For the umpteenth time, President Muhammadu Buhari, last Wednesday, assured Nigerians, particularly, residents of the North East, that they will witness a change from the long-running and seemingly intractable era of insurgency to that of peace and development in their respective communities in the coming months.
Buhari made the pledge in Abuja while speaking at the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the North East of Nigeria, an event which preceded the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.
The President said his administration was reviewing the approach hitherto adopted in the attempt to bring to an end the more than a decade-long insurgency in the region. He vowed not to relent in his efforts to return peace and normalcy to the North East to ensure development and growth.
President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made the President’s promise known in a statement the same day.
Adesina quoted President Buhari as saying, “To the people of the North East, particularly the children and future of the North East, we will never forget you because your courage, sacrifice and endurance have been exemplary.
“I pledge to you that in the coming months, you will begin to witness a shift away from a protracted insurgency to peace-building, stabilisation, and ultimately, development in your respective communities as we embark on a revised approach to addressing this conflict.”
Much as we think it is good for the President to always give words of assurance to the weary populace, we also hold that concerted and verifiable efforts at curbing the dastardly acts of insurgents across the whole of Northern Nigeria and the country, in general, should be vigorously pursued than what appears to be mere platitudes.
For the majority of Nigerians, the war against bandits, insurgents and terrorists, who have made life and living one hell of an experience for ordinary peace-loving and hard-working Nigerians, should be more decisive, intentional and sustained.
The perception out there is that of treating the enemies of the state with kid gloves and churning out policies that seem to energise and give them ample opportunity to wax stronger rather than decimate and wear them down.
President Buhari, according to reports, made the pledge to “crush terrorists” when he was hosted to a State Banquet organised by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State to round off his Presidential state visit to Kaduna.
The President had assured residents of Kaduna of his government’s determination to crush terrorists and criminal gangs operating in the state and in other parts of Nigeria.
‘‘I wish to assure the people and government of Kaduna State that the Federal Government is doing its utmost to contain and crush the terrorists menacing our citizens and their property in parts of the country. On behalf of the Federal Government, I commend the efforts of the Kaduna State Government to respond to the demands of development,” he reportedly said.
However, it is instructive to note that also last week, while Governor El-Rufai called on the Federal Government to establish a theatre command to confront insurgency and terrorism in the North West geo-political zone, the Senate called on the Federal Government to send fighter jets to bomb the daylight out of terrorists in the forests dotting the North West.
From the above, it would seem as if President Buhari has yet to come to terms with the gravity of the situation at hand, which goes beyond just assuring North Easterners of the determination of his administration to restore peace to the area.
In the case of the Senate, following a point of order raised on the “Urgent need for the Federal Government to take drastic actions to bring to an end the act of banditry and kidnapping in Faskari Local Government Area,” the Senate urged the Federal Government to send in the fighter jets.
Senator Bello Mandiya, lawmaker representing Katsina South, told the Senate that banditry and kidnapping had become a daily incidence in Katsina state. This is, however, an understatement.
The lawmaker was reported to have said that on Sunday, January 30, 2022, when gunmen kidnapped 38 persons at Ruwan Godiya, a community in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. He added that if killings and kidnappings of farmers were not stopped, its consequence would be huge on food sufficiency.
In like manner, speaking last week at the presentation of Kaduna State’s 2021 security report compiled by the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Governor El-Rufai, expressed sadness at the escalation of insecurity in the state – especially within Zangon-Kataf.
The report, presented by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, showed that 1,192 people were killed while 3,348 others were kidnapped across the state in 2021. While one imagines that the figures were for just one state, one would fully appreciate the need to get more serious on tackling the scourge frontally.
El-Rufai then urged the Federal Government to step in as a matter of urgency, by establishing a theatre command within the northwestern region to tackle the menace.
He said, “The Kaduna State government appeals to the Federal Government to create a Theatre Command similar to the situation in the North East to confront the insurgency that has clearly emerged in five states of the Northwest and Niger State with continuous and contiguous forest ranges.
“The creation of such a theatre command will enable a holistic approach to counter-insurgent operations across the six affected states and the enhanced coordination of the resources of the armed forces, the police, the SSS, our respective state vigilance services, hunters, and other local volunteers to fight the insurgents.”
“It is when the terrorists are decimated that ‘soft’, non-kinetic peace-building will gain traction… We continue to emphasise that as a state government, we do not believe that there is any phenomenon like ‘repentant bandits’. Any person that makes a conscious decision to secure arms, challenges the authority of the Nigerian state, and threatens the lives and property of Nigerians does not deserve to live or be granted any concession by society,” he added.
We cannot agree less with the Kaduna State helmsman. Mere mouthing desires to curb insurgency without practical and manifest action that is obvious to all and sundry will never yield the desired result.
President Buhari must, therefore, come to terms, and timely too, with the reality on the ground. There is the need to be steely, decisive and assertive in dealing with these non-state actors while not entirely jettisoning peace-making ideas.
