ACN urges Government To Change Tactics On Boko Haram

Source: THEWILL. - thewillnigeria.com
ACN NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, CHIEF BISI AKANDE.
ACN NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, CHIEF BISI AKANDE.

LAGOS, July 28, (THEWILL) – The Action Congress Of Nigeria (ACN) has said it is seriously concerned and alarmed at government’s appraoch to resolving the Boko Haram crisis in Northern Nigeria.

The political party in an 11-point communique issued after a meeting of its National Working Committee in Ibadan, Oyo State, today gave its position on the crisis that has so far lingered without any serious resolution.

The ACN communique states as follows:
“1. That the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is seriously concerned and alarmed at the inept and clueless handling of the Boko Haram crisis by the federal government, which has shown clearly that it is suffering not just from a failure of leadership, but also a failure of initiative in tackling the crisis.

2. That the deployment of troops to tackle the crisis has instead stoked the fire, hence the need by the federal government to review the tactics so far employed to curtail the Boko Haram phenomenon.

3. That if the federal government persists in its clueless and lack of creativity in handling the crisis, it will have grave consequences for the corporate existence of Nigeria, as unpatriotic and undemocratic elements have historically seized such moments to destabilize the polity.

4. That the federal government must get a firm understanding of this phenomenon which, contrary to the position held by the government and many other uninformed or mischievous commentators, is more a social and political than a religious issue as it has been sadly portrayed.

5. That indeed the Boko Haram phenomenon is an unfortunate reaction to the injustice, corruption and insensitivity of the governments at all levels to the plight of the masses in the affected areas.

6. That the leaders of the Boko Haram sect are not illiterates or drop outs as being erroneously and mischievously portrayed, but rather educated and political elites.

7. That the Boko Haram sect enjoys the massive support of civil servants, technocrats, students, the intelligentsia and the working class and that the sect draws its membership from these classes.

8. That the federal government and the governments of Borno and Bauchi, as well as the security agencies, have hugely mismanaged the crisis, and that what we are witnessing today is the reaction of the sect to this gross mismanagement.

9. That the federal and state governments in the affected areas, by their pathetically inept handling of the crisis, have fallen into the trap of saboteurs who have now hijacked the crisis for their own nefarious and selfish end - which is to destroy the harmonious relationship between the various ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria. This is quite glaring in the inflammatory and incendiary statements being exchanged daily by southern militants and northern irredentists, or between religious bigots on both sides of the divide.

10. That the federal government, by its inept management of the crisis, has allowed it to become a source of tension and conflict between the north and the south, as well as between Christians and Muslims, thus eclipsing the real issues involved.

11. That the federal government's knee jerk approach to resolving the crisis will simply not work, and that only a political solution can help to solve the problem, irrespective of the thinking in certain quarters that only a total annihilation of the sect will resolve the crisis.”