Before Dialogue With Terrorists

THE Presidency has emphasised its resolve to embrace dialogue with Boko Haram Islamist terrorist fighters if they agree to negotiate. However, according to presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari will bargain with the jihadists “from the position of strength”.

It is true that in all wars, there must be a measure of dialogue between the contending forces before, during and after the conflict. Therefore, it is unrealistic to insist that we should not engage in any form of talks with the insurgents who, news sources claim, have killed over 600 innocent Nigerians within the last one month of Buhari’s advent in power.

During this period, we started seeing the same pattern of condemnations from the Presidency and other top officials of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which was a sad reminder of our experiences under former President Goodluck Jonathan before he acquired the necessary weapons to invade the Sambisa Forest abode of the terrorists.

We have always cautioned against putting the banner of negotiating with Boko Haram ahead of their decisive military decapitation. Any further move to try and get them to the negotiation table while still pleading for mercy will definitely embolden them to dictate terms.

We have argued in the past that only when we defeat Boko Haram militarily can we set the stage for negotiation. At that stage, we will be negotiating to see what to do with those of them that can still be useful citizens. Our argument has been supported by two Maiduguri-based Islamic scholars. Sheikh Musa Usman told a national daily that we must pay more attentions to equipping the military to rout the militants rather than considering dialogue. His colleague, Goni Yahuza concurred, adding that calling for negotiation at this point is a sign of weakness.

During the presidential campaigns, Buhari had boasted that he would wipe out Boko Haram within one month. That time line has already passed. The only thing we have seen is the relocation of command headquarters to Maiduguri and President Buhari’s trips to foreign countries for a joint action against the terrorists.

There appears to be a lull on the military front, which accounts for the increased Boko Haram strikes. We want the federal government to act with greater decisiveness and put the insurgents on their heels. We want to hear less of condolence messages to victims from the Presidency and more of actions being taken to curtail the menace of the terrorists.

Nigerians elected Buhari because as a military officer with track records he was seen as the man to crush the insurgents. He must get the job done first before we talk about negotiations and rehabilitation.