Going by the consensus of opinions and or comments by various segments of the Nigeria society and stakeholders in the Nigeria project, the declaration of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, was not only welcome but was seen as long overdue.
And except for the unnecessary politics being introduced to it by some opposition political parties, particularly the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and the national chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Prince Tony Momoh that shared different opinions on the declaration, the general views of Nigerians is that of commendation and applauses for President Jonathan.
Specifically, President Jonathan is being commended for displaying the attributes of a genuine and committed democrat that believes in the application of the rule of law in matters of state. This he demonstrated by his refusal to dismantle the political structures in place in the affected states, unlike the practice during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in which the political structures in Plateau and Ekiti States were arbitrarily dismantled.
The president had while declaring the state of emergency said: “The details of this proclamation will be transmitted to the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. But in the meantime, let me make it clear that within the purview of this proclamation, the governors and other political office holders in the affected states will continue to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.
“I urge the political leadership in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States to co-operate maximally with the armed forces and the police to ensure that the exercise succeeds. We call on the citizenry to co-operate with our security agencies to ensure a return to normalcy within the shortest possible time.”
By this singular act, President Jonathan instead demolished and demobilised political jobbers and propagandists that were out to make a mountain out of the situation, had the state of emergency affected the political structures.
Condemnation by ACN
But taking into consideration, the deliberate attempt by the ACN in particular to cast aspersion in the efforts of the federal government to check the activities of terrorists in the country, it is certainly not out of place to state that there seems to be too much of dangerous politicking with issues of national security to the detriment of the very existence of the nation, all in the name of 2015.
It is appalling to note that while the nation is experiencing danger as a result of the insecurity, all that matters to the opposition ACN and the CPC is to play politics with every and anything, including the lives of the people, a development that has clearly shown that the same politicians no longer have value for lives of the people. Or how else will one describe a situation in which all that matters to the ACN is all about how to capture power even when it is obvious that the nation is facing danger. Not too long ago, the ACN condemned the amnesty announced by the federal government as part of its carrot approach to the members of the dreaded Boko Haram.
Since the commencement of the dastardly killings of innocent people by members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, the opposition political parties, rather than keep politics aside to join in the process of finding solution to the crisis, prefer to introduce politics of deceit aimed at massaging their personal ego. Unfortunately, apart from criticisms of every move by the federal government in addressing the matter, the ACN has not deemed it fit to proffer a workable solution to ending the insurgency. This is in addition to the dissipation of energy at deliberately sabotaging the efforts of government through the active connivance of sponsors and supporters of the terrorists operating in the country that has tended to derail the expected gains of the government.
Pointedly, the ACN rather than applaud the declaration of the state of emergency by President Jonathan, described it as cosmetic and therefore called on the National Assembly to reject it.
In a statement by the spokesman of the party, Lai Mohammed, the party noted that the declaration of the state of emergency was lacking in original thinking, just as it stressed that if the use of force was capable of ending the Boko Haram crisis, it would have ended it a long time ago.
The ACN said: “While the president was right in expressing outrage over the mindless killings and wanton destruction by the insurgents, he was wrong in proposing more of the same measures that have failed to yield results.”
PDP’s position
But the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in its reaction, described the ACN as a political party speaking from either a diseased and confused state of mind or actively conniving at the mindless war on Nigeria.
PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh said, “The ACN, the sole repository of Solomonic wisdom, who was against amnesty to insurgents, who indeed described the federal government in unprintables, has today turned a proselyte of amnesty and dialogue. The ACN is trying to capitalise on the escalating terror as short-cut to power.”
Support of LP, APGA
Unlike the ACN which expressed dissatisfaction, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and Labour Party, applauded President Jonathan for the state of emergency on Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, stressing that it was not only needful but a determined approach to check the crisis in the affected areas.
National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu blamed the state governments for the security breaches in their states, just as he questioned the huge security votes at their disposals.
Nwanyanwu said: “The argument that the state is not in control of the military and police and cannot do anything, does not hold water. Why do governors collect security votes? They should stop collecting security votes if that flimsy excuse is what they will present as their defence.
“I want to say that President Jonathan has done the best by declaring state of emergency in all those states where these mass killings have been very prevalent. I think Mr. President did not shy away from this responsibility and has not allowed people to mis-advise him on this.”
Significantly, the federal government in addressing the problem headlong, adopted the ‘carrot and stick’ approach in line with acceptable international convention and standards. This is against the backdrop of the fact that President Jonathan had approached the issue of terrorism in the country particularly with regards to the activities of Boko Haram with caution and through the adoption of a multi-track approach. The approach included persuasion, dialogue and widespread consultation with the political, religious and community leaders in the affected states.
However, it has to be understood that there is a limit to tolerance and as it has been shown by the president, was bogged by the question of how long his administration had to contend with and negotiate with an unwilling group and therefore the resolve to decisively use th military option.
Importantly, President Jonathan assured that while efforts at persuasion and dialogue will continue, the government has a sacred duty to ensure the security and well-being of all the people as well as protect the sovereign integrity of the nation.
Curiously, most of the terrorists are believed to live among the people within the various communities from where they carry out their attacks on innocent people and yet, some supporters of the terrorists still want the federal government to continue to negotiate with people that have come out clearly to state in unmistaken terms that they do not need amnesty.
All said and done, President Jonathan deserves every commendation for the steps so far taken by his administration in tackling insurgence and terrorism in the country. If the President was as vicious as some other leaders, he would have gone ahead to take political advantage of the situation by ensuring that his political party, the PDP gain from the development.
President Jonathan certainly won the hearts of the people with the fast one he pulled which deflated the armour of the opposition political parties that were waiting in the wings to hit at him if he had dismantled the political structures.
The President certainly knew when to take action and that he did appropriately with the wisdom of Solomon as a leader determine to protect the lives of his people.
Akidus Buoro is a Public Affairs commentator