Last Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan summoned Governors Kashim Shetimma of Borno State and Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State to a private meeting at the presidential villa on how to tackle security challenges in their domains and the country in general. This synergy between the federal and state governments, coupled with a change in the mode of attack by Boko Haram suggest an impending end to terrorist activities in the country through dialogue, GEORGE AGBA reports.
Indications emerged last week that the presidency, the federal government and the extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram are changing signals in their modus operandi. It is becoming clear that dialogue between the federal government and the group is a dream that might soon unfold into a pleasant reality, though recently, the group and the presidency had sung discordant tunes.
While Boko Haram had denied having talks with the federal government, the presidency maintained that it was dialoguing with the sect through back channels. But LEADERSHIP investigation revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan, last Wednesday, summoned Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima and his Yobe State counterpart, Ibrahim Gaidam, over what appeared to be a chinwag on how to intensify efforts to reach out to the sect and come up with possible ways to end the spate of bombings and killings of innocent Nigerians.
Jonathan was said to have engaged the two governors in serious discussion on how to facilitate talks with the Boko Haram sect, not only at the federal level, but also at the state level. The private meeting which was scheduled to hold by 5:00pm after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting was later rescheduled to hold at the president’s residence in the presidential villa by 9:30pm.
Shettima and Gaidam, who arrived the Presidential villa in their separate convoys, were said to have been ushered into the president’s residence for the private meeting which lasted over one hour. A dependable source told LEADERSHIP that at the meeting, the president asked the governors to come up with ideas on how to engage the sect in talks in a manner reminiscent of the type of dialogue that led to the Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta militants initiated by late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
On the other hand, recent activities by the Islamic militant group suggests that the sect may have decided to adopt the approach of its counterpart in the Niger Delta region which was to attack oil installations, instead of the wanton killings of innocent Nigerians as witnessed in the last couple of years in Northern Nigeria. Apart from kidnapping of expatriates in the oil rich region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was also notorious for bombing oil installations in the creeks where it operated from.
The source said recent security observation showed that by cutting down on its violent attacks on human lives and targeting installations and other government property of recent, the extremist group, Boko Haram may be bracing up for dialogue with government that would herald an imminent end to the insurgence which has claimed over 1,400 lives in the northern and central parts of the country.
Boko Haram has since claimed responsibility of the destruction of telecommunication masts and regional offices of MTN and nine telecommunication companies’ masts in Maiduguri, Borno State penultimate Tuesday and early hours of Wednesday. Spokesperson of the group, Abul Qaqa, stated in an email that they “decided to launch the attacks on masts of mobile telecom operators as a result of the assistance they offer security agents.
The group stepped up its attacks on telecommunications equipment when they attacked more masts in Damaturu and Potiskum, both in Yobe State and Kano last Wednesday night and early Thursday.? The ministry of religious affairs which houses the Hajj Commission in Damaturu was also burnt down. Still in Damaturu, members of the sect set the residence of the mother-in-law of the state governor, Gaidam, on fire.
But the source, told Villa Diary that the massive attacks on telecommunication masts marked a new type of attack from a group that has become notorious for deadly gun and bomb assaults. This new method of attack adopted by the sect recently, which is similar to that employed by the Niger Delta Miitants, according to the source, “has sparked off a fresh zeal in the federal government to deepen talks with the group; hence the private meeting between the president and governors of Borno and Yobe States last Wednesday.
“The president is of the opinion that with the bombings and gruesome killings of humans has reduced to an abysmal level, it appears members of the sect too are beginning to position themselves for dialogue with the federal government and the only way they can be reached is through their state governors who are closer to the authorities at the grassroots. The meeting between the president, Governor Gaidam of Yobe State and his Borno state counterpart, Shettima, was quite fruitful. Issues of security, especially on how to get the sect members to come to a roundtable with government dominated discussions at the meeting. But do you expect us to divulge decisions reached when giving such sensitive information on a security meeting at that level”, the source added.
Confirming the private meeting between the president and the two governors last Wednesday, Borno State Commissioner for Information, Mallam Inuwa Bwala, told LEADERSHIP that there was no political undertone attached to his governor’s visit to the president, as issues discussed at the meeting were basically hinged on tackling security problems and moving the country forward.
He said, “People should not attribute political inklings to whatever may have transpired at the meeting. At least, I was with the governor at the State House. I was privy to the effect that the meeting was essentially on how to move Nigeria forward, how Borno can collaborate with the federal government to develop Nigeria and address some of the pressing issues, including the security challenges. So we are happy that, at least, for the first time, the president has deemed it necessary to invite our governor for a round table to discuss how to address the problems we are facing.
“Security is a difficult issue, of course now that we have realized that there is a need for the federal and state governments to collaborate. Like every other governor, he (Shettima) has the right to visit his president. Like every governor, the president has the right to invite him so that they rub minds on how they can use the state to develop the country and that is essentially what they discussed; on how the state government as a federating unit of the federal government can collaborate with the government at the centre to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Borno State. Rather than raise eye brows, people should begin to cheer up to the fact that we are beginning to see a sort of synergy in the workings of the federal government and state”, Bwala added.
Besides, there are reports that suggest that the federal government seems to have adopted silence as an approach on its plans and strategy to tackle the menace of the violent Islamic sect.
Government, it is said, appears to be keeping under wraps, the methods it would adopt to curb the activities of the dreaded sect instead of making it public in order not to jeopardize such plans.
Since the new National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, came on board to replace General Andrew Owoye Azazi, government has not been talking much on plans to overcome the security challenge in the country, particularly on the dialogue option with the Boko Haram sect.
Dasuki, a retired colonel, was appointed NSA on June 22 following the sack of Azazi and the Minister of Defence, Dr Mohammed Bello Haliru.
The thinking, according to security sources, is that matters regarding security are not to be disclosed and discussed publicly since divulging such information may hamper plans and strategy, saying that it is only results that the people would get to know.
But Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, had penultimate week disclosed that the Federal Government was holding talks with members of the Boko Haram sect through back door channels.
According to Abati, government is committed to finding a permanent solution to the Boko Haram insurgence which has claimed many lives and destroyed property particularly in the Northern parts of the country. He added that talks with the sect would not be the conventional roundtable talks but by proxy. He said government decided on the use of backdoor channels so as not to endanger government negotiators or expose the sect members.
He said, “When government says it is already talking to Boko Haram, the form of that dialogue must be properly understood. I think a lot of people are under the impression that the dialogue involves a situation whereby government officials are sitting on one side, Boko Haram persons are sitting on the other side in an air-conditioned room and there are negotiations across the table. That is not the form of the dialogue.
“The form of the dialogue is that backroom channels are being used to reach across with the sole objective of understanding what exactly the grievances of these persons are.? What exactly can be done to resolve the crisis, in the overall best interest of ensuring peace and stability in Nigeria and the security of lives and property”, Abati added.
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