Gov shettima and Nba wants FG to negotiate with Boko Haram

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to foreclose the option of dialogue with the Boko Haram Islamic sect, with a view to securing the release of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State.

The association, at the end of an executive committee meeting in Abuja, insisted that Jonathan should not sleep with his two eyes closed until the problem of terrorism is dealt with conclusively.
FOR CHIBOK GIRLS—A young South African pupil at a primary school in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province writes a message on a paper reading: “Be a Man Boko Haram, Bring Back Our Girls!” during a “BringBackOurGirls” school project calling for immediate release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. AFP photo.

FOR CHIBOK GIRLS—A young South African pupil at a primary school in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province writes a message on a paper reading: “Be a Man Boko Haram, Bring Back Our Girls!” during a “BringBackOurGirls” school project calling for immediate release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. AFP photo.

“There is something called burden of leadership, and it is by choice. Once you have chosen to seek to serve at any level, and more particularly, at the level of the presidency of a great country like Nigeria, with its good, bad and ugly, I am sorry to say that you have bid sleeping with two eyes closed, good night”, the National President of the association, Chief Okey Wali, SAN, stated.

Besides, NBA, which is the umbrella body of legal practitioners in the country, commended all the foreign governments that have so far offered their assistance towards securing the release of the school girls, even as it noted that terrorism is an international phenomenon that has no borders.

According to NBA: “While we agree that the terrorist sect Boko Haram should be routed out, we also advise that no option should be foreclosed in enthroning peace.

“History has taught us that constructive engagement of such insurgents has sometimes yielded dividends. All the years of terrorism in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland were brought to an end by the 1998 Goodfriday Agreement, brokered by the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Tony Blair. Many of us in the Niger Delta will tell you that we did not believe that the amnesty programme of the Federal Government would bring any peace in the region, but it did,Also Governor Kassim Shettima of Borno State has said that if negotiating with the Boko Haram sect would bring back the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, the Federal Government should not ignore the option.
Shettima in tears

Shettima in tears

He also regretted that it took President Goodluck Jonathan three weeks to reach out to him on the matter.

Shettima, who said this in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour yesterday, decried the decision of President Jonathan not to go into negotiation with the insurgents, noting that the nation had no option.

He said: “Do we have any other option? If I have to talk to the devil to secure the release of the girls, I will do so. President Jonathan did not act on time and did not talk to me over the kidnappings until 19 days after.’’

The governor, who belongs to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, described Boko Haram militants as a “bunch of lunatics.”

Also speaking to CNN’s Aisha Sassay, a former Education Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili, supported negotiating with the insurgents, but cautioned that the goal of the conversation should be to bring the girls back.

She said: “In many ways we hear about the conversation about negotiation. Understanding the kinds of options that are available, the downside of the options among others will enable us see the options open to us.

“Despite all these, the bottom line is that we want the girls released. We should be engaged in the negotiations. It should, however, be favourable to us. Whatever we do should result in an end game, which is that our girls should be brought back alive.”

She further regretted that the matter had assumed a political dimension, noting that the Federal and Bornu State governments were working at cross purposes.

She said: “When we interacted with officials of the Federal Government and Borno State, it became clear that we are dealing with a situation where there is a complete breakdown of trust between them.

“We have lost so much to political in-fighting. Everyone should insubordinate their in-fighting and concentrate on bringing back the girls.”