According to reports by the Nation newspaper, the Convener of the Northern Political Leaders Forum, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, yesterday said the Boko Haram menace has persisted because the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has failed to listen to suggestions on how to curtail it.
Ciroma, a former Minister of Finance, broke his silence on the Boko Haram insurgency in a no-holds-barred interview with Newsdiaryonline.com.
He said: “Security matters and security issues are always problems which government has got to deal with. The Boko Haram and the spread of this insecurity, in my view, originated from how parts of this country were mismanaged. The mismanagement, I believe, has spread and the resultant insecurity has also spread. So, it is for government to find solution for dealing with this insecurity.
“When the issues began to be serious in Borno, the elders and leaders of Borno advised the government that they should talk to these people, that they should withdraw the troops from the streets and that they should find a solution to ameliorate the complaints of the Boko Haram elements. A spokesman of the government dismissed their recommendation.
“Since then, similar recommendations have been made in Kano and elsewhere and they have been equally dismissed. The meaning of this is that the government has stuck to its position, in spite of the advice being given from various parts by citizens who want to see peace and security.
“So, the government has to learn how to listen to people because insecurity is a problem which government has to deal with. It affects people in their normal day-to-day life. So, the number one issue is for government to listen to what people are saying because their present policy so far has not succeeded.
“Two, the Boko Haram issue has been related to poverty and other things which affect the well- being of the ordinary people. This issue of poverty has been repeated several times in official circles. Government has got to deal with that.
“Three is about the state governments. They are always having ceremonies and talking about issues but they have not dealt with the problems of education, health, agriculture and other things which affect the ordinary man actively on a daily basis. The state governments have got to deal with this matter in a way which everybody can see that some results are being achieved.
“Every time people compare, what is happening today, they compare with yesteryears. What they are saying is that yesteryears with less resources than we have now were better managed than the present. The government has got to think very hard about it and to do what is right in order to eliminate the problems which people are talking about.”
Ciroma needs to direct more of his talks to the state and local governments. They are the ones that are not managing the peoples money well and in most cases just stealing and empty their treasuries. There is no local government any where in Nigeria. Fix the local government problem and you will see people enjoying services like water, maintainance and finance depts available in all local governments. These are all essential depts in any local government.
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