After being challenged by some prominent Nigerians to begins talks with members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect to accept the amnesty offer of the Federal Government, four northern state governors have risen to the challenge in their domains.
The action of the governors has raised hopes that dialogue between the federal government and the insurgents to pave the way for the amnesty proper after the rejection of the offer by the sect’s leader, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau led to the beliefs that it had hit a brick wall.
Authoritative sources close to some northern governors yesterday that Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe) and his Borno State counterpart, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, had made a breakthrough in their negotiations with some leaders of the group.
One of the sources declared that “the three governors are already speaking with members of the sect. These governors reported to the last National Economic Committee (NEC) meeting the progress they had made in reaching the leadership of this sect and they were mandated to continue”.
Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, who also spoke on the matter in Minna yesterday, named Gombe State as the fourth state that had opened talks with the insurgents.
The governor, who is also the chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, said that the Boko Haram members were not ghosts because the government of Bauchi, Gombe, Borno and Yobe had established contacts with them.
Governor Aliyu stated that the amnesty programme was not an automatic solution to the problems of Boko Haram but meaningful dialogue with the sect.
He made this statement while opening the Northern States Speakers’ Forum conference in Minna, the state capital, where he explained that the purported rejection of the amnesty offer by Boko Haram was to further widen the scope of discussion and urged Nigerians not to be discouraged by the media report.
Aliyu specifically called on the government of the vulnerable states to intensify contact with the sect so that the amnesty programme would be without hitches when it is finally rolled out by the Federal Government.
“I think when people hear amnesty they think it’s something that is the solution to the security challenges. No! That is the process; it is like saying come and let us discuss; all what you have done, I am not going to look at that. But people think by amnesty the problem is solved, No! ” he stated.
According to him, “Because somebody says they are rejecting amnesty, we are discouraged. No! It is part of the negotiation, raising the antenna so that discussion will take place.”
He commended the Borno State government for raising a committee on the amnesty and that it was a good thing also that Bauchi, Yobe and Gombe states had long ago established contact with the members of the sect. He stated that the effort made by the affected state governments would provide the avenue to properly organise the amnesty so that when the federal government is ready, the states would be ready.
On the legislative function, Aliyu described the legislature as the most powerful arm of government and urged the state lawmakers to make laws to promote peace in the country.
Earlier, the chairman of the speakers’ forum and speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Hon. Aminu Musa Jega, stated that the forum would be discussing the security challenges in the north and the proposed amnesty for Boko Haram by the federal government during the meeting.