•President Jonathan must reassess his ties to Senator Ali Modu Sheriff
It is often said that eternal vigilance is the price of victory. Given the very serious security challenges currently being confronted by Nigeria, it is surprising that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has persistently refused to take this wisdom to heart.
Quite apart from the Federal Government’s inability to rally cross-party support for its anti-terror campaign, increasing disquiet at its dubious arms-procurement processes, as well as the uncertain morale of the armed forces, there are its inexplicably close connections to individuals suspected of contributing significantly to the rise of insurgent groups like Boko Haram.
The most prominent of these links is that between the Jonathan administration and the former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. Ever since his defection to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in July, and even before it, Sheriff has been the beneficiary of courtesies and preferential protocol arrangements that would be more appropriate to a sitting head of state.
When Maiduguri Airport was closed in June in response to military directives, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State, and 286 pilgrims on their way to perform the lesser Hajj in Mecca were forced to comply. However, the airport was reopened in July for the sole reason of allowing Sheriff’s private jet to land, allegedly to facilitate his intention of declaring for the PDP. Why would the Federal Government override security concerns and extend a courtesy to an ex-governor that it had denied his successor?
Then there is the controversial appearance of Sheriff at a meeting between Presidents Jonathan and his Chadian counterpart, Idris Deby, on September 8. Sheriff was not only in the official Chadian delegation which welcomed Jonathan at the airport, he was also at Deby’s formal reception for Jonathan. Although the president’s media aides have been at pains to stress that Sheriff was not on Nigeria’s official entourage, the fact that he was able to meet the president without any apparent hindrance does not inspire confidence in government’s vaunted attempts to combat Boko Haram.
The latest demonstration of Senator Sheriff’s “most-favoured person” status was the 200-man close protection detail that attended him when he recently visited Maiduguri to pay his condolences to a bereaved friend. This security escort far exceeds that of any governor, and can only be rivalled by that of the president himself. Significantly, Sheriff’s escort comprised soldiers rather than policemen who usually provide security cover for non-military VIPs. In effect, soldiers who could have been employed far more usefully against insurgents were deployed to protect an individual suspected of a major role in the creation and sustenance of the very same insurgents they should have been fighting!
The Jonathan administration must realise that such displays of moral ambivalence are far more disadvantageous to its credibility than any perceived gain. It strengthens growing perceptions that the Federal Government is more interested in manipulating the insurgency than in fighting it. It weakens national resolve to unite against terror. It gives heart to individuals who sponsor terrorism and provide succour for those who perpetrate it. Perhaps most distressing of all, it poisons all aspects of social, political and economic life by destroying trust, ruining nationalist fervour and degrading patriotic obligation.
If indeed the Federal Government is assiduously fighting terrorism, it cannot be seen to be cozying up to individuals like Sheriff, whose innocence in insurgency-related matters is yet to be established. It should expedite the process of thoroughly investigating his activities in order to determine his culpability or otherwise, and in the meantime should seek to distance itself from his like.
