₦airaland Forum

naptu2: 1) This is ancient news (Kashim Shettima, governor elect? I remember this article from 2011).

2) Even if Boko Haram rejects the amnesty, the government should ignore the rejection and continue with the programme. I said previously that the core members of boko haram are not interested in amnesty, however, you can weaken the organisation and get valuable intelligence by offering amnesty to weaker elements of boko haram. Remember that MEND also rejected the Niger-Delta amnesty.

nagoma: So Igbos have now convinced people that BH are after them? They Igbos have been trying to draw attention to themselves when we know that BH are terrorists are murderers but have not made Igbo a specific target. Shekau in his various addresses through U Tube doest seem to be aware that Igbos exist -he has never mentioned them as enemies.
We should all unite and fight BH instead of entertaining the Igbo whining and playing the underdog, with their brand - petulant feeble complaints.

Onlytruth: Nwanne this thread is really unnecessary.
In all honesty I hope those guys don't allow history to repeat again. They must be STRONG in their positions. Merely being in the position is not enough.

naptu2: So, do you see why I said we are getting ahead of ourselves? If you check my first post, you'll see that I stated that one of the conditions for amnesty should be that people who have been involved in murder should not get amnesty. On this thread I've read about "paying public funds to terrorists", "pardoning mass murderers", where do you guys get these things from? A committee has just been formed to consider the possibility of granting an amnesty and the modalities for granting such amnesty. Have you guys been to the future to see what the conditions will be?

(By the way, regarding the bodies found in the river, I expect that a full investigation will be carried out and the culprits should be punished according to the law. Furthermore, your comparison with Massob doesn't apply. No where has it been stated that Boko Haram is being granted their wish [which is to islamise Nigeria], rather Boko Haram militants might be given amnesty if they fulfil certain conditions. Similarly, Massob members have been arrested and released in the past, but the government has not stated that it will grant Massob's wishes [to create an independent state of Biafra]. Also remember that, in the same way that we have seen corpses in the river in Anambra, so also have we seen suspected Boko Haram members gunned down without even being put in front of a judge. I of course condemn both.).

pcnwamadi: 1. A ministry of Northern affairs must be established like the Niger Delta Ministry.

2. Each Boko haram member who embraces the amnesty will receive an initial cash reward of 3 million naira to start up a business.

3. Boko haram members who embrace the amnesty program will be giving a house by the FG.

4. Boko haram leaders who embraced the amnesty program will be giving a cash gift of 20 million naira each and other juicy packages will also follow.

5. Selected boko haram members from each zone will be taken abroad for training, just as the Niger delta militants enjoyed.

6. Each boko haram member will be on a monthly salary of N100,000 for a period of 3 years.

7. FG must rebuild borno, yobe and other state they claimed the JTF destroyed.

8. Security contract will be given to Boko haram leaders to secure the north.

8. JTF will be completely withdrawn from the northern states, where boko haram operates.

Onlytruth: Short of an IMMEDIATE serious denial from the presidency over this ill-advised move, the president may have sealed his name in history.

Speaking further, he said the challenge is to make a "conditional offer to those who are ready to step forward to renounce terrorism and embrace peace. If they have a reasonable number of persons to come forward, they can use that to reach out to other persons who are engaged in this act of terrorism that threatens our corporate existence as a nation. I think it is belated but I also think it is a good development because we are trying to find solution to these problems and to stop the daily loss of lives going on in the country."

It's a welcome development —OPC

On its part, defunct militant Yoruba nationalist organization, Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, welcomed the decision of government to grant Boko Haram amnesty.

Speaking with Vanguard on telephone, National Coordinator of OPC, Otunba Gani Adams said: "I think it is a welcome development. If it is an option for us to have peace in the country, I will support the amnesty granted them because amnesty was granted the Niger Delta militants."

He added that "there is nothing wrong with amnesty granted Boko Haram. Though it may not stop the bloodshed, but it will reduce it because some of them will prefer amnesty rather than them confronting government forces. Amnesty is a process because some of them may not trust government's sincerity; but when they realise at the end of the day that it is real, they will join the package. With this, I believe we will have peace in the north just as we are witnessing peace in the Niger Delta."

Tinubu, Gov Aliyu, Kukah, Ezekwesili others blast Jonathan

NO fewer than fifteen State Governors led by the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday attended the 60th birthday celebration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

At the event, Governor Aliu Babangida of Niger state, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and other speakers blasting President Goodluck Jonathan over his persistent call on Northern leaders to unmask those behind the Boko Haram insurgency.

They regretted that the President has not done anything at those arrested in connection with Boko Haram insurgency.

This was disclosed yesterday in Benin City at the 60th Birthday lecture of Edo state Governor Adams Oshiomhole titled : "Deepening Democracy and Enhancing Welfare of the people".

Those at the events are: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, Senator Ben Obi who represented President Goodluck Jonathan, Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Godswill Akwabio (Akwa Ibom), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Abdulazeez Abubakar (Zamfara), Aminu Dankwabo (Gombe), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe), Kasseem Shetima (Borno).

Others are Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa), Issa Yuguda (Bauchi), Abiola Ajimobi(Oyo), Rauf Arigbesola(Osun) and ex governors of Ekiti, Anambra, Ogun , Edo states, Niyi Adebayo, Chris Ngige Segun Osoba and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. Also at the well attended ceremony were the National Chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, Aliko Dangote, Nuhu Ribadu, Alhaji Aliko Muhammed , Chief Tom Ikimi and Alhaji Kaseem Iman member PDP Board of Trustees among others.

naptu2: These kinds of amnesty deals, although they are difficult, are not strange or unique to Nigeria.

For example, in order to end the conflict between the UK Government vs The IRA vs Ulster Militants, the government had to reach amnesty deals and release several notorious prisoners, despite protests from victims and their relatives, in order to broker the peace that residents of Northern Ireland currently enjoy.

Reacting to the planned amnesty for Boko Haram, youths in the North said that President Jonathan had finally come out boldly as a Nigerian President and not an Ijaw leader by heeding strident calls to grant amnesty to the sect members.

This was the position of both the presidents of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, ACF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, and that of the Arewa Youth Forum, AYF, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu, in separate interviews with Vanguard.

According to Gujungu, Jonathan has taken the right step to reposition Nigeria for peace, unity and development and would have written his name in gold by the time the commission is able to resolve the lingering security crisis in the north.

The AYF leader said: "Now we truly believe that Jonathan is committed to uniting this country and taking it to the next level for all Nigerians to be proud of.

On his part, Shettima said: "Mr. President's action tallies with what we have always been crying for and he has proved that he is a true leader, who listens to the yearning and aspirations of the people. We commend the President for this epoch approach to resolve the intractable security challenge in the North as we cannot afford to live in a country where strife and killings prevail."

We are watching—CPC

In its reaction to the development, the Congress for Progessive Change, CPC, said it would wait and see how the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government would honestly and dispassionately implement the amnesty programme for the sect members.

The position of the party, which was made known by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said that the PDP was playing politics with the Boko Haram matter.

"This PDP-infested Presidency is reticent at offering Amnesty because it is in cahoots with the political Boko Haram, which is the most virulent variant of the menace.

"There will be no need to declare a state of emergency in Northern Nigeria if the region is peaceful. Why is it that with increased sectoral allocation to Security, the nation reaps more insecurity? Should we not begin to think outside the box? Understandably, the Northern Elders ought to show so much concern because at the end of the day, it is their homeland that is extirpated. Is the Federal Government sincere about pulling this through? Will the need for hollow political gains not overshadow a national imperative? We are watching," the party stated

Meanwhile, President Jonathan's new resolve to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members has elicited mixed reactions across the country.

It's Jonathan's bait for North's support in 2015

Second Republic governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa in his reaction said: "If President Jonathan eventually grants amnesty to members of the dreaded Boko Haram, it is a bait to getting political concession from the North in 2015".

Musa said: "Yes, he can do it. It is an attempt. He can use it. May be that was his reason for not doing anything about Boko Haram because he wants to use it to buy political concession from the north. I have always believed that Boko Haram is more likely to be an agent provocateur established by the federal government to divert attention."

Musa asserted, however, that the calls for amnesty to Boko Haram members became necessary and justifiable in the light of similar gesture given to former Niger Delta militants in the South-South geo-political zone of the country by late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

According to him: "With the Amnesty given to the Niger Delta militants, once you create a thing like this, you create something that can always been used by others. It is very difficult for any reasonable person to understand why the president cannot give amnesty to Boko Haram. Secondly, Yar'adua didn't give amnesty to Niger Delta militants because he was convinced they had a case. He gave them amnesty because his government was too weak and was afraid of what would have happened if the amnesty had not been given to them. So because of the consideration, he gave amnesty to buy time. Fortunately, it has worked. Now, the Jonathan administration is even weaker than the Yar'adua government because Yar'adua's government at least had the support of the Northern oligarchy," Musa explained

Lagos — After several months of buck passing between the Presidency and stakeholders in the north on the emergence of Boko Haram Islamic sect and desirability of granting amnesty to its members, the Federal government, yesterday, took a major step towards granting them amnesty as it set up a committee to look at the feasibility or otherwise of the programme.

The terms of reference of the committee are:

-To consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the Boko Haram adherents,

-Collate clamours arising from different interest groups who want the apex government to administer clemency on members of the religious sect; and

-To recommend modalities for the granting of the pardon, should such step become the logical one to take under the prevailing circumstance.

A senior security official who was privy to the meeting of the National Security Council, yesterday, told Vanguard that at the end of the meeting the President set up an in-house committee with a two-week mandate to consider the clamour for amnesty for Boko Haram members and consider its feasibility or otherwise.

The source said: "If the committee, which will work hand in hand with the National Security Adviser (NSA) decides that amnesty would be workable, it will then outline modalities for implementing it'. He added that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the President never said there would be no amnesty at all but that he would do so if people come forward to identify themselves for discussion and negotiations.

"It is a complex situation, but government has obligation to respect public opinion, especially with increasing clamour for the amnesty from various quarters", he added.

President Jonathan was said to have reached a deal with northern leaders last Wednesday to grant amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect, as a means of ending the spate of raging violence across the region.

As a prelude to granting pardon to the sect, Jonathan met for several hours on Wednesday night with members of the powerful Northern Elders' Forum, NEF at the Presidential Villa to secure their support and cooperation towards ending the malevolent onslaught. Specifically, the President wanted an undertaking from the elders that they would impress upon the sect leaders and their followers to lay down their arms and embrace peace, as a condition for offering the olive branch.

Under the plan, the Federal Government is to set up an Amnesty Commission, which would serve as a quasi-judicial body, to register and cater for repentant members of the sect and protect them from being harassed or intimidated by security agents.

Read The Rest Here

Policewoman: So you think. But if i may ask, is the north (by the collaboration of d northern heads of states) not already more advantaged financially than the rest of the country? Don't they have more states and lgas? Kano alone has 44 LGAs compared to bayelsa with just 8. What hav their governors done so far with all the money at their disposal? Do u now think pumping more trillions will make any difference since they have already rejected Western Education in its entirety?

Policewoman: Jonathan is not dull enough to remove his only insurance against the northern troublemakers.

Policewoman: GEJ by accepting to grant amnesty to the Islamists, is playing to the Northern script which includes making sure he doesn't stay in aso rock beyond 2015. As their plan A of insurgency seemed to be failing, they have switched to plan B which GEJ has bought hook, line and sinker. This plan B includes making him unpopular in the only 2 regions faithful to him, the SS and SE. I'm afraid they have succeeded. Now putting a northerner or a Yoruba stooge in aso rock come 2015 is almost sealed and delivered.

naptu2: In public, orders are orders. Behind the scenes, orders could lead to reactions. Listen to General Danjuma talk about how he had to calm the troops after Ifeajuna's mutiny and after Gowon announced that he would no longer hand over power in 1975. Even Obasanjo, as civilian president, had to tour formations to speak with junior soldiers. In public, orders are orders. Behind the scenes, orders could lead to reactions.

Tusky44: You are a foolish mallam. Come and sack him nau. Dirty mallam

naptu2: The problem is not with the military chiefs, neither is it about "security budget". These guys will have to go to the barracks and explain the amnesty deal to the troops. Historically, making these kinds of announcements have never been easy. You are telling a soldier, who has lost his best friend and encountered hardship during operations, to forget about all that and protect former boko haram members, because they are now innocent citizens of Nigeria. It could lead to a mutiny if it's not handled properly.

- when your region is filled with beggars with all manner of diseases and all strains of polio yet you still think we're paying. If we decide to stoke this boko haram thing -dude your finished. If we decide to help boko with bomb making and delivery, then its over for u.

careytommy: That !diot, ndu chucks, probably never knew they are political appointees. In essence they are politicians.

Onlytruth: Let me tell you something I suspect you don't know about. I've been ignoring your usual insults on those of us who abhor mass murder, those who condemn killing of innocent Nigerians with impunity. You call us "effeminate" and "emotional". I call you WEAK and FOOLISH.
You know why I call you those?
The strongest army in the middle East (the mighty Israeli army) ALWAYS go out of their way (ALWAYS) to avoid killing Palestinians unnecessarily, even when they can do so with total impunity. You know why they do that? Israel understands the role of GOD in human affairs.
No matter how strong an army is, that army can never win a war against an opponent supported by God.

TRUE STRENGTH is found NOT in killing defenseless people, but in SAVING them.
Strength is found in defending the weak, not the strong.
A truly strong man fights STRONG enemy, not weak ones.

You are a very weak man my friend, and you know it!

As for the army officers, well, they can do whatever, but they must never forget that they swore an oath to defend the rest of Nigerians against all enemies killing them wantonly in their own country. That is their only job -to keep the citizens safe.

mens dept: This shows that you are a fool.

Onlytruth: I would listen to the military service chiefs if I were Jonathan. It is an indirect insult on them that the same murderous gang that killed many of their own is allowed to walked away, probably with payments sef.
The more Nigeria wobbles along, the more obvious the flawed foundation, and the more likely the future will be settled by extreme violence.

But come on, who gave the president this advice? I honestly think that whoever gave the president this advice must be the greatest enemy of Nigeria.