Freedom Africa Community Forum

A federal lawmaker, representing Bende Constituency, Abia State, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Nnena Ukeje, has given President Goodluck Jonathan thumbs up for collaborating with external forces to fight insurgency and to free the female students from their Boko Haram captors. She also condemned series of bomb blasts by the Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, particularly the recent attack at Emab Plaza, Wuse, Abuja, which claimed many lives.

The Committee Chairman on Foreign Relations says the National Assembly has done what it must do in the struggle to free the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls, having approved huge sums of money in the last three years for security.

She lauded the Federal Government for hosting the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Abuja, saying it has placed Nigeria in the global arena as an investment haven.

Excerpts:
 

How do you react to the recent bomb blast in Abuja?

It is evil and wicked for anyone to plant explosives in a public place. However, I console those, who lost their loved ones in the Abuja Plaza bomb blast and I pray that their souls will rest in peace. However, I commend the military for arresting a man believed to be the brain behind the bombing.

The Chibok schoolgirls are yet to be rescued after almost three months. As a mother, what do you think would be the state of mind of their mothers?

They are traumatised. However, I felt Boko Haram terrorists have gone a little too far. Let us not forget that barely a month before the kidnapping of the schoolgirls on April 14, 40 boys were slaughtered by the sect in their hostels in Buni Yadi, Yobe State. So, as an alumnus of unity school, I felt bad. We had a press conference and condemned the act. Also, before that we heard of the abduction of 24 girls. However, I considered the abduction of the over 274 girls, as ridiculous. Naturally, I was horrified. I thought it was a dream.

Many governments and people around the world are seen carrying placards of Bring back our girls when they are supposed to be the ones to bring back the girls. Isn’t that failure on the part of government?

The hash-tag - Bring back our girls - is about awareness. So, I think government officials behind the campaign do it as a mark of solidarity. It is a way of sending a message across to those who have taken the girls to release them. The hash-tag also signifies that it is not government that is holding the girls. It is to remind the sect that Nigerians and indeed the world are united in the cry to bring back our girls. It is an appeal to the conscience of the abductors. It is saying that over 50 million Nigerians, drawn from the civil society and government are not in support of Boko Haram. If you recall, when the women led by former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili protested to the National Assembly, the leadership of both lower and upper chambers came out to identify with them. Therefore, the government officials you see with Bring back our girls tag are in solidarity with the parents of the abducted girls.

Would you say government is doing what it ought to do for the girls to regain their freedom?

Terrorism is a delicate thing in conventional warfare. Everywhere in the world where there has been terrorism, it takes a long time to stop it. I can only speak for the National Assembly; if you ask me what the National Assembly has done in the struggle to free our girls and stamp out terrorism from Nigeria,  I would tell you that National Assembly has approved huge sums of money in the last three years for security, which is, of course, what we are supposed to do in addition to legislating for the country, oversight and appropriation. Now, we have provided appropriation to the executive arm of government. We have approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s request to extend the emergency rule in the North-east states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno. The National Assembly has done what it must do in the fight against terror. Let us also realise that terrorism is a trans-border crime.  We are talking about Al-Qaeda,  which is the fall-out of the Libya and the Mali crises. The whole thing has destabilised the entire country. And we should also realise that the terrorists are very migratory. So, we have our bit.

Let us understand that fighting this new phenomenon requires learning and Nigeria is learning how to combat terrorism. The Nigerian Army is trained for conventional warfare, hence the international law limits what Nigeria can do with regards to going after the terrorists, especially outside Nigeria. So, there must be international collaboration and it is a good thing that the United Nations and everybody are involved. I believe the resolutions that give us the right to tackle it is the way it must be fought because trans-border crime has come to the fore. Because now, Nigeria has been treating terrorism as a local problem, hence world’s attention was not drawn to what the nation had been going through for the past four years. Now, with Boko Haram insurgency having gone viral and global, I think the rest of the world has come to realize that Nigeria has actually been tackling something a lot worse than terrorism, hence the link to Al Qaeda, Al-Shabab and other terrorists groups. So, to that extent, I think we are learning how to fight terrorism and we are tackling it as best as we can.

Both the National Assembly and the military are doing what they should do to overcome Boko Haram. The service chiefs in a recent meeting with the National Assembly agreed to work with the international collaborators and to create an enabling environment for foreign soldiers to thrive in the course of discharging their duties.

Some Nigerians have expressed fear over the invitation of the United States for assistance to flush out Boko Haram. Having predicted that Nigeria may break up in 2015, are we not heading towards that direction?

We have come to realize that counter insurgency and the fight against terrorism is a global war. A terrorist anywhere in the world is a terrorist. Nigeria is very strategic; we are the largest economy in Africa. Nigeria is very important in the sub-region. If Nigeria is destabilized, it would affect the entire world. Even for humanity sake, the rest of the world is beginning to understand that Nigeria cannot be a haven for terrorists. Nigeria soldiers have been rated the best in world as far as peacekeeping is concerned. So, the Nigerian Army is strong.

However, Nigerian military must go for further training and be well equipped with modern technology to compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world. This would help them in the areas of interception, surveillance and intelligence gathering. Be that as it may, the United States has a well-established counter insurgency unit, just like Russia, Israel and Britain. Let me say very quickly that the United States Congress is not willing to have American troops on ground. So, America’s involvement is limited to granting us technologically advanced aid to counter insurgency.

Let me say without contradiction that Nigerian soldiers are well able to combat insurgency and they are patriotic. So, we are not opening up our country for anybody or group to come in and take over the security or resources of the nation. There are terms of engagement with countries that are helping us fight insurgents. It is good that Nigerians are alive to what is happening and they have shown their patriotic zeal of protecting the sovereignty of the country. I think the drivers, the negotiators who are engaging with the US know where to draw the line to the point of exit. Nigeria and America have military pacts. For instance, the Nigerian Navy has acquired warship from the United States. We have always exchanged intelligence as far as insurgency is concerned.

Government has rejected a deal to swap the girls with Boko Haram terrorists members in government custody. Do you support this stand?

I’m not a government negotiator and wouldn’t know how the negotiation process is like. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said we need carrot and stick approach. I want to believe that the people who are negotiating with Boko Haram are professional negotiators hence, I don’t want to say anything to pre-empt them as I’m aware that what we are doing is for the best interest of the country and the girls because we want those girls back alive. Those girls have become the symbol of the struggle to flush terrorists out of Nigeria.

West African leaders and President Jonathan were in France recently to find ways of collaborating to fight terror in the sub-region. Do you see anything positive coming out of this alliance?

Terrorism thrives in places where they have somebody they view as a charismatic leader; they must have a haven, they must have an escape route and they must operate between borders. The Economic Communities of West Africa States (ECOWAS) is a platform to check the movements of people and goods. Now, the Sambisa forest is on the border between Nigeria and east of Cameroun Republic. So, it is a welcome development for Jonathan and his Cameroonian counterpart to get to the place where they have started to talk about border town administration hence, Nigeria must collaborate with them. If we continue to deal with Boko Haram in Nigeria without dealing with the source, it would be an effort in futility. Like I said earlier, insurgency spread to Nigeria from Somalia, Libya and Mali. So, if we do not deal with the sources, we cannot achieve the desired goal and that is why President Jonathan arranged for a meeting between him and countries that share common borders with Nigeria because we share the same problem. The world is beginning to see Boko Haram as an African problem. We should not forget that before the coming of the white man, Africa did not have any borders, hence most of these borders were indeed administrative in nature. So, a lot of Cameroonians are in Nigeria. That I would say was the reason for the summit of West African leaders. I think what is important at this time is that all the countries bordering Nigeria are beginning to see that Boko Haram is a threat to them as it is to Nigeria.

Nigeria hosted the World Economic Forum. What impact do you think this would make towards the nation’s economy?

Somebody captured it vividly: “Thousands gathered with billions to spend.” Nigeria just rebased and became the largest economy in Africa and the rest of the world took notice of that. I think the forum is veritable platform for the world to come and tap into the enormous potentials of Nigeria. You had businessmen, economic and policy makers around the world coming into the country. Presidents, captain of industries, civil societies came to see what it is about the largest economy in Africa. In terms of tangibles, there were certain things we should consider. Fror instance, $21billion (about N16trillion) was traded in the World Economic Forum. I also know that $billion was put on the table and Nigeria got half of it. It gave institutional impetus to bring back our girls when they created the facebook initiative where they bought $30billion and Nigeria committed $10billion.

A lot of bilateral agreements were signed to construct schools, hospitals and railway lines. Furthermore, I think another benefit is that it provided the platform to open a conversation because Africa has the largest raw materials in the world, yet, it has the poorest people. What the forum wants to achieve is to close the gap hence, Africa’s perspective is tied to global perspective. Another thing I found very interesting was when they brought the 2014 budget before the National Assembly, the topic was ‘Inclusive growth in job creation.” That was also the theme of WEF. The bane of the country is lack of job creation. Africa has a large growing populations out of work. So, I think the WEF created a platform for us to bridge the skills gap because the world is now a global village.

 

These children (girls) should be saved from the humiliation and trauma.

150 days and counting