By Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz, Yola,
and Ezrel Tabiowo, Abuja
Governors Murtala Nyako and Ibrahim Gaidam have urged members of the National Assembly to use their constitutional powers to frustrate the latest move of President Goodluck Jonathan to extend the emergency rule in the three states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe.
The governors made the call in the wake of a request forwarded yesterday by Jonathan to the National Assembly for the extension of the emergency rule in the three north-eastern states.
Signs that the president wouldl extend the emergency rule manifested during his last media chat where he said had the emergency rule not been imposed, the insurgents would have routed many northern states.
But the governors disagree with his position, saying rather than reduce the intensity of insurgent attacks in the states, the attacks only escalated after the emergency rule was imposed on the three states.
They canvassed an alternative way of combatting the terrorist attacks in their domains.
President Jonathan had written the Senate requesting an extension of the state of emergency.
He explained that the need for an extension was due to the increasing spate of insurgency in those states despite its introduction one year ago.
In a letter he addressed to the Senate President, which was read yesterday on the floor during plenary by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Jonathan said: “May I respectfully draw your attention to the State of Emergency Proclamation 2013, in respect of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, which was approved by the National Assembly.
“By virtue of the provisions of Section 305(6)(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, the Proclamation aforementioned would have elapsed after six months from the date of approval of the National Assembly.
“However, after due consideration of the representations made to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the effect that, while substantial progress had been made to contain the situation and restore normalcy in the affected states, the security situation that necessitated the proclamation of a State of Emergency was yet to abate.
“It will be recalled that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had, upon consideration of the realities of the security situation in the affected states that had been placed before it, graciously approved, by resolution, the extension of the State of Emergency for a further term of six months from the date of expiration of the subsisting period.
“Distinguished Senators, the security situation in the three states remains daunting, albeit to varying degrees, in the face of persistent attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect on civilian and military targets with alarming casualty rates.
“In view of the foregoing, I most respectfully request Distinguished Senators to consider and approve, by resolution, the extension of the Proclamation of the State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by a further term of six months from the date of expiration of the current term.
“I look foward, Distinguished Senate President, to the usual kind expeditious consideration of this request by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Please accept, as always, the assurances of my highest consideration and esteem.”
The president’s request was, however, not discussed by the upper chamber yesterday.
But a lawmaker from Yobe, and Secretary of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Ahmed Lawan, kicked against the president’s request, saying the alternative of funding the military properly be resorted to in the quest to tackle insurgency in the affected states.
He said, “The state of emergency had been operated for 12 months now and will end on the 19th of this month. I think that should be the end.
“That is not to say that the military operation in the North-east should cease. Instead, the federal government should deploy more military personnel and modern equipment to the affected states.
“What is crucial, essential and imperative, is not the state of emergency but the enablement of the military, especially those in the battlefront, to have state of the art technology and weapons.”
According to the lawmaker, “The government does not need to declare another state of emergency before they continue. They are already there. The obsolete arms and ammunition should be withdrawn from them and be replaced with modern ones.
“The National Assembly has always expressed willingness to support further funding for the military operation.
“The Senate President, David Mark, who spoke on our behalf last week, told President Goodluck Jonathan that the Senate was prepared to approve supplementary budget to further equip the military and boost the morale of the soldiers.
“Therefore, I am completely opposed to the extension of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe but I support further funding for the military operation in the area.”
The Adamawa state Governor, Murtala Nyako, made his position known through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Malam Ahmed Sajoh, noted with concern that more lives and properties were lost during the post-emergency rule era than before it was imposed on the states.
He said: “From all indications, the Presidency seems to be hell-bent on disenfranchising the people of the state come 2015 which entails the desire of the president to extend the emergency rule up to the election period.”
Therefore, the governor called on members of the National Assembly to reject the move, saying if they allowed it to scale through, ”it will only wrought more hardship on the common people as they have been on the receiving end of the emergency rule.”
Nyako noted with concern that many businesses have collapsed just as milestone developmental projects being pursued by the governments have suffered setbacks as many people, including expatriates, fled the state following the declaration of the emergency rule.
They argued that despite the economic setback the emergency rule has brought, it has failed to ensure security for all as the insurgents have been carrying out persistent and consistent attacks on the people, leading to unprecedented loss of lives and property.
To this end, he urged the federal government to review its strategy in fighting the insurgents, saying that in the first place the declaration of emergency rule and the use of the military to address the insurgency were misplaced as history has shown that the deployment of soldiers to contain internal security usually worsens off the situation.
In his rejection of the extension of emergency rule in the three states, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state said he took a “very strong exception to this move” by the president.
“We believe that extending emergency rule is not the answer to the prevailing security challenges in the three affected states in view of the apparent failure of the same measure over the last 12 months,” he said in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Malam Abdullahi Bego.
He pointed out that he had supported the first emergency declaration made by the president back in May 2013 because he “believed a more heightened effort was needed to deal with the escalating security challenges at the time.”
“Six months on, emergency rule was a mixed-bag that was marked more by failure than by success,” he said.
The statement said: “So, when the president went back to the National Assembly in November 2013 to ask for an extension, Governor Gaidam was among many leaders across the country who expressed reservations and asked for a change of strategy.
“For instance, over the six months of emergency rule and later over the second, we have seen some of the worst attacks by Boko Haram in Yobe state. From GSS Damaturu to GSS Mamudo to College of Agriculture Gujba and FGC Buni Yadi, more than 120 students were killed by insurgents. There were many other attacks in Gujba and Damaturu local governments.
“Although the security forces on the ground have done and continue to do their best under the circumstances, insurgents and criminals have always carried out attacks when they wanted to and have almost always got away with their barbarous and despicable acts.
“As the president now asks for another extension, it is time to ask whether any lessons have been learnt over the previous 12 months and whether the very patriotic suggestions made by the Yobe state government, other affected state governments, and Nigerians generally, have been taken into account in the ongoing effort to deal with Boko Haram insurgency.
“First, Governor Gaidam has suggested, as did his Borno and Adamawa states counterparts, that the military and security forces on the ground need to be fully and properly kitted with superior weaponry and advanced communications equipment. The governor has particularly stressed the need for more technology-driven intelligence gathering and surveillance procedures to be able to detect and prevent attacks.
“Second, the governor has stressed the need to carry the people of the affected states on board in the fight against insurgency. This suggestion was borne out of the fact that the very doctrine of counter-insurgency, as propounded by US military generals in Afghanistan and Iraq, was conceived as a means of winning the support of local, affected populations as much as scoring a military victory against insurgents.
“We have seen, over this period, however, that the federal government has neither provided the advanced weaponry and communications gear needed to defeat Boko Haram nor worked to build and sustain the confidence of the people in the affected states.
“From Izge to Konduga and from Buni-Yadi to Chibok, thousands of people have been affected in the most gruesome manner but the president has not even found it worthy to pay a sympathy visit.
“We also note that the problem of insecurity is now more of a national problem than an issue restricted to Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states alone. There are security challenges in Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba and Kaduna states and even the Federal Capital Territory. Yet, in all these places, the military and other security forces have continued to do their work of trying to restore order without an ‘Emergency Rule’ being declared by the president.
“It is therefore our considered opinion that a new approach is needed by the federal government to defeat Boko Haram, restore peace and stability, and rebuild the livelihoods that have been lost.
“This approach should look at the prevailing challenges in the three affected states as a security challenge rather than a political one and should build on the suggestions already made by the governments and people of these states.
“It is our considered opinion that the military and other security forces can remain on the ground in the affected states and do their work until Boko Haram is defeated or made to surrender. In fact, we request that more boots should be deployed to accelerate the pace of effort against Boko Haram. We believe, however, that this can be done without the imposition of a state of emergency.
“We also believe that the federal government needs to evaluate its military strategy regularly, provide additional and superior weaponry to the security forces and use the endowments of advanced communications and satellite technology to be several steps ahead of the insurgents.
“These, along with confidence-building measures that see and regard the hapless and distraught people of the affected states as partners in the search for peace, will ultimately be the elixir from the security challenges we face.
“The issue therefore is not another extension of emergency rule. The issue is whether the federal government can summon the courage to try these suggestions and to explore new ways to bring the insurgency to an end without repeating a stale and sterile measure which has failed over the last 12 months.”