I say it’s utter nonsense. To allow them to fester in what way? In the Constitution of Nigeria there is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, freedom of vocation for livelihood and so on. To fester suggests that we created them. In fact, our suspicion about its source of creation was confirmed. When Jonathan eventually made a hurried visit to Maiduguri, he held in his hand the former governor of Borno State, who he introduced as a very close friend. From all your writings and insinuations that you must have read from your colleagues in the media, there is an allegation, some suspicions between the sources of Boko Haram in Borno with the former governor that is very close. If you see the security outriders that he moves with from federal sources and how protected he is, you begin to ask yourself questions. Were ordinary people being ignored or is there something that more than meets the eye between the real Boko Haram and the official Boko Haram?
Please take northern elders’ elites out of this and place it squarely on the laps of those people that are leading the country irrespective of where they come from. Because he kept harping on this as if the North is not part of Nigeria; if there is no peace in the North there will be no peace in Nigeria. That you can take from me.
What of the argument that the areas of blame are social conditions such as inequality, poverty, illiteracy and others that make terrorism thrive?
There is illiteracy; there is poverty and unemployment in Kaduna State. There is illiteracy, poverty and unemployment in Sokoto, Katsina, Lagos and everywhere in Nigeria. So it a national problem, and for you to politicise it as if only North has the problem is nonsense.
Go to the international community, reports on poverty and wealth distribution in the world. Nigeria is average. Depending on which book or report you read, it’s close to 100 million now that are living on under $1 per day. One hundred million Nigerians; are they all northerners? Are they all living here in the North? They’re Nigerians, so the responsibility is a national one. This is why the constitution emphasises the need for even development.
What is your take on the allegation that northerners be blamed for refusing to caution their clerics over the kinds of sermon they preach to their adherents, which inadvertently led to the emergence of Boko Haram set?
You’re now saying that Boko Haram is Islamic and I’ve told earlier that Boko Haram ideology is not Islamic. More Islamic countries and clerics around the world have said so. If you’re saying that the teachings – either the home teaching or Madrasas teachings – should not have produced Boko Haram solely. Every child you see on the street today comes from somewhere. He’s come from a family, perhaps a village or town etc, and every child you see with a bowl begging on the street or people you see looking for food on the street and so on, they are Nigerians. There must be responsibility for them. The responsibility for them is not with the clerics but if you’re accusing clerics that perhaps preach in favour of violence, then you’re totally wrong. In fact, if Islamic clerics are being accused of preaching hatred against non-Muslims, then the same accusation goes to the Christian clerics that do the same in their churches.
From their various pronouncements and some of them in advertorials, it is very clear that they are pointing accusing fingers at Islam without looking at themselves in terms of what they say to their congregations. And people are aware of what they do in their congregations in terms of ‘Don’t vote for them, they’re fundamentalists, Islamists’… ‘So, if there is any candidate from the North who is a Muslim, don’t vote for him.’ We’re aware of this.
This is going on; even if people pretend that it’s not going on they can only deceive themselves, because we’re aware that it is going on. So, the appeal should be to all religious organisations to desist from promoting religious mistrust and to the point of religious hatred. What we have in Plateau or in some parts of my state, Kaduna, cannot be explained anywhere except religious hatred and this is what created violence that people are being chopped and eaten raw in some of these places. You see, if you are pointing accusing fingers at one person, there are other four fingers pointing at you.
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