Boko Haram: Borno will rise again as home of peace – Inuwa Bwala

Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 July 2011 14:17 Written by Suleiman M. Bisalla Wednesday, 20 July 2011 05:05

The exodus of people from Maiduguri the Borno State capital following the Boko Haram crisis has heightened fears the hitherto acclaimed home of peace  may never be the same again. Former Commissioner of Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Inuwa Bwala says in this interview in Abuja, that hopes are alive that the state will bounce back to glory. Excerpts:

Opinions are divided on the best approach to resolving the Boko Haram crisis in Borno State. This has heightened fears that there may be no immediate solution in sight. How do you see it?

I am sure you are talking about the issue of the deployment of troops to Maiduguri. Governor Kashim Shettima has explained the reasons we have to tolerate the presence of soldiers as an interim measure. But we are still committed to the option of dialogue, and I can assure you that we are honest about it. The Federal Government which is a superior authority, in its wisdom, has opted for Military option as a prelude, and we cannot question that. As citizens, we are all worried by the inconveniences that attend military operations.

As a Government, we have the primary duty to protect the lives and property of our citizens. It is sad that innocent people suffer either as victims of Boko Haram attacks or military counter attacks. We will therefore be happy if someone could come forward with an alternative that can substitute the military option. We are still determined to engage Boko Haram in an honest dialogue. Dialogue means conceding certain positions on either side. We will be ready to shift positions if only they can have confidence in the Government.

We understand there were other opinions, one of which is to declare a state of emergency. Is that acceptable?

That opinion was not from Boko Haram which is the principal stakeholder in the conflict. Those who are calling for this are rabble rousers; they are doing a hatchet job for some politicians. In situations like the one we find ourselves in Borno State today, it is normal for people to make comments, but that does not mean that all such comments are intended to achieve results. Managing crisis is not an all comers affair over which everybody can give suggestions and hope that such suggestions will be acceptable. But given that we are in a democracy, people are bound to talk. We thank those who offered suggestions with genuine intentions to end the problem, but we take exception to those with mischievous undertones.

You see, we have some later day stakeholders masquerading under different guises who are desperately bent on causing disaffection against the government and leaders of the ruling ANPP. Politicians are dubiously using the Boko Haram crisis to achieve their selfish goals. They are the ones orchestrating the gospel of state of emergency, in the hope that everybody will lose out. They know that they can never win Borno State in a free and fair political contest. Some of them have found themselves in positions by default, and are eager to make names. As you perhaps know, Borno is a very prayerful society, and we have been praying against them. We are peace loving and we are hopeful that peace will come back to our state someday.

We have the tendency to unite in resolving problems without external influences, and we will sort ourselves out soon. It is rather unfortunate that some of our brothers are beating drums of war, calling for the head of others for sheer political gains. In any case, opinions do not matter in this case any longer since the Federal Government has taken a position on the matter. We have to cooperate with the government, if we want to save ourselves from the inconveniences associated with quelling insurgencies.

The issue of state of emergency seems to be gaining currency amongst other groups. Don’t you think that may be the eventual resort as it happened in Plateau State?

Far from that, those who subscribe to that option are either those who are ignorant of what it entails, what the real issues at stake are or who are desperately looking for a way to make the ANPP led government less popular it is amusing that people who parade themselves as democrats will be the ones calling for the sack of democratic structures. What they do not even know is that, a state of emergency no longer entails the sack of the executive arm, rather the legislature. The Constitution is sacrosanct on the conditions for such contemplation, and the situation in Borno does not fit in. People ought to know that the issues at stake in the Plateau crisis are different from the one in the Boko Haram imbroglio.

While Plateau was a confined incident, Boko Haram is a much wider phenomenon, with interests far beyond what you think. It is a national malady, and except the emergency will cover Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano or even the FCT where we had flashes of Boko Haram, it will amount to playing the ostrich for the Federal Government to contemplate that. Besides, the situation we have on ground is tantamount to a state of emergency where the military is in full charge.

From the reports we receive, Maiduguri is virtually deserted, with no hopes that people will return soon. Is your presence in Abuja part of the flight government officials including your governor were said to have taken?

Because we are in crisis, people insinuate all kinds of obscenities. Greater numbers of people who panicked and left were students whose schools were closed, and they were forced to return to their bases. Some others may have also left, which we consider to be normal under the circumstances. But they are going back and life is gradually picking. The state government has announced a number of measures put in place to cushion the sufferings of citizens, aimed at restoring their confidence in the government and in the state in particular. As you may be aware, part of the problems that gave rise to the crisis was youth unemployment, lack of tangible citizen welfare schemes and growing intolerance amongst citizens.

Now Governor Kashim Shettima has initiated programmes that take into account most of the grievances of the citizens, and very soon, Borno will become the beautiful bride for would be investors and other citizens. With more international borders than any state in the country, Borno is a route for international trade, and it cannot be easily relegated. Governor Shettima has not moved out of the state, even the only time he travelled to Abuja on state assignments which require his attention, he rushed back to be on ground in Maiduguri. Let me tell you something. Very often I find it difficult to fathom how supposed responsible citizens tell lies, just as I wonder how a reporter who is not on ground goes to write about people and events he or she was not a witness to. Governor Kashim is not a coward neither will he abandon his duties for whatever reasons. It was a cooked up story and we shall find out who was behind it.

As for me and others we have no place to run to. Even if all other people leave we have to remain in Borno because that is our home. We have been running our schedules as usual, and coming to Abuja as far as I am concerned is not an anathema. Some of us have our families here and it is only natural that we come to see them. But people try to make issues out of everything we do just for political reasons.

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