I believe people must have realised the truth that Boko Haram has nothing to do with Islam since it spares nobody. Secondly, the dignity of humanhood is very fundamental in Islam. If the so-called Boko Haram members don’t respect the dignity of man as enshrined in the Qur’an and Hadith, then I expect the government to know what to do.

But they have failed to act accordingly. So, how can this be dealt with by a weak government, which knows that it is weak, but talking because, it’s unable to arrest corruption, stealing and criminal waste of resources? It is unable to stop unemployment. For me, it means the government is really weak. If it is, how can such a government defeat Boko Haram? What it means is that this committee will function while Boko Haram attacks continue. Already government is spending one quarter of our annual budget on security yet, it doesn’t stop Boko Haram.
This is a clear evidence that Boko Haram is on the winning side, at least intellectually. If the government fails to dialogue or grant amnesty to Boko Haram, let’s be rest assured that their activities will increase by at least 100 per cent within the next few years.

Secondly, let me inform you that Boko Haram is not the only source of insurgency in the country. For instance, how can you just say every bombing in this country is carried out by Boko Haram? You know these bombings will eventually bring down the whole country with time, just like armed robbery started in the South-East then.

I remember, people in the South-West, in the North, said armed robberies were as a result of the sufferings of South-East people after the civil war. But eventually, after 10 years what happened? These armed robbers operated throughout the country so much that even villages were involved throughout the country. In the villages, even if you don’t know the armed robbers, you probably know those who give information to armed robbers. So, Boko Haram is likely to operate throughout the country. How can this committee solve the problem when the whole government has not been able to solve the problem of Nigeria? How can a mere committee solve the problem? Look at another thing, and people should be very critical. I’m saying critical about this, not simply because of my opinion but because I’ve been mentioned as one of the members of the committee.

If you look at the terms of reference and the composition of the committee, and the fact that international institutions, at least four of them, are involved, it means massive amount of money will be raised. Maybe we’ll be able to raise even as much as the annual budget of Nigeria. Now, I can tell you that in the end this massive amount of money will not be effectively managed, just as the government has been unable to manage the budget. Which means the committee itself will end up being another source of corruption or the committee will be incapacitated by the problem that seems to be incapacitating this emergency relief fund which has been made under Aliko Dangote. But it’s going to raise massive amount of money, probably equivalent to the annual budget of the Federal Government, and there is a possibility of this money being diverted with the choice of sub-committee members of the committee.

There is possibility of this money being diverted and used for the purchase of arms because the Federal Government is desperate. That is why this committee was being announced. It was also announced that the Federal Government is asking the National Assembly to give it power to borrow N1.6 billion to purchase arms to match the arms of Boko Haram.
So, you can see that these people don’t see that there are Nigerians who are informed, who can see and assess the effect on the country. They just made that announcement, but you’ll see also the clear failure of the government when they attempt to use this committee. I don’t know what has happened; maybe I’m wrong but the media I read every day, have not commented at all on this very significant aspect.

All that the media have reported is the establishment of the committee. But the media have not dealt on any critical comments on this, I don’t know if I’m wrong. It is a very serious national issue. Why? Another thing is this. Look at the composition of members of the committee. It doesn’t show any attempt to inspire confidence because virtually every Dick and Harry is there on the committee.

Look at another thing; who is the chairman of the committee? T.Y. Danjuma. Someone who is very rich and comfortable; very much connected with the government in significant ways. How can such a person have the feeling of the victims of these atrocities? How can he? By accident as a person, he may have because he has been a philanthropist of note for some time now. But what is needed for the leadership of the committee is more than him. He should not be involved because he’s too powerful and therefore too comfortable and can only have marginal feelings for victims. He’s also connected with the government in very fundamental ways that people will see the committee as one of maneuvres of a desperate government. If the northerners feel federal government has failed in handling the problem of insecurity in the region, particularly in the north-eastern states, why have the elders of the North like you not taken steps to talk to the sect members involved to cease fire and allow peace to reign?
Well, this is why informed Nigerians, particularly the media, are wrong. Am I in government? Am I rich? Who cares to hear me other than people who have conscience? And these people who have conscience in Nigeria, what have they been able to do about this negative state of the nation? If I were in a specific position, if I were in a real position, you could say the same thing. So, these northern elders are old people who are powerless, they may have respect quite alright, but there is nothing they can do about Boko Haram.