Northern Elders Give Jonathan October Ultimatum To End Boko Haram Activities

LATEST UPDATE: Northern Elders Give Jonathan October Ultimatum To End Boko Haram Activities



The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, on Monday

identified “lack of a strong will at the level of the presidency, deep-seated corruption incompetence

in governments and in the management of security

challenges” as major factors fuelling the Boko

Haram insurgency. The body also advised President Goodluck

Jonathan to bring an end the insurgency in all its

manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before

the end of October, 2014, saying In the event that

he failed to do so, Nigerians would be left with the

only conclusion that he had forfieted his right to ask for their mandate beyond 2015. In a communique issued at a press conference in

Kaduna, NEF said after a major review of the state of

the nation, it resolved to continue to offer ways to

resolve the country’s current political, economic,

security challenges, and also facilitate the

emergence of a more united, secure and prosperous nation out of its present limitations. The statement obtained by DailyPost was signed by

Barrister Solomon Dalung and Dr Hakeem Baba-

Ahmed, OON, both NEF prominent members. It reads: “The security situation in our nation today

represents the most serious threat to our individual

and collective lives in our entire history. The reality

is that the threats posed by what appears to be an

insurgency that has many manifestations and

defies a clear and consistent identity is growing due to the absence of a clear national consensus over

its nature, and it solutions. “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 Northern Elders Forum does not believe that

the Nigerian military cannot defeat these terrorists.

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. 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. “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 forfieted his right to ask for our mandate

beyond 2015″. They added that, “The Northern Elders Forum calls

on the President to immediately set up a Judicial

Panel to investigate the recent killing of over 30

members of the Islamic Movement in Zaria. The

internal investigations by the military in an event in

which soldiers are involved will not meet the minimum standards of fairness and acceptability.

The Forum reminds the nation that it was the

murder of Muhammad Yusuf by the Nigeria Police in

2009 that formed the major point of escalation in

the activities of the group(s) known today under

the generic term of Boko Haram. We also call for a thorough investigation into the attempted

assassination of General Muhammadu Buhari and

Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, and the publication of the

outcome of these investigations. “The Forum notes that the state of security and

economic challenges of the North are deteriorating,

in spite of its wealth of leaders and elders who

should use their God-given privileges, power and

influence to affect a reversal of these dangerous

trends. It is no secret that the vast majority of Northerners lament their marginalization, insecurity

and poverty, and blame it in large part on the

inability of unwillingness of its past and present

leaders to utilize all access to power which they

enjoy, to bring us redress and relief. General

Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Badamasi

Babangida, General Abdussalami Abubakar, Alhaji

Atiku Abubakar, Architect Namadi Sambo, General

T.Y Danjuma and all retired Chief Justices of Nigeria

from the North represent grossly under utilized

assets of the North. “The N.E.F joins millions of Northerners in appealing

to these leaders to raise their levels of involvement

in the fortunes of our region in every endeavour or

fora they are involved. In these difficult days when

every hand must be on deck, if these leaders

cannot visibly help to transform the fortunes of the North in the next few months, they will leave

northerners with the damaging impression that

they have abandoned the region and the people to

its seemingly irreversible decline and ultimate

destruction. “The Forum took stock of the performance of

northerners at the National Conference, and

commends the commitment of the vast majority of

the delegates to the core interests of the north and

the unity and survival of our nation on principles of

equity and mutual respect. The N.E.F appeals to all leaders from other parts of the country to

discourage tendencies which suggest that some

parts of our federation are dispensable and

undeserving of respect. “The Forum has noted with relief the cessation of

plans to single out northerners in many parts of the

country for treatments which humiliate them and

deprive them of their rights to live and work in any

part of Nigeria. While commending the maturity and

foresight of northern leaders which informed the restraints against retaliatory and other negative

measures, the Forum appeals to young persons

from the north to resist the temptation to operate

by the very low standards of responsibility set by

others. These young northerners should be

reminded that their legacy includes the heroic efforts of their forebears to build and sustain this

nation to its present state, and they did this in the

face of massive provocations and threats. The

Forum places on record its appreciation for the

prompt response of President Goodluck Jonathan

to appeals for decisive action against profiling and other threatening actions against northerners in

some states in the southern parts of the country. “The Forum invites attention of Nigerians to the

critical role which the 2015 elections will play in the

future of our nation. We call on all leaders and

political parties to demonstrate the highest levels of

commitment to the rule of law and the demands of

the electoral process. At all cost, the 2015 elections must be free and fair. This means that any threat

which may provide a cover for militarising the

electoral process must be eliminated before the

elections. Every part of Nigeria must participate in

these elections, and no citizen should be deprived

of his right to vote under any excuse. “The Forum is concerned that political

developments in some states which involve

removals, threats or attempts to remove elected

persons are being informed by partisan interests

seeking advantages towards 2015. These are

dangerous antics which will deepen violence and other acts of desperation by politicians. The Forum

urges the convening of a genuine summit of

political leaders and parties to create or reinforce

consensus around the imperatives of security of the

electoral process, and ensuring that 2015 elections

are spared from widespread disputes”.

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