan should be placed on a “most wanted list” for sponsoring terrorism when he starts to openly channel funds to the terrorists of Northern Nigeria.
Unconfirmed reports have insinuated that Boko Haram receive huge funds from the governors of Northern Region of Nigeria. Even Goodluck Jonathan has often carelessly stated that Boko Haram is within his weak government. So invariably before now government funds have reached Boko Haram in the past through the back doors.
Is Mr. Jonathan trying to openly support terrorism through his stupid amnesty plan?
Nigerians should wake up and smell the coffee. The ultimate goal is not to end the siege of Boko Haram. It will be to start a revolution that will change the course of history. The goals should include
• abrupt end to poverty in a country full of all known sorts of human, physical and natural resources,
• establishment of self-determinations in the various regions with control over own resources thereby abolishing the useless central system of government
• the struggle towards achieving a lasting peace and prosperity to all people and not the few selected idiots currently draining the country.
aderounmu@gmail.com
A View From The Scandinavian 
It is true, the government of Goodluck Jonathan want to offer amnesty to Boko Haram, who do not want it. Like it or not, Nigeria has become to Africa, what Pakistan is to the world a source of instability and nest of terrorism.
Adeola, don’t be deceived by the propaganda Nigerians love to throw about the place. The mineral resources of Nigeria are modest by world standards, so people shouldn’t think that Nigeria with it’s large and rapidly growing population can sit back and exhaust these resources. That is a short-sighted and unwise course of action. I heard the Russian news (RT.com) refer to Nigeria as a poor country, I initially thought “hang on a minute!”, but on reflection they are right. Nigeria’s population is now greater than that of Russia’s and we don’t have a fraction of their wealth. The size (land mass) of Russia must be at least 50 times that of Nigeria (if not more).
I don’t think there was anything Obasanjo could have done about the implementation of Sharia law, flawed as the implementation was. It was extremely divisive, and a large proportion (if not the majority of the military are Muslim). His hands were tied, he couldn’t use the army to enforce the constitution, as Muslim’s view the Koran as being above the constitution.
This Boko Haram thing, has gotten out of hand. The nation is not facing them (or MEND for that matter) as threat to the nation. Everyone see’s it as someone else’s problem. In reality it is everyone’s problem. Until that basic idea has been accepted, Boko Haram can run free and do as they like.
This sovereign national conference what people are calling for. I personally have lost faith in the masses of Nigeria. People were initially saying military rule is what Nigeria needs, the military have shown they were not capable of ruling in a transparent and effective manner (and have shown themselves to be highly corrupt). People then switched to say, democracy is the answer. Again Nigerians have now undermined the system, with some sort of corrupt shambles they are trying to pass off as democracy. Now people are calling for a sovereign national conference and more power to the regions. No doubt that will go the way of the it’s predecessors (ie military rule and democracy) ie a failure. What next more regions/states? Will we end up with 250 states (one for each ethnic group?). People are missing the point, it’s not the system. It is the general desire co-operate amongst ourselves in a productive way, that is the way forward. Development should not depend on which region holds the presidency. That is why there is such an almighty tussle for the presidency come election time, because there is relatively little economic activity occuring.
If Nigerians as a a people were less corrupt, more hardworking then the nature of the government wouldn’t matter so much. The military of Brazil did put in the right economic structures in place to allow the economy to take off (despite them being repressive). Ghana has made huge strides since the civilians have taken over (even before oil was discovered, they were sailing along).
True, Nigerian leadership is bankrupt, but let’s face it, successive generations have come and gone. They all have the same characteristic of being highly corrupt. The leadership have hailed from all the various regions, but they have all been terrible at governing. The leadership bring the values of the people into office. We can replace them, and get another bunch of crooks to misuse the nations wealth. Until the masses generally and genuinely wake-up to this basic fact, the country is going nowhere.
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I was thinking more carefully about Boko Haram, Ansaru and others who support them. They aim is to make Nigeria a full-fledged Islamic state. Anyone who opposes them is to receive the bullett (ie killed).
What they represent is fascism. They want uniformity, conformity and subjugation under the guise of religion, they will no doubt say as an antidote to corruption and misrule (which we have seen in their states is nothing but a big lie)
Everyone is Nigeria is playing like an ostritch, ie burying their heads in the sand until Boko Haram come along and behead them leaving their heads in the sand.
As we can see President Goodluck Jonathan, is hoping and praying for the misuse of the term amnesty to quieten these “groups” down. History has shown that you can’t appease fascists. They have to be opposed, this has been demonstrated repeatedly in world history. But alas Nigerian leaders are oblivious to these basic facts, plus Boko Haram and their mates don’t want any amnesty.
Given that Nigeria is heterogeneous society, this can’t be tolerated not to mention strking any kind of compromise. But given the disgraceful nature of Nigerian politics there are some leaders who advocate this approach.
Jonathan unlike his predecessors like Yar’Adua and Obasanjo, needs to show some backbone. This I doubt he will do. He needs to sort amongst the haystack of redundant Northern leaders and elders (not to mention Southern ones), and establish a coalition to fight the menace. He should rally the people, rather than hide out in Abuja.
The only person I can think of who showed some backbone, was not a democrat, that was the late Sani Abacha.
As for the other aims you have mentioned, that is very laudable, but I can’t comment on that right now. I did mention that people just need to learn to get along and make agreements and stick to them for things to work. No amount of national conference, or political shake up can compensate for those basic requirements.
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