In 2014, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejefor, pointed out that the insurgency persisted in some parts of Nigeria due to pretence by some Nigerians and the refusal to speak the truth.
The CAN president, who spoke at the Northern States Christian Elders Forum’s conference for traditional rulers in Abuja, stated that the country was fighting the war against the truth.
He said, “Nigeria is fighting against the truth; we hate the truth. We hide the truth and we fear the truth. It is so unfortunate. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
For example, in the fight against the terrorists so far, there are indeed some missing links or some unanswered questions provoked by the silence of the concerned authorities
He went on: “Nigeria is not free because we are running away from the truth. Truth can be bitter, but when you swallow it, it could become sweet. No nation can grow or develop without embracing the truth, no matter how difficult it is. In the same John 8:46, Jesus said, “If what I have told you is the truth, then why do you refuse to believe me?”
Recently, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was in Adamawa State, following the latest communal violence between the Bachama Ethnic Group and Fulani herders in Numan and Densa Local Government Areas in which many lives were lost and property worth several millions of naira destroyed.
The Vice-President who visited the affected communities and called on the traditional ruler of the Bachama Chiefdom, Honest Irmiya Stephen, and the paramount ruler of Densa Hama Bata, Gladson Alhamdu Teneke at their respective palaces, pointed out that his visit had afforded him the opportunity to learn more of the age-long dispute between the warring factions, which was left unresolved.
He said, “My visit to Adamawa State is to begin a process that would solve this problem once and for all. We must seek definite and permanent solutions to these crises. Nobody can benefit from loss of lives, especially of children and women are involved. I have studied this problem, especially in Adamawa State; this is a long, running problem.
“This is a human problem. It is not caused by spirits, so it must have a human solution. That is why we are called upon as leaders to make sure that solution works not for now but forever.”
Still on the insurgency and conflict, Boko Haram militants are taking advantage of the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers across the country to terrorise Nigerians under that guise. This was the assertion of the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen Abdurahman Danbazau in Abuja on April, 14, 2016, when he spoke at the opening ceremony of a stakeholders meeting on pastoralists/sedentary farmers’ conflict in Nigeria.
According to the minister, there is the need to resolve persistent crises between farmers and herders, adding that apart from the menace of the militants, there were other opportunistic criminal angles to the conflict. He added, “Indications are that there are opportunistic criminal angles to the conflict in the nature of cattle rustling, armed robbery and kidnapping.”
I have gone this length to show that as a result of our prevarication borne out of sentiments, emotions, ignorance, fear, non-committal or outright vested interest to resolution of crises, we have in most cases, compounded the already confused situation on ground to the detriment of the larger society. In short, the collective ethos is subverted by group or individual ethos.
For example, in the fight against the terrorists so far, there are indeed some missing links or some unanswered questions provoked by the silence of the concerned authorities. It sounds incredible to sane minds that up till now, the sponsors of the Boko Haram saga and herders/farmers clashes have yet to be identified. Is this not an affirmation or endorsement of the standpoint of the former CAN President, Pastor Oritsejafor, that we are not speaking the truth as far as the insurgency is concerned? Are the sponsors spirits that are not visible for the past seven years, even when the military had in statements indicted some elite and politicians from the Northeast and Borno State in particular, of frustrating the fight against the insurgency due to their selfish interest?
The visit of the Vice-President to Adamawa state lately, due to the eruption of crisis between the Fulani herdsmen and the Bachama community in Numan and Demsa Local Government areas and his assertion that the feud between the warring groups are an age-long dispute that has been left unattended to by the previous authorities, is instructive. In short, we have been chasing shadows and not the substance as regards the solution to the crises in discourse.
Neither are we taking seriously the view of the Interior Minister that the Boko Haram insurgents are attacking Nigerians under the guise of herders/farmers feud. Instead, we are trading blame among ourselves.
Look at the assertion of Mr. Ademola Seriki, Minister of State for Interior under President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration who sometime back in a press interview, pointed out that 90% of Boko Haram members are foreigners. Is this not a good lead for further action on the brains behind the terrorism?
After all, since the beginning of the insurgency, the old and the young have demanded for the sponsors of this heinous crime. During the launching of the Victims Support Fund by President Jonathan’s administration in Abuja in 2014, the children in the drama group that participated in the ceremony asked, among other things, for the whereabouts of the abducted Chibok school girls as well as the sponsors of
Boko Haram.
Similarly, the Borno State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Kaka Lawan, had earlier called on the Federal Government and the law enforcement agents to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible for Boko Haram crisis pointing out this will bring an end to the crisis. The commissioner said the Federal Government was seen to be serious by arresting “people who have questions to answer, but are moving about freely in the country.” He called for the probe of all extra judicial killings in Borno State since the commencement of the Boko Haram crisis.
Not done, Barrister Kaka Lawan made a similar call later in the Nigeria Bar Association conference that took place in Port Harcourt. There he went further calling for the arrest of a certain prominent Borno politician on allegations of various offences, including complicity in the Boko Haram crisis.
It is a high time we called a spade a spade and not a digging instrument. Enough of this ostrich game, if we truly want to win this insurgency war.
*Izekor, a journalist, public affairs analyst, is a member of the Board of Advisers of The Point.
