The two-month ultimatum from the Northern Elders
Forum to President Jonathan to rescue the abducted
Chibok girls rekindles fault lines in the Nigerian nation By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
It was a battle they inherited from their ancestors. The
faceoff that emerged yesterday between Afenifere,
the Yoruba Socio Cultural group and the Northern
Elders Forum, NEF over the feasibility and competence
of President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection was a recall of the mutual suspicion that existed between
Nigeria’s first indigenous regional leaders. While the conflict of the forefathers was essentially
centered around regional domination, the conflict that
burst yesterday is on the surface focused on the fate
of the more than 200 Chibok secondary schools
abducted last April.
At the peak of the distrust between Nigeria’s founding fathers, the late Northern leader, Sir Ahmadu
Bello was quoted as saying that his priority in filling
job vacancies in the north would be “first a
northerner, then an expatriate and then a southerner
and that on contract.” Bello’s assertion was to be the basis of the chasm
and subsequent hostility that shadowed relations
between the two sides of the country since
independence.
The hostility which was fueled by the annulment of
the June 12, 1993 presidential election Chief Moshood Abiola was only partially soothed by the election of
General Olusegun Obasanjo as president in 1999.
However, since the Obasanjo phenomenon and the
relegation of the north from its position of political
dominance, the seeming discomfort of the north in
playing second fiddle in the polity has taken a central role in the polity. It has been especially so under President Jonathan
who has generally been affirmed to be Nigeria’s
most “troubled” leader. Jonathan has been
troubled by the insurgency fanned by what was once
thought to be a mainly Islamic agenda. The Islamic
Boko Haram group which started by killing Christians, burning and bombing churches has lately expanded
its agenda to killing non conforming Islamic leaders
bringing to question the real motif of the group.
While some allege that it still has an Islamic agenda,
the gruesome and unrestrained brutality of the group
has given vent to a political agenda. So when the NEF last Monday urged President
Jonathan to forget re-election if the Chibok girls are
not returned, the group whether advertently or
inadvertently rekindled the regional distrust that
existed between the north and the south.
In a statement issued by Barrister Solomon Dalung and Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the group alleged that
the ongoing insurgency in the north was aimed at
politically and economically weakening the north to
allow the easy reelection of President Jonathan. “We also reject the notion that multiple internal
security challenges such as attacks on villages, ethno-
religions conflicts and banditry springing up by the
day in many parts of the north are all a coincidence,”
the statement said. “Indeed, we are convinced that
most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically by
interests which intend to exploit such weaknesses for
electoral benefits.” Alleging that the administration was deliberately
allowing the crisis to fester, the NEF said:
“The lack of a strong will at the level of the
presidency to fight it, as well as deep-seated
corruption and incompetence in governments and in
the management of our security challenges has allowed a band of terrorists to take and hold vast
parts of our land and populations hostage, while
every citizen lives in fear that they will be its next
victim.”
The NEF which has such prominent Jonathan bashers
as Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Prof. Ango Abdullahi in its fold and had never hidden its revulsion of a second
term for Jonathan or the aspiration of any other
southerner, was quick to push forward its most
notable agenda, to wit, that Jonathan should not re-
contest. “In the light of our firm conviction that the
insurgency and related security challenges pose
threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our
nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its
manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October, 2014. The circumstances under
which our fellow citizens in and around Gwoza in
Borno State in particular live and die will not be
tolerated by any people who have a government and
a leader sworn to defend them, and they must be
reversed immediately. In the event that President Jonathan fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with the
only conclusion that he has forfeited his right to ask
for our mandate beyond 2015.” Afenifere in a sharp rebuttal was quick to enter the
fray yesterday. The group in a statement issued by its
spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said the statement
by the NEF was an exposure of the linkage between
the Islamic Boko Haram sect and some northern
elites. “By linking the electoral fortune of President
Jonathan in 2015 to “Bring Back Our Girls” latest by
October as well as ending Boko Haram at the time, the
“elders” have just confirmed the suspicions in the
land that the activities of the Islamic Sect Boko Haram
is either enjoying the sponsorship of some elites of the North or at the least having their sympathy.” Afenifere was quick to spot out what it referred to as
the unwillingness of the northern elders to condemn
the activities of Boko Haram while focusing on the
alleged failures of the president. “In all the sound and fury of the Forum, we searched
in vain any outright condemnation of Boko Haram.
And this has .been the pattern of most reactions from
the majority of the elites of the region who always
appear politically correct to the insurgents while using
their activities to rattle the government. The most audacious of this perfidy is this direct put by the
Northern Elders Forum.” “A traumatized country that has been held in anxiety
over the fate of the abducted girls cannot but
challenge these elders at this stage to appeal to their
wards in Boko Haram to release the innocent young
girls who now appear cannon fodders in the struggle
for “we want our power back”. “A time has come to let these elites know they can
no longer play the ostrich by burying their heads in
the sand and think no one sees them because they
are seeing no one.” “We, however, frown at the disingenuous attempt
by unconscionable elites who are now dishing out two
months ultimatum to end an insurgency that they
prepared the atmosphere for in decades of
exploitation and iniquitous dealings with their own
people. Can they name one country that has defeated terror in 60 days?” “How many rulers have we had in Nigeria since
1960 and how many come from the North? Why did it
not occur to any of them that the Almajiris should go
to school?” “The country has suffered enough of
the errors of these leaders which has now produced
terror in the land, they should stopping pouring salt on the injury,” Afenifere said. Northern Elders on Jonathan
•Administration is insensitive to the plight of
Chibok girls
•Toying with corruption
•Has put politics ahead of governance
•Has closed its eyes to the Boko Haram scourge in the North
Afenifere on Northern Elders
•They are cuddling Boko Haram
•Refusing to condemn Boko Haram
•Prefer to cite alleged incompetence of Jonathan
•Not sincere about Chibok girls

Source: Vanguardngr.com