Latinwo
How would you describe the prevailing situation in the country against the background of the Boko Haram activities?
I think there is a lot of fear in the minds of the people, and I know that each time they want to go out, majority of the people exercise tremendous fear and anxiety because of insecurity. And this stems from certain violent activities we are witnessing in the northern part of the country, South-South and of course, in other parts of the country. Let me state that the reason we have government in the first place is because some decisions require collective actions for the general good of the people. The point here is that there are long-term decisions; firm decisions like you have to make like on the roadmap to success or whatever we might want to call it. You have to get some people to represent you to take that decision on your behalf.
Besides, the fundamental interests of a nation, which the government has to concern itself with, are basically those of its military security, integrity of its political life,and the well-being of its people. They are unavoidable necessities of our national existence and therefore, not subject to classification as either right or wrong. The government has responsibilities in those areas and we can’t go about debating them on whether they are right or wrong. So, if you tell me that there is a lot of insecurity now in North, East or West, it is entirely the responsibility of the Federal Government to make sure that it provides security. And that’s why we have a government. Unfortunately, these challenges are lingering. There is nothing wrong in it seeking assistance. People go to war and seek mercenaries if they have money to help them to fight a war. People go to war and look for the best from other countries to assist them, no matter the kind of war, be it local, internal or external whatever. But here we are, faced with the Boko Haram crisis, especially in the northern part of the country. We now have a situation, where some people will just throw bombs at people where they are watching television in their homes or in open spaces. We have a situation, where you go to church to go and pray on a Sunday and as you are either leaving the church premises, the next thing is that they throw bombs at you. There is no better way to describe the ugly trend than absolute genocide; extermination. So, the government must wake up and do something quickly about it.
The authorities have deployed troops to those trouble spots. Aren’t they doing enough to restore sanity?
Well, whatever steps the government takes, until these things cease to exist, they will still need to do more. If you sent your troops there and they are doing their best, and the overall objective is not yet achieved, then you probably have to do more, maybe seek foreign assistance. If you seek assistance from highly developed nations that have had similar experiences in the past, they will be able to give you ideas on how best to go about it. This problem is all about existence. You have a government because you have the people. When the people are being exterminated and there are acts of genocide all over the places, you can’t fold your arms until those behind the evil acts have been dealt with appropriately. How are you able to achieve the overall objectives does not matter; the job has to be done; whether you are going to steal the idea or borrow it, you have to keep on searching for how to arrest the situation.
But some individuals and groups are opposed to any form of external assistance for the country in tackling the menace of the sect...
Whoever has been affected by current acts of violence would not think that way. I mean if you went to church with your children and somebody comes and throws either a hand grenade or bomb at you, the way you would look at the situation would be different. What we are talking about now is survival, rather than mere existence and when it is about survival, you could do anything to guarantee your survival and if you don’t survive, you can’t remain in the system. That’s the dilemma we have found ourselves as a people and country.How do you see the clamour for government to dialogue with the violent sect?
You have to look at the issue objectively. How do you deal with somebody or a group of people you don’t even know? You do not know where they get their arms, where they keep their weapons; you don’t know where they meet. Their illegal operations are even different from the activities of a guerrilla group. In the latter, you could have people moving out of the outskirts of a town to fight you. So, you can weigh the number of members of the guerrilla group, the equipment at their disposal and, the sources, as well as their capability and how they respond and fight back. But in the current situation in our country, members of the sect are just killing innocent people. But, the government, in its overall responsibility, must find a way out of the problem.
We had a similar incident some years ago in the name of the Maitatsine crisis. There was a way we tackled members of the sect and kind of eliminated them from the Nigerian society. So, the government must assert itself that the Boko Haram sect cannot be accommodated in whatever form. Then, you must get the people to support you in the battle to stamp out the activities of the group. Dialogue, yes, but you just have to know those you have to dialogue with. There is nothing wrong is using the stick-and-the-carrot. At the end, however, the nuisance has to be eliminated. That’s the key issue.
Some have advised the government to seek a political solution to the menace. Given your wealth of experience on security issues, can you decipher any political undertone in the problem?
It is difficult to remove such insinuations, and we have had people making loose statements after elections. But, the important thing is that you are in government. You are now the Number One authority in the land. So, every other thing is directly or indirectly connected to you. You can wake up today and say, ‘look, I am going this way or that way.’ You are in government and should have the final say, given the exigencies of the time, coupled with the fact that even in homes or clubs, you can’t have 90 or 95 per cent of the people saying yes to every critical issue. You must understand that as you are trying to build, other people will be trying to pull you down. It is a phenomenon, you can’t do anything about it. But the strength that is building must always prove to be superior and stronger than the strength that is trying to pull you down, and that’s why you have a government. The problem could be political; it could be religious, but if we have an ideology that says we represent a common society, where no one must be oppressed; where there will be respect for the integrity and human rights of all individuals, then the present situation is antithetical. We talk about patriotism, unity, compassion and piety. All these virtues constitute the major song we sing every day. Then, we must be ready and committed to upholding those principles. If there are one or two people, who are trying to pull down the system, we must quickly identify them and treat them the way they should be treated.
The Boko Haram palaver has triggered rising calls for a national conference, so that Nigerians could redefine the basis of their living together. Do you subscribe to the call?
I think we have to look at the issue objectively. The issue has gone beyond if one is for or against such clamours. It is better for one to take a retrospective view of events and happenings that culminated in the civil war. A few of the factors were inequality among the units that make up the federation, marginalisation, mutual suspicion and distrust among the ethnic groups. At present, we have a lot of problems and threatening signals of a collapsed state with political institutions losing their capacities, responsibility and legitimacy. Social and economic problems are mounting in the face of state corruption and leadership ineptitude; crime and violence flourish and fear proliferates. While some authorities are wavering and unstable, people have retreated to informal arena.
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