BOKO HARAM: REVISITING STEPHEN DAVIS REPORT

“Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories”- Amilca Cabral

This drama series which depicts the issues trailing Nigeria, My Country is never in want of Acts and Scenes with its peculiar dramatis personae as professional politicians. When one is left to think that one event is at anti-climax, another event within same plot is in 'raising action,” the question on the minds of the audience is: When will this film come to an end?

Sometime last year, while Nigerians were still doing their best to cope with how to live in the face of the dreaded Boko Haram, there came the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), with its dramatic entry into Nigeria through a Liberian Diplomat, Patrick Sawyer. Just as we were getting relief, with the country's capacity able to contain the world's deadliest virus, the damning report from an Australian hostage negotiator (for the release of over 200 abducted Chibok girls), Dr. Stephen Davis, again came into the offing. For me, Mr. Davis has not said what is not in public knowledge about the Islamic sect, Boko Haram. The only intriguing aspect of his report was the inclusion of one name, the ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Azubuike Ihejirik, and ex-Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and a senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which Mr. Davis did not name.

Davis report came at a time when speculations about the sponsors of the terrorists were at it peak. The two leading political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were in verbal warfare of who the real sponsor was. Specifically, the APC was under serious investigation for being the sponsor of the group and had a busy schedule, defending itself in the United Kingdom's House of Commons. It was a period of mixed grill. While the then ruling government repeatedly told the nation that it “knows” the sponsors of the sect; Nigerians, who remain disturbed about the wastages that has followed the insurgency, desperately wanted the real sponsors of the dreaded sect to be unveiled.

Expectedly, the Federal Government responded through the Department of State Security (DSS). The Department, through its then spokesperson Ms Marilyn Ogar, categorically denied the involvement of Lt. General Ihiejirika or the Military High Command of any complicity in the unending Boko Haram massacres. She had however clarified that the ex-Borno State Governor, Sheriff was under investigation by the DSS.

The Government had further declared Davis, a self-appointed negotiator, who was clearly acting on his own volition, and not on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria. In the circumstance, government further queried the rationale for breaking such sensitive matters to the foreign media without first reporting to the federal government.

As expected in situations as this, it is only natural to get two replies. One was that Davies was not acting on its behalf. Such denial was normal, given that no government is known to directly negotiate with terrorists. They do so, using a third party negotiator, in the likes of like Mr. Davies. Thus it is puzzling that there were such accusations and counter accusations, especially as that was not the first time the renowned hostage negotiator was coming to Nigeria on this kind of mission.

Secondly, if government's query that Davis took the issue to the foreign media before reporting to the Federal Government is anything to go by, why was the government so deeply concerned since Davies was understood to be an independent, self-appointed negotiator? Why was he then expected to report to a government that didn't appoint him in the first instance?

It would be recalled that early in 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan came out publicly to say, (except he said this under cover,) that members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram were serving in his cabinet. After making what close watchers had described as careless statement, it was thought that he had unconsciously given a clue to unravelling the real sponsors of insecurity in Nigeria.

Later in 2012, General Andrew Owoye Azazi (rtd), the then National Security Adviser (NSA) told the nation what some people found unfathomable; that the ruling PDP was behind the veil of Boko Haram. Had this statement came from a northerner, some of our southern friends would have publicly demanded for his head. But, it came from a southerner as Jonathan. Curiously, in what looked like a reaction from the cabinet “branch” of Boko Haram, enormous pressure was put on Jonathan to get him sacked from his position. He was later to die in controversial circumstances in a plane crash.

At this point, let us again ponder to look into the case of the now embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. Though he wasn't expressly indicted in the report, but with the recent revelations that he actually profited from the alleged stealing of more than $2 billion (£1.3bn) meant to buy weapons for the military to fight Islamic militant Boko Haram rebels, the case has assumed a worrisome dimension.

With the claim that he transferrd142.6 million to a company with accounts in the United States, the United Kingdom and in West Africa for unknown purposes and without contracts, do we still doubt Mr Davis report?

Let us look at this whole issue from another angle, outside the negotiator's original report. Now we are talking about the content of his revelations, and not the procedural bla bla bla. Let us assume, in his report, that he fingered any or all the following people: General Muhammadu Buhari(rtd), Atiku   Abubakar,Rabiu Kwankwaso, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola or Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The news headlines would probably have been, “Foreign Negotiator Indicts Buhari, Tinubu, Others As Boko Haram Sponsors”, or “APC Leaders Behind Boko Haram-Australian Negotiator”

I am sure if this were to be the Australian's 'revelations', the then loquacious DSS Spokesperson, Ms Marilyn Ogar, would have been in elative mood.

She would have used the “revelations” to strengthen her earlier argument that APC was behind all the bomb blasts in the country. May be by now,Davis will earn the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) title for a well-deserved service to the nation.

Before we forget, at what point did Senator Ali Ndume, representing Bornu South got involve in the insurgency?  What has become of his case at the courts since he joined the PDP? Were the Boko Haram members who the former President said were in his government the ones responsible for the sacking of General Andrew Azazi as the National Security Adviser? What was Senator Ali Modu Sheriff doing on the former President's delegation toChad after he'd severally been linked to the sect and at a time when it was declared that he was under investigations by DSS? Was he in another country to welcome the President as a diplomat or a staff of the Foreign Service? What was Sheriff's mission to the extent that he was seen sitting in company of our President and Idris Deby, the President of Chad, with no other member of the President's delegation named by the government?

Looking at the Davis report, particularly his mention of the name of the ex-Chief of Army Staff- which is a remote possibility, but not impossibility, it goes to illustrate that there may be a direction in Mr. Davis report and unravelling the mystery behind Boko Haram.

Let us not also forget that about this time,  Dasuki had  requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to shift the February 14elections by six weeks to enable the Army confront the terrorists. A dramatic event happened in Gombe Sate during this period. The Boko Haram allegedly attacked some parts of the state before an air raid of fliers, written in Hausa, warning the residents to stay away from the elections hence they will be attacked. The question is: Who was distributing these fliers? At what point did Boko Haram begin to concern itself with elections? Something tells me that the compromised Nigerian Army or the Jonathan's cabinet faction of Boko Haram was at work to scare people away from voting. The recent trial of the ex-NSA convinces me now that there could be a correlation between events at that time and the issue under discuss.

This writer is of the considered view that former President Jonathan, at this time, should take a hard look at his own administration, within his government, his advisors, the military, security agencies and other Para-military institutions, in order to be able to smoke out sponsors of the group and those he worked with. This advice is particularly a harsh one. The enemy within were more dangerous than those without. They were the ones that praised him the most. They were the most active and unfortunately, the ones who desperately wanted him to fail at the polls,

As the Yoruba wisdom says: The thief outside cannot devour you unless with the permission of that who is inside. The owner of the house must identify the thief within to keep pilfers at bay. If they had looked well enough, they would have discovered that Mr Steven Davis' report contains that important clue.

The quotation at the beginning of this piece is from Amílcar Cabral, the great African revolutionary who led Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde's struggle against Portuguese colonialism before his cold-blooded assassination in January, 1973, which effectively prevented him from leading the newly-liberated nation. When he urged his comrades to “Hide nothing from the masses… Tell no lies… Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories,” he knew they will be saved a great deal, now or in the future, if they tell the truth. This is where I really sympathise with Dasuki, for doing a thankless job.

***Olalekan Waheed Adigun is a political risk analyst and an independent political strategist. Email:  [email protected]

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