Had government gone the way of dialogue it should not have been difficult for it to see the reasonableness of all that Malam Shehu Sani had been saying
I will, forever, be proud of our web portal: ekitipnupo@yahoogroups.com, an Indigenous Think-Tank and Intellectual Round-Table, agglomerating no less than two thousand Ekiti compatriots, both at home and in the Diaspora and on which no single issue, however supposedly minor, concerning the state, in particular, and Nigeria in general, passes us bye.
Witness the following remarks by two members of the forum, distinguished Professors in their own right, one of Chemical Engineering, and the other of Agric Economics, on the topic of the moment in Nigeria –Amnesty.
First: ‘My heart nearly stopped beating yesterday when, listening to local Nigerian news, I heard that the Governor of Abia State was asking for amnesty for the 5000 kidnappers in his state, and that they should be paid compensation or monthly wages “like is being done in the Niger-Delta.”
5000 kidnappers in Abia State alone? I asked.
And already identified?
And it was no April Fool, or an Onion radio station…
Is this is a sick joke or what? What now does amnesty mean in Nigeria? How do you give amnesty to:
1. Those who have not accepted that they are criminals that must be “amnestied”?
2. Those who have not asked for it, even if they accept criminality?
3. Those whose total number at a point of amnesty you have not identified?
4. those whose stream of replenishment – after granting some amnesty that must be based on certain terms – you are not able to stem?
I don’t understand it – ” – but this Orji’s request takes the cake.
o mebiri emebi, biko nu…’
And second one, on the same Orji macabre request:
‘We are gradually descending from being ridiculous to being insane, playing politics with everything including precious human lives. The logic, as warped as it may appear, is that if the northern leaders are getting money for their Boko Haram (terrorists), he can as well ask for his kidnappers too. After all, terrorism and kidnapping are both crimes and the funds to be used will come from the commonwealth – the theory of ‘whatever is good for the goose should also be good for the gander’.
Preposterous, I dare say but then, is n’t this our friend of the popular shrine?
Both quotes point to how serious, or otherwise, a country we are as well as what manner of leaders we have but , more critically, it calls to question our process of leadership recruitment which is as warped as we are rudderless.
What then is amnesty?
Generally, amnesty is defined as any governmental pardon for past offenses or crimes, especially political ones. Granting amnesty goes beyond a pardon, in that it forgives the said offense completely. Indeed, a key part of the definition is the fact that amnesty is granted before any trial or conviction so Asari Dokubo could not have been right with his postulation that “the government can only put in two things – exercise prerogative of mercy after a person is convicted or when a person is under trial to put a nolle Prosequi but you cannot see somebody and declare him a criminal and give him a pardon’.
Amnesty has also been described (Tom Tancredo, for instance, a Colorado, U.S politician, and former Presidential candidate) as a terrible policy, as well as terrible politics because by offering it you are rewarding people for breaking the law.” Please note though, that this unrealistic G.O.P politician had American illegal immigrants in mind.
Nothing demonstrates the wrongheadedness of President Jonathan’s amnesty offer than the following response by the Boko Haram leader, Abubjakar Shekau: “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon,” and followed it up by listing what he called the state’s atrocities against Muslims.
Were the Jonathan government serious, that was the point at which it should have realised that what the problem called for, was dialogue, rather than any sterile offer of amnesty. I have, on this page, been an unrepentant advocate of dialogue even when it was neither trendy nor politically correct to, as much, as mention it. I recently upped the ante by asking for an all-inclusive National conference at which Nigeria’s many demons can be objectively and critically interrogated.
Had government gone the way of dialogue it should not have been difficult for it to see the reasonableness of all that Malam Shehu Sani had been saying, ad nauseam.
Shehu Sani, prominent civil rights activist, who single-handedly interacted with Boko Haram up to a point former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not mind joining the chorus, has literally been having a dialogue with the deaf on the issue of Boko Haram. Before he respectfully declined to serve on the Jonathan Amnesty Committee, he had warned endlessly that the first step was to establish a credible link with Boko Haram through those who know the group and who they, in turn can trust. Given the literal ribaldry going on, Sani has ruled out the possibility of Boko Haram leadership accepting the proposed amnesty because you cannot give amnesty to a people who do not want amnesty. Said Sani, “First of all, government set up a committee whose members nobody knows -(that has since been corrected) – but he went on: “If you set up a committee with big people who do not have access to the leadership of Boko Haram, you are simply wasting your time.” He even doubts whether the cheer-leading Northern governors are in touch with Boko Haram at all. The last I remember, personally, were some groveling Northern governors, serving and past, literally on their knees, begging Boko Haram leaders, asking for forgiveness. The manner in which they pleaded, you would have thought they took any of Shekau’s many wives!
Nor was Sani done. He alleged that the motivating factor in all this talk about amnesty is money –kudi – which some Northern leaders are already eyeing. And he cautioned: ‘the Federal Government must not dangle money before Boko Haram as money cannot solve the problem of Boko Haram. They have not made financial request and secondly they are not fighting because they need money’, he concluded.
And I say it would be such a shame if these Northern éminence grise have forgotten so soon that, driven by religious fundamentalism, Osama Bin Laden thought nothing of his riches but how to cause maximum damage to humanity. He was known to have spent copious time in the desert where he had work camps and led a totally ascetic life style. How come any government would wish to grant these his ‘evil’ heirs, tonnes of money which would most probably end up in arms procurement and more havoc. (Evil – not my word, but that of respected Alhaji Bamanga Tukur of the Gen Murtala/Nigerian Port Authority fame, a happy throw back to the days Nigeria had leaders.
The fact that highly regarded Dr Datti Ahmed, President, Sharia Supreme Council in Nigeria has also declined participation in the committee work says much about its reasonableness long term usefulness. Without a doubt this will also go the way of other actions and promises of President Jonathan, and here, power readily comes to mind.
I will therefore respectfully suggest to Mr President to immediately disband this ill-advised Amnesty Committee, and in its place, commence two quick processes, namely, inaugurate an appropriate committee to commence a discreet dialogue and negotiations with Boko Haram leaders through those individuals they trust, and put in place, a tidy and efficient enumeration of ALL the victims of Boko Haram’s unmitigated terrorism with a view to cogently assisting them or their dependants . Government should also draw up a Marshall plan which will, unlike these loquacious governors, aggressively infuse real socio-economic development in Northern Nigeria which age long feudalism has brought to its knees. The plan should aim directly at tuning the youth around because they constitute the literally rootless, and mostly illiterate, field from which they recruit suicide bombers on the titillating promise of heavenly virgins.
