Editorial Suite
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THE security situation in the country has been a worrisome development for every concerned citizen of Nigeria. For this reason, security agencies have been scratching their heads on how to solve the security challenges which have bedevilled the country recently. They range from increasing rate of armed robbery, kidnapping in various parts of the country, especially the south east to hired killings and the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, which hit the country full blast since 2010.
Kidnapping attracted worldwide attention when expatriates working for international oil companies became victims during the Niger Delta militancy. The development caused outrage in the international community which prevailed on the Nigerian government to stem the tide. The Niger Delta militancy gained national and international attention because it affected the major source of revenue of the country and the operations of the oil companies. Oil production, which was about 2.3 million barrels per day went down to about 1.3 million barrels per day.
Government had no option but to find a durable solution to the militancy in the region. That was how the idea of amnesty introduced by the government of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua came about. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief when the militants bought the amnesty idea and accepted to lay down their arms. Today, oil production has jumped back to 2.4 million barrels per day.
But the evil of kidnapping now moved over to the south east rendering the region unsafe. To confront the bugbear frontally, the governors in the south east employed various measures including public parade of arrested criminals and seizure and demolition of their property to check the crime wave. Theodore Orji, governor of AbiaState, where the crime was endemic granted amnesty to kidnappers who were prepared to end their siege on the state. It worked.
Right now, the Boko Haram insurgence is giving both the state governments – Borno and Yobe , where the crime is endemic, and the federal government sleepless nights. To curb the trend, prominent sons and leaders of the North have called on the federal government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members.
This call has elicited controversy. One strand of the argument is that the states infested with Boko Haram should grant the amnesty like what their counterparts in the south east did when they were troubled by kidnappers. Others see it as the duty of the federal government because it did so for the Niger Delta militants. The hot air over the debate made Realnews editorial board to examine the merits and demerits of the issues in contention. The outcome of this examination is what we are serving you in the cover story of this week entitled: “Boko Haram: Hypocrisy over the Debate”. It was written by Olu Ojewale, general editor.
Maureen Chigbo
Editor
— Mar. 25, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT
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I am guessing you’re an uergrndaduate perhaps in your 200 level or so and so, not mature enough to know the history of Nigeria. Every grown up knows that this worm that is now eating Nigeria has been eating it long before GEJ even got his Masters Degree not to talk of PhD. The Jonathan Administration is simply suffering the effects of the accumulated failures of successive governments in Nigeria. Was Boko Haram founded under Jonathan?Who permitted Sharia law?Who failed to build refineries.Do you know when our last and youngest refinery (Port-Harcourt Two) was built?Who failed to build power stations?Who failed to ensure enough food is grown in the country?Who failed to fund our universities and make them work better?Who caused the hugh cost of government we’re suffering from?Who accumulated all those foreign debt that Obasanjo paid off?Who killed Dele Giwa and tried to silence journalism?Who killed Ken Saro Wiwa in order to please a foreign company?Jonathan’s Administration might be contributing to all these as well, but the important thing to note is that IT DID NOT START WITH HIM. The monster called corruption hatched out of its egg many many many many years ago.Are you in LAGOS? Learn how to Speak in Public! Hurry now and join the upcoming Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Training for Professionals & Graduates holding this Dec 8th/15th at Lekki-Peninsula (two Saturdays). Learn how to plan, prepare & deliver presentations that make impact! Registration closes TODAY; class begins TOMORROW! For more info, contact 0-7-0-6-8-7-6-2-4-6-3 (SMS only). Register at w-w-w . L-i-v-e-S-p-e-e-c-h . o-r-g (remove dashes).
what we have is not terrorism but a sitiutaon in which certain northerners want to vermoose with loot stolen over the years!!!. In this created chaos, they will slip quietly into their new country knowing that the large populace of uneducated citizens in that new country’, are used to serfdom so will forever be dependent on crumbs from their tables as such they will permanently escape justice from man and since they equate themselves with God as all their actions including mass murder, election rigging, stealing of our commonwealth are ordained by God’, will scorn God’s judgement too. we don’t need to look far, their I Be Bigman rantings and manipulations of the judiciary give them away. even the activities of their young turks who come to work in traditional regalia to intimidate us, spend our money any how and the other one who condemns jonathan at the drop of a hat but who must have billions stashed somewhere gives them away. but to the rest of us, i say take heart, history is never on their side. these modern day saddam husseins of today who talk down on us from their gilded palaces will tomorrow be caught up with in their rat holes!!!!!