THE INSINCERITY AND UNCARING ATTITUDE OF THE NIGERIAN (BORNO STATE) GOVERNMENT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

Zik Gbemre, JP

Seriously, sometimes we are forced to wonder what hope lies ahead of our generations yet unborn judging by the daily impacts of the actions and inactions of Nigerian governments at various levels. We all know the country is currently in turmoil as a result of the rising insecurity that is perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect. Yet, in the midst of this, the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, whose state is ‘on fire’ and the most hit by the insurgents, still had the time and luxury to visit London for issues that are best considered unimportant, considering the situation at hand.

The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, was seen in London yesterday (15/05/2014), and was later interviewed by CNN’s Christian Amanpour whose first question to the governor was, “What are you doing in London Governor?”. And we understand why this question was first asked; simply because it is considered ‘abnormal’ by the CNN correspondent and to us, that a Governor whose state has witnessed terror attacks which has claimed countless innocent lives and property worth billions of Naira, plus the abduction of over 200 school girls, still had the pleasure to fly all the way to London for God knows what. It is so embarrassing! The Borno State Governor said he was in London to meet with strategic partners regarding bore hole drilling in his State and to thank the world for their help and support towards the abducted school girls. This to us, is the most absurd excuse for a sitting Governor whose State has been on Emergency Rule, to be far away from his home State to continue overseeing matters. It was reported that the Borno State Governor was also scheduled to leave London back to Nigeria in the evening of the same day.

When the Borno State Governor was further prodded by CNN Amanpour, he stated that he had to meet his partners regarding bore hole drilling in the State because the so called partners no longer want to drill the bore holes, obviously due to the insecurity situation in the State. This raises a whole lot questions as regards the main purpose of the Borno State Governor’s visit to London. Firstly, are there no indigenous borehole drilling firms in Nigeria that can execute ‘ordinary’ boreholes in Borno State? Does the Borno State Governor need to go all the way to London for this? Or to reassure his so called partners’ in London about their safety in the State to carry on the bore hole drilling? And what is his Commissioner for Infrastructure and Development doing to address the issue of the said needed boreholes drilling? In a sane society that is serious about the development of its people, the Governor should not even have any business with drilling of boreholes when there are Local Government Council Chairmen. Do you have to travel to London to drill boreholes? What happens to indigenous companies who engage in such businesses?

Even if the Borno State Governor needed to reassure its so called London partners, given the present circumstances in his State, he can do so through the British High Commissioner and the British Embassy in Nigeria. If his state is under a State of Emergency, surely he should only be out of the state on “extremely urgent and important matters” or matters relating to the insecurity issue affecting the state, and not seeking for water borehole partners. It shows the level of insincerity, lack of commitment and unpatriotic tendencies of not only the Borno State Government, but the Nigerian Government as a whole in the fight against terrorism. It is the official duty of the Federal Government of Nigeria to relate with the outside world on such insecurity matters in the country, especially when there is an Emergency Rule in some States. More so, the Nigeria Federal Government has already gotten the military, intelligence and moral support of the USA and Britain in the fight against terror and specifically, in the rescue of the over 200 abducted Chibok school girls. So what then is the Borno State Governor doing in London? The true purpose of his ‘brief’ London visit is questionable.

Borno State is burning and the only sensible thing the State Governor thought of doing is to go abroad to engage partners for a borehole job. That is the most despicable excuse for one to be away from his state that is on fire. Or is the insecurity ‘heat’ in Borno State become too hot for the State Governor and the Federal Government to handle? If London was on fire today, will the Mayor of London leave the city to be in Nigeria or any other place for that matter to engage with partners for a bore hole job? The way some of our leaders think and do things sometimes makes us wonder if they have a conscience.

While speaking on CNN, Governor Shettima also said he regretted that it took President Jonathan three weeks to reach out to him on the matter with the kidnapped school girls but said Nigeria has no option but to negotiate with the kidnappers. He then went on to say that he had told the world 3 years ago to come to help him to address the insurgency in the State and nip the situation in the bud but nobody came to his aid until things got out of hand. We recall that in 2012, the US Government listed Boko Haram as a terrorist group with Al-Qaeda links, and they warned Nigeria Government as well as its US citizens in Nigeria to be on the alert. But the Nigerian Government, rather than take this seriously and take necessary steps to address the situation on time, they went on the defensive, insisting that Nigeria is not under any terror threat and should not be tagged a terrorist nation. That is the kind of leaders we have in government circles at all levels.

It is really sad that it took the massive killings/bombings of hundreds of innocent Nigerians and the recent abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State, before the Nigerian Government woke up from their slumber to take things seriously. Even at the moment, the ‘sincerity’ of that ‘seriousness’ is questionable. “Valuable time”, that could have been used to address the insecurity situation in Borno State, was lost in the name of ‘politicking’ on media outlets by the ruling and opposition governments in Nigeria.  The level of ineptitude exhibited by Nigerian Governments in the fight against terror is so sickening and disturbing that we wonder what hope we have of things getting better. Reports has it that the Nigerian Military and State Government officials in Borno State were informed fours earlier about the possibility of an attack on Chibok town on the faithful day the shool girls were kidnapped.

According to sources interviewed by Amnesty International, local civilian patrols (known as “vigilantes”, set up by the military and local authorities) in Gagilam, a neighbouring village, were among the first to raise the alarm on the evening of 14 April, 2014 after a large group of unidentified armed men entered their village on motorbikes and said they were headed to Chibok. This set off a rapid chain of phone calls to alert officials, including the Borno State Governor and senior military commanders based in Maiduguri. But they could not follow up on this intelligence with the appropriate response that would avert the school girls kidnap.

If it was not for the International attention that the abducted Chibok school girls have attracted, with the now famous “#Bring-Back-Our-Girls” Campaign, we are sure the government’s response would even be worst off. Let us imagine this, the kidnap incident took place on April 14, 2014, but Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to visit the area (as at today 16/05/14) to see the families of those affected. Despite reports that President Jonathan had planned to visit Chibok town and the scene of the school (today (16/05/14), where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect, more recent report revealed that the President has cancelled the said trip due to what they described as ‘security fears’. Yet, the Borno State Governor was in London for questionable reasons.

President Jonathan and his government have been widely criticized for their “slow response” to the kidnapping on April 14, which saw 276 girls abducted by the Boko Haram sect, a total of 223 are still missing according to reports. Our political leaders were obviously forced to act in the face of a social media campaign and street protests that won global support and attracted the attention of foreign powers, which have now sent specialist teams to help in the rescue effort.

With the Borno State Governor example above in mind, the crux of the matter is that our Nigerian political leaders have not demonstrated sincerity of purpose and the patriotic spirit in their co called efforts towards the fight against terror/insecurity in our land. This ‘indifference’ attitude and lack of empathy/care has to change. Nigerians need to see our political leaders rising up to the challenge in addressing this issue. They cannot be saying one thing and doing another. Enough is enough!

Zik Gbemre, JP