Boko Haram: Why Northern leaders blame Jonathan , Federal government for insurgents’ havoc

Day by day, more and more Northern leaders are buying into the suspicion spreading fast in the region that the ad­ministration of President Goodluck Jon­athan is fuelling the Boko Haram insur­gency in parts of the North to enhance his chances of re-election in the 2015 general elections.

From Katsina to Kaduna, Bauchi to Kano and so on, virtually all the leaders Saturday Sun spoke to on the strong feelings spreading like wildfire that the Federal Government is conniving with some factions of Boko Haram to wreack havoc in the North, gave the same verdict. They accused President Jonathan of working clandestinely to use the insurgency to depopulate the North ahead of the February 2015 elections. In fact, former Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Abubakar Tsav accused the presidency of using Ni­ger Delta militants to carry out last week’s bombing of Kano Central Mosque.

Fully aware of this ill-feeling, the presi­dency earlier in the week made a spirited effort to dispel it and assure the troubled re­gion of its security. Vice President, Namadi Sambo, who belled the cat on Monday, de­nied reports that the Nigerian government was behind Boko Haram and the Kano mosque attack.

Speaking during a visit to the victims of Friday’s mosque bombing in Kano, Sambo said the Federal Government could not be behind Boko Haram when majority of secu­rity establishments are headed by Northern­ers.

“Take the issue of the Minister of De­fence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau, he is a Muslim and from Zamfara State; the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, is also a Mus­lim from Sokoto State; the Inspector Gen­eral of Police, Alhaji Suleiman Abba is also a Muslim from Jigawa State and my humble self hail from Zaria town, Kaduna State.

“It is unfair for anybody to think that as Muslims and Northerners holding political positions in the Federal Government, we can connive or aid anyone or group of per­sons committing atrocities in the North and the nation as a whole”, he assured. That, however, did not assuage the peoples’ feel­ings. In Katsina, elderstatesmen, former Minister of State for Finance during Gen. Sani Abacha regime, Alhaji Abu Gidado, and former Senate Deputy President, Mamman Danmusa, blamed the Federal Government outright over unrelenting spate of insurgency in the North.

“For a government of the people, for such insurgency, it is either responsible for what is happening or is irrespon­sible to cope with its responsibility. That is my stand,” de­clared Gidado.

“The insurgents or whatever you may call them, haven’t got the capacity of the government; they haven’t got the means or the resources. If they can challenge the govern­ment for so long, it is either the government is responsible for it or it has failed in its duty as government, therefore, it is irresponsible”, he added.

He further explained: “For failing to use the resources available, which is more than that of any insurgent or any­body within its domain, to tackle it, it (government) is ei­ther responsible for what is happening, therefore, it cannot check itself; it is doing it or it is irresponsible and, there­fore, it is failing in its responsibility to the people.”

“Was it Abacha or who that said any insurgency which lasts 12 hours without government quelling it, government has a hand in it?”, he queried.

Similarly, a former Deputy President of the Senate, Mamman Danmusa, in his reaction to the speculations asked Saturday Sun rhetorically, “did retired Admiral Nya­ko not mentioned this?”

“He did, he did, in a paper he presented in America. So, it not something new; it is only now that God in His infi­nite mercy permitted this thing to come out but one thing is quite clear, anything based on injustice will not last,” af­firmed Danmusa.

He went down memory lane to buttress his point that neither insurgency nor injustice would succeed for too long in Nigeria.

His words: “You don’t need to go to school to believe that government is responsible (for this insurgency). So, not only that, in their narrow perception of things, they tried to divide the North: Muslims against Christians, but it is now clear to all Northerners that it is not the question of religion.

“Nigeria is a wonderful country. You know, we are the majority (the Northerners) and we have qualified persons but the people of South-South are taking over the federal civil service. So, is this how the federation will continue?”

In Bauchi, prominent Islamic scholar, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi holds the same view. According to him: “This bloodshed has gone beyond comprehension. There are claims that they are occurring in this magnitude because some politicians want to cause insecurity in the North so that there won’t be election. It is very disturbing. I don’t think these recent bombings, especially the ones that hap­pened in Kano Central Mosque, are Boko Haram. They know themselves. There are people in this government that don’t want the Boko Haram crisis to end. That is why it went to this stage and now it is an open thing. The ones carrying out these attacks are not Muslims. Their target is to kill Muslims, destroy the North so that there won’t be elections in 2015. These politicians want the insecurity to continue so that there won’t be election to enable them to continue. That is what they are looking for.

To destroy the North and our communities so that they will remain in pow­er. We have taken them to God and God will judge the mat­ter. There is no security. How many are the Boko Haram members that the Federal Government cannot defeat them? What is the strength of our military? How can almajiri be­come difficult for the Federal Government to defeat? There is something fishy. There are plans to destroy the Muslims in the North. There are plans to weaken the North and the country so that there won’t be elections in 2015. The politi­cal leaders in power want to continue, that is why they are allowing such destruction to continue. The Federal Govern­ment has failed to protect the lives and property of citizens. I advise Nigerian citizens to be vigilant and proactive. They must defend themselves against attacks of these kinds.

In his view, former Minister of Police Affairs, Dr Yaku­bu Lame, who also spoke in Bauchi, did not differ from the others. “I feel sad whenever I see our people being killed every day, every day to no end, and nothing seems to be happening, so that is a very serious dilemma we are in, very serious. The PDP has abdicated responsibility. The purpose of government is to provide security for lives and property. And the Federal Government is the custodian of the instru­ment of security. And for them to say that they are blaming the APC, it means they are failing in their job. Whether the APC is truly or not, they should be able to stop them from doing that, so they should not abdicate their responsibility because of incapacity to do the correct thing.”

Former police boss, Abubakar Tsav was more specific in his allegations against the Federal Government. Accord­ing to him: “It is true that the North strongly suspects the involvement of the Federal Government in the insurgency crisis for political reasons or gains.

I feel that last Friday’s attack on the Kano Central Mosque cannot be the work of Muslims or true Christians. The operation must have been carried out by a third force.

“There is the belief that the Niger Delta militants have infiltrated all the security agencies in the country. Some of them are fanatical pagans who believe neither in Christian­ity nor in Islam. Such people or group is capable of doing anything for money.

“The suspicion that the Federal Government is fuelling the insurgency is confirmed by the President’s ineptitude and inaction against the terrorists ravaging the North East. He is more interested in issues relating to his re-election.

“Imagine that the very young Chibok Schoolgirls were abducted over six months ago and he (Jonathan) has done nothing to rescue them. Who knows if the girls are the same girls that have been indoctrinated and are being used as suicide bombers?

“As for the Vice President, he was merely protecting his job, he is not sincere in his remark. It is merely hypocrisy typical of the PDP. The government is using the police to intimidate and cow the North to submission.

“Why has Ali Modu Sheriff suddenly become a confi­dant and friend of Jonathan? Why did the Federal Govern­ment not carry out an open investigation against the former Chief of Army Staff?

“In many of the happenings and the fact that politi­cians and service men are using the insurgency to acquire wealth, I also believe that government is fuelling the insur­gency. It is messy!”

Asked to further explain this position, he recalled: “During the Abacha regime, there was this spate of bomb­ings here and there in Lagos State and this was attributed to NADECO, but it was later traced to security agencies. I was the Commissioner of Police for Lagos State, so I had privileged information.

In his reaction, former governor of Kaduna State, Al­haji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa said that Vice President Namadi Sambo’s visit to Kano on behalf of the Federal Government over the Kano Mosque bombing was more of a face-saving move.

He blamed President Jonathan for the unabated bomb­ing and killing by Boko Haram insurgents, alleging that the insecurity was politically designed by the President to cause confusion in the country.

He added that if the insurgency was not politically de­signed, it must have reared its head as a result of President Jonathan’s incompetence to steer the affairs of the nation over the years.

“It is inevitable for Vice President Namadi Sambo to visit Kano and represent President Goodluck Jonathan over the bombing, because I don’t think it is safe for the President to travel to anywhere in Nigeria because of the level of insecurity in the country.

“And this insurgency is happening either because of the President’s incompetence or because he politically de­signed it to cause confusion in the country. So, the visit to Kano is nothing new, but more of a face-saving, because even in Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa is not safe. There is insecurity everywhere.”

In a swift reaction to the allegations by the Northern leaders, the presidency through the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati said the accusations are “wrong headed, malicious, and mischie­vous. I can tell you categorically that it is not in the interest of government for there to be terrorism, insurgency in any part of Nigeria. I mean no government will want to preside over insecurity or any form of instability.”

According to him: “The government of President Jona­than is committed to national development and progress. The government is committed to quality leadership and faithful to its primary duty which is to ensure the security and welfare of Nigeria and everyone who lives in Nigeria.

“So, for anyone to say government is fuelling insurgency in Nigeria, I mean the thing doesn’t even make sense. And anyone who has seen how President Jonathan has, with every sense of commitment, seriousness and responsibility prosecuted the war against terrorism and insurgency, will see very clearly that the government is honest and forth­right in all its efforts to ensure that all the affected parts of the country are secured for the benefit of the people.

“And I have always made the point that the threat of terrorism is something new to our environment, it’s an un­conventional kind of challenge but the security agencies have shown great resolve supported by the determination and the will of the Federal Government to ensure that an end is brought to this. They have shown that they are also determined.

“So, this kind of allegation is something nobody should take seriously, people should realise that in the lead up to 2015 elections, all kinds of people are engaged in a lot of propaganda. They will say anything whatsoever just to get attention and for people who claim to seize power any means possible fair or foul, they will use any means at their disposal including misinforming the public, misleading the public for their own benefit. But government has a duty to always bring everybody to a path of reason. And the path of reasoning in this regard, there is no way government can fuel the crisis against itself. It doesn’t make sense.

The Sun report