Nigerians have been urged never to succumb to the agenda of the Islaimic Boko Haram sect which target is to cause disaffection among varying ethno-religious groups in the country.
Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi who led a Federal Government delegation to Kano for the assessment of last Monday’s bloody attacks on Sabon Gari which claimed many lives and left several others wounded, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is determined to stamp out terrorism from Nigeria.
According to him, the mission of the Boko Haram sect is to cause commotion that could lead to division of the country through bloody attacks on innocent Nigerians.
He, however, urged Nigerians not to allow terrorists to succeed with their nefarious agenda, while tasking residents on the need to show total cooperation with security agencies in terms of giving timely information on strange faces and activities within their area.
Addressing representatives of victims and members of the public at Normansland Police Station, Prof. Akinyemi said: “Members of the delegation are, the Attorney-General of Adamawa State, Barrister Ibrahim Tahir, Senator Abubakar Sandangi, Hajiya Najatu Mohammed. We are members of the Presidential Committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to engage in dialogue and negotiation and ways of bringing peace to Nigeria, where there are problems.
The main committee set up a sub-committee that deals specifically with victims and is members of that sub-committee. This is not our first visit to Kano, the 28-member committee were here probably about four weeks ago and none of us prayed to come back to Kano under this circumstances and none of us was thinking about coming back to Kano again as a result of bombings and explosions but when it took place, the decision was made but even though this is Ramadan period when people are fasting, people are strained, we should come back, number one to come and see the victims and we have been at the hospitals, two different hospitals, we have seen the patients, who are still undergoing treatment there.
We have been to the sites of this bomb incidents, we have seen the damage done by these explosions and now we have decided to come and meet members of the family of the victims, some of you we have met at the hospital but we understand many of the patients have been discharged but we thought nevertheless we should still come and meet with you in order to express our sympathy; to demonstrate vividly to you the concern of the Federal Government over what is unfortunately happening in this country and to also meet the leaders of the community, who are our leaders, whom we know had been involved in efforts to try and keep things from boiling over.
When you are faced with circumstances like this, there is very little that one can convey to you, if I say that we are here to say sorry, that is not sufficient, saying sorry cannot bring back the dead, saying sorry cannot repair the injury inflicted on your wives, husbands, brothers and sisters but it shows one thing, we tend to think of Government as that thing that is up there, that really has no connection with the people.
We are here as a practical manifestation that even at the highest levels of government, there is concern, obviously the President himself cannot be personally here but he appointed us, each single one of us, he signed our letters of appointment to the main committee. So by being here, your government is here, by being here, your government is saying, we care about you; we care about what has happened to you as it had happened to others.
We were in Yobe and Maiduguri. We visited all these places, which is an indication that government cares and you have the right to ask, if government cares, what is the government going to do about this or what is government doing about this? Those of you who know me will know that my field is International Relations, International Affairs.
America with all its weapons, all the people under its control fought for almost 10 years in Afghanistan against terrorism, it is still going on, it fought in Iraq, it is still going on. About 30 years ago, it signed an agreement in Northern Ireland to stop bombings and to stop fighting.
“About two weeks ago, riot broke out again, policemen were injured, as people again started shooting, so what happens is not that the government is not doing its best, but it is only the one that you know about”that manages to squeeze through and that is why they say in my own discipline that 99 per cent of the time government can succeed, it is the once that the terrorist get through that everybody hears about.
“But I want you to know this, this is a test of our will as a people, that people who are doing this are hoping that when they do this, you will rise up and fight your neighbours, that you will rise up and fight people of another religion, that is what they are hoping and if you react that way, then you have allowed them to succeed but when you allow security agencies to do their job, you allow government to do its job, then we are succeeding and they are failing and our prayer is that we will overcome, we will succeed, we will defeat terrorism, government cannot do it alone, your eyes and you ears are the eyes of government and the ears of government.
” So do not say, what can I do, I am only a civilian, no you see a lot, hear a lot and security men and women are here to receive the information that they can act upon as they also empowered to act on that information, please, help them, the police are your friends, our friend, if I observe anything, it is the DPO that I will contact or even the Constable I see walking down the road, I will tell him, please come, I just saw something, help me get this news to the top, but not to call the governor or the Igwe, come I just saw or noticed something, please help me call the police. The bottom line is that we are all involved in this exercise.”