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| Ali Modu Sheriff |
I was at work on the 19th of
February when I came across an article from the People's Democratic Party
chieftain and former Minister of Aviation; Femi Fani-Kayode titled ''Who has
bewitched the PDP?'' It was a deviation from the usual articles portraying
his obsession with Buhari under the guise of criticisms. I swiftly saved the
link to the article and set a reminder to read it at my free time on Saturday
due to the workload I was dealing with at the moment. The linkage between Boko
Haram and politics in Nigeria is an informal research project I have followed
since the ill-fated attack on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja killing
11 UN staff and 12 others with about a 100 others injured in August, 2011.
As a Writer, I felt the tears
and blood dripping from Fani Kayode's pen calling for a reason to focus more
attention. His article centred around the emergence of former Borno state
Governor Ali Modu Sheriff as the Acting Chairman of the PDP with a herculean
task to fix the broken foundation of the party after the historical loss of its
incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to the current ruling party
presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives
Congress, APC. I salute the audacious move of Fani Kayode and for once, I
waived the controversies trailing the politician who has in the past shuttled
between the PDP and APC without conscience till his supporters got lost in
transit.
He alleged Ali Modu Sheriff
was the founder of Boko Haram alongside other faceless influential northern
leaders that funded the sect which started as a conservative Islamic group in
the year 2002. This was during the reign of Sheriff who served as the governor
of the current Boko Haram terror-bed, Borno from the year, 1999 to 2013 over a
period of two tenures. This is invariably the period of the growth of the sect
to maturity. This can be likened an old adage of the Yorubas which states that ''the
branches of an Iroko tree can only be trimmed at the young state of growth as it
will take spiritual sacrifices to tame when it attains full maturity”
I virtually read Fani
Kayode's piece because it’s a rare confession which the hypocritical 'Twitter
Senator' Ben Murray-Bruce, the Chairman of Silverbird group and his cohorts
will not dare to in order not to burn political bridges against the future.
Anyway, maybe Fani Kayode was compelled to confirm the obvious after most
online media platforms broke the news of Sheriff's appointment describing him
as an "alleged Boko Haram sponsor''
to boost attention and readership effect which worked perfectly.
Sheriff's indictment
expresses the high level of selfishness of Nigerian politicians. It delineates
the do-or-die mentality of our politicians which has made the Independent
National Electoral Commission seem impotent despite the mental work and
brilliant innovations invested in the mode of operations of the body to ensure
a free and fair electoral process. I am beginning to feel it will take God's
intervention of sending his only begotten son, Jesus Christ to Nigeria to come
and die for our sins again so that there can be a redirection of affairs
according to the biblical perspective screen. Politics in Nigeria has always
been a game of the pigs in mud culturally doing it dirty and for many
generations to come, I doubt if this will change. An average Nigerian
politician may initiate the release of a notorious criminal sentenced to death by
the court if he can decimate his opposition. Believing the claims of Fani
Kayode for a second, the affiliations of Sheriff to Boko Haram by virtue of his
reported closeness to the late first leader of the terrorist group, Mohammed
Yusuf who was summarily executed while in police custody, wasn't new to
prominent Nigerian politicians. Sheriff was a coveted asset due to the fact that
he wields political influence coupled with his affluence. Both qualities are
two lethal weapons to win political power which politics entail. APC was the
first to woo Sheriff at the foundational stage of the party shortly between
2013 and 2014 from the All Nigeria People's Party, ANPP. Later in 2014, he left
for the PDP where his membership is retained till date. To confirm the PDP's
knowledge of Sheriff's links with Boko Haram before the exposure by an
Australian hostage negotiator, Steven Davies; former President Goodluck
Jonathan while on a visit to Borno state in April, 2013 said on camera that
Sheriff is Mohammed Yusuf's friend and his audience laughed at the president's
insinuation. This hypocritical act took place while Sheriff was with the APC
that was desperate for a strong 'political army' to unseat Goodluck Jonathan. The
same PDP later accepted Sheriff into the party in 2014 and stood by him when
Steven Davies accused him of being having links with Boko Haram in August, 2014.
Jonathan even went as far as taking a man of doubtful character like Sheriff to
Chad to meet with the president, Idriss Deby for a security meeting concerning
the menace of Boko Haram. Isn't that preposterous?
Sheriff may not be guilty as
alleged but when human lives (national security) are at stake, we should take
no chances of loopholes.
APC in turn taunted PDP on
the allegations levelled against Sheriff to tarnish the image of the party
which played out as planned. Setting the records straight, our leaders control
the media and they only air what they want the people to know. The exposure of
Sheriff's reported links to the sect is just one of numerous cases posterity
will judge in due time.
Boko Haram's affiliation to
the government can be confirmed in the words of the late Nigerian tyrant, Gen.
Sani Abacha who said no insurgence can last up to 24hrs without the involvement
of the government and today we have Boko Haram detrimentally running into 7
years.
The late former National
Security Adviser, Owoye Azazi also linked the emergence of Boko Haram to
politics. He made this statement in the year 2012, while speaking at a
South-South Economic Summit in Delta state. He reiterated that escalation of
insecurity in the country, particularly the rampaging activities of the dreaded
extremist sect, Boko Haram, is traceable to some undemocratic practices by the political
parties during elections, especially the ruling People’s Democratic Party
(PDP). This statement controversially led to the sack of Azazi amongst other
issues.
The words of the popular
Nigerian Journalist, Ahmad Salkida who was linked to Boko Haram before he
eloped to Dubai where he is currently based also confirms the obvious. He slammed
President Muhammadu Buhari's lack of dedication to the liberation of the Chibok
girls from captivity after he told the parents of the Chibok girls at the Aso
Rock villa in Abuja that he had no Intel about their location.
In the words of Salkida:
''Islamic State’s West
Africa Province (ISWAP), popularly called Boko Haram, didn’t fall from the sky;
they are mostly Nigerians. The abductions were done in Nigeria and the girls
are still widely reported to be in Nigeria. Is the president saying no one in
Nigeria has access to the sect, a country of over 170 million or, if those with
access have not come forward, what has he done as the president to find them?''
Doesn't this affirm the
saying that ''the pest that devours the vegetable lives within the vegetable?''
On the 27th of February, 2015
during the heat of the electioneering campaign, following Buhari's appearance
at Chatham House in the United Kingdom, Fani Kayode in criticism of Buhari
opened a can of worms. He claimed Buhari was nominated as the Spokesman and
representative of the Boko Haram sect during a proposed negotiation with the
Federal Government. Buhari also openly likened Boko Haram to the Niger Delta
militancy. On this note, he made the infamous statement that ''an attack on
Boko Haram is an attack on the north''. Doesn't still smell allegiance? It
should be noted that this isn't an accusation but questions I wish my readers
could join me in pondering upon for answers.
I think it’s high time our
leaders stopped being diplomatic with the truth as we the masses are the
victims of their misdeeds. These few indicators are crystal-clear enough to
give us direction to tackle Boko Haram terrorism ideologically rather than
engaging in prolonged military fights that have dyed the colour of the
north-east sand with human blood.
Back to Sheriff and the rise
of Boko Haram, the Worldwatch Monitor reveals some staggering details that are
pointers to the romance of Sheriff's administration with Boko Haram giving the
group an enabling ground to reach its full potentials. Muhammed Yusuf in 2003
once fled to Saudi Arabia when it appeared the notorious activities of his
deputy, Abubakar Shekau and his men were endangering him. According to the news
plaform, the deputy governor of that time named Adamu Shettima Yuguda Dibal
(current APC member) met with Yusuf on Hajj and used his political influence to
secure his return. What was the alleged interest of the leadership of the state
in Yusuf who returned with a renewed radical preaching style?
WorldWatch Monitor also
confirms Fani Kayode's statement that Sheriff's alliance with Yusuf provided
the financial resources for the sect to grow in strength before it developed
out of control. In October, 2012, unconfirmed reports have it that operatives
of the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri arrested one Boko Haram top commander,
Shuaibu Mohammed Bama at the abode of Sheriff which spontaneously led to
denials. Strong links between Sheriff and the sect also angered youths in Borno
that they made unsuccessful attempts to set Sheriff's private residence ablaze.
All these issues were swept
under the carpet and Sheriff was duly accommodated in the PDP simply because
politics is a game of numbers like Fani Kayode said. I am sure the currently
opposing members of the PDP Board of Trustees sycophantically associated with
Sheriff with utmost caution in a bid to benefit from his enormous wealth and
political influence in the northern part of Nigeria which didn't work out as
Buhari swept the region clean with massive votes.
The emergence of Sheriff as
the Acting Chairman of the opposition party is a desperate bid for financial
sponsorship as well as his reported plan to lure back unhappy APC bigwigs into
the party against 2019 general elections. Dramatically, some prominent PDP
members are finding it awkward and suicidal presenting a controversial figure
like Sheriff as the front man of the party. This level of hypocrisy is
disgusting and it pictures the emptiness the PDP has been degraded to since its
defeat at the presidential polls in 2015. If Sheriff is good enough as a member
of the party which he has been faithfully for about 2 years, then he is equally
qualified to be at the realm of leadership of the party with obedience to the
principle of equality and fairness. The current outrage and threat of an exodus
by some 20 PDP senators and other 50 members of the House of Representatives is
a blatant dance of shame.
I urge the agitating PDP members
to gladly accept Ali Modu Sheriff and let him actualize his plan of returning
the party to the presidency in 2019 as its virtually too late to tarnish his
image after he has been allowed to strive and gain grounds in the party. It’s
funny how the hunters are now being hunted.
I feel for Fani Kayode. I
salute the daring truths he revealed and I wish I could cry with him but I have
exhausted my tears mourning the over 20,000 people killed by Boko Haram in the
last 7 years, the 2.6 million Internally Displaced People, the maimed people
with permanent physically disabilities, the orphans who have lost their benefactors,
the widows, soldiers that bled to death in thick forests with cases covered up
to affirm our trust in the army and the constantly raped female victims who
have been overwhelmed by the Stockholm syndrome.
Boko Haram is evil
personified. Boko Haram militants have destroyed infrastructures that may cost
more than $1 billion to rebuild in the north-eastern state of Borno, the main
theater of the government’s 7-year fight against the Islamist insurgency. According
to Governor Kashim Shettima in a recent interview with Bloomberg:
“Hospitals, bridges, roads that they mined will require
about 79 billion naira ($397 million)
to
rebuild''
Fani Kayode should live with
the monster the great party nursed to gather momentum within its capacity out
of sheer selfishness and desperation to amass votes. They should remember that
the choices they make will go a long way in determining the results they will
get. His rants smell of lack of shame and the effect of a backfired attack.
I sincerely wish Ali Modu
Sheriff good luck as he strives to achieve his aims and objectives. For
democracy to strive well, Nigeria needs a viable opposition that will serve as
a watchdog on the ruling party to curtail its excesses.
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