Content of the letter to His Excellency Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Dear President Jonathan:

On April 15, 2014, groups of armed men attacked and abducted more than 270 girls from Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in Borno State.[1] The abduction followed other atrocities, which were not limited to beheadings, mass shootings and bombings, burnings and others, all of which were believed to be perpetrated by a group that calls itself boko haram. It is understandable that Nigerians, including your Excellency, are traumatized by these callous and barbaric acts. These have to stop—we must bring our girls back and bring to justice the perpetrators.

We note your statement on May 4, 2014 that, “[w]herever the girls are in the world, we will get them back, apprehend and punish the culprits.” We hope that your government will do all that is within its power, and in collaboration with other friends of Nigeria, to bring back our daughters to their friends, their beds and loved ones

As Nigerians, residing outside the territorial borders of our country, our concerns are primarily with the girls that were abducted, their families, and the general Nigerian citizens. We are determined to look prospectively into the immediate future when these girls shall join their loved ones, and we are neither concerned with the politics of boko haram nor any blame game associated with the response of your government to these atrocities.

It is important to understand how trauma and crimes affect children, and especially when the crimes are personal to the children. The physical damage to the body, emotional wounds and shock that our girls suffer will mark them for the rest of their lives. And, the emotional and physical marks on each of these girls shall be unique. Equally, the parents, loved ones and the general community are victims in their own rights. Any failure to acknowledge these traumas, in themselves, may lead to other associated secondary injuries.

It is based on the above concerns that we solicit your government to immediately setup a task force consisting of children psychologists, medical practitioners, children advocates and others whose directives should be to address any and all needs of these girls. This cannot and must not be politicized. The girls, their parents and loved ones must be provided government assistance to rehabilitate them as needed for as long as it is required.

It is important to communicate the inviolable rights of these girls in their lives, liberty, and to pursue their educational goals regardless of their religion and the status of their parents in Nigeria. We urge your government to upgrade the security amenities at Chibok Government Girls Secondary School and other vulnerable educational institutions, and make special provisions for these girls to resume classes as soon as possible.

We join your family and other Nigerians in praying for the quick return of these girls, and trust that your government shall provide all necessary assistance to rehabilitate them back into the community. Our community shall oblige any request from your administration in this very important task ahead. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Yinka T. Omole, Esq.         Charles C. Onyirimba, Esq.           Taofiq A. Adeboye, Esq.

[1] While the exact number of the abducted children remain uncertain, the girls are still in captivity at the time of writing this letter.

On the morning of December 15, 2012, a lone, deranged gunman opened fire and killed 20 innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.  Hours later, President Obama took to the podium to announce the shooting to a morning nation.  In an uncharacteristically quivering voice and with tears rolling down his cheek, the President stated, “The majority of those who died today were children – beautiful, little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them – birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own… So our hearts are broken today for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.”   The President brought the agony that many Americans felt to the forefront of the nation’s psyche, and by that, elevated the death of 20 innocent children to a national policy on gun control.  Regardless on the political spectrum that Americans stood, it was unmistakable that the nation lost her youngest and brightest, and that we all lost a part of us.

What does a leader do when confronted with difficult challenges?  At the start of the 2^nd World War, Nazi Germany was in alliance with Mussolini’s Italy and Stalin’s Soviet Union, and had overwhelmed the United Kingdom.  United States of America was still coy about a war thought to be mainly a European war.  The situation was dire for the United Kingdom; Churchill was appointed the Prime Minister, replacing Chamberlain.  In his first speech to the English House of Commons, Churchill was reported to have stated, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Churchill not only electrified the House of Commons but also inspired the British to war against the invading Germans.

In sending his young and unpolished bunch of followers onto their 1^st Missionary campaign, Jesus Christ demonstrated the urgency of the mission to his followers in one of the most controversial verses of his ministry, “I came not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.”  Matthew 10.  It was clear to the men that their mission was not merely for the faint hearted.

Churchill was an old, out of shape politician at the time of his speech, and no English man expected him to toil and sweat on a battle front against Germany; and the Bible does not tell us if Jesus Christ went on the missionary campaign with his disciples or possessed a machete, either.  Equally, Obama understood that his mission against the highly invested gun industry in the United States was almost futile.  But, what Obama, Churchill and Jesus Christ showed us was what leaders do when confronted with difficult situations.  Leaders motivate by defining the task to his followers—the task may be to fight or to withdraw; it may be to buy additional time or merely to demonstrate the urgency of the moment—leaders elevate the discussion.  From Moses, Julius Caesar to King George and Obama, great leaders understood the importance of communication.  It is the art of leadership; it is sine qua non of leadership, period!

When Jonathan refused to address Nigerians on the plight of over 270 innocent girls abducted from the chest of their mothers, Jonathan violated the cardinal rule of leadership. Security of Nigerians, both old and young, remains the lowest common denominator of the office Jonathan sought and holds. The how or who employed Jonathan is irrelevant—how he got elected becomes immaterial, what he does with the office is the only remaining factor once he assumed the office. Our children—regardless of where they come from or their parents’ status in life, religion or lack thereof, are too important to compromise.

Jonathan’s lukewarm speech to the nation at the heels of international and domestic campaigns and the statement of John Kerry, the US Foreign Secretary, on Saturday, May 3, 2014 is uncomforting, unfocused and unconscionable. That the President waited for three weeks to speak to the nation after more than 270 young innocent school girls were kidnapped from their mothers and the heart of Nigeria was criminal. And, to use his lukewarm speech to attack the parents of the girls for non-cooperation, when his government had done nothing to rescue these girls is callous. Nigeria deserves better.

Patience Jonathan, the First Lady’s mastery of English Language besides the point—the hypocrisy of her tears and sheer arrogance of her speech, on the other hand, invite scrutiny of the makeup of the presidency. Who were her handlers and advisers, and did the president know she was going to conduct a press conference at the Presidential Villa? Was she exercising any independent executive role as a First Lady? The embarrassment she brought on herself, deserving, most Nigerians will argue, was a further testament of all that is wrong with the current administration. That she expected some of the mothers of the 270 school girls kidnapped from a school in a remote village 700 miles away from Abuja to meet her in the comfort of the Presidential Villa defiled commonsense and empathy. Nigeria deserves better.

Promises of government’s commitment to rescue the school girls lack credibility and are hollow, especially when the Presidency does not know the number or identity of the kidnapped school girls after more than 4 weeks. How the presidency expects to gather actionable intelligence on the identity and number of the school children when it has refused to leave Abuja is simply incomprehensible. Jonathan’s government has repeatedly assured Nigerians that there were efforts to stop Boko Haram after each attack, and yet, Nigerians are still in the dark as to what the presidency is doing or has done to stop this group. You do not solve problems by sticking your head in the sand. There is a currency of credibility that ought to be sacrosanct between a government and the governed—because, it is a measure of government. Jonathan’s government has devalued this currency of credibility and lost all values.

There is a group that calls itself Boko Haram; a culture that fosters the group; and the abject neglect of the basic governmental roles that perpetuate the group. Each of these are independent, but for now, Nigeria has to deal with the group Boko Haram, but in dealing with the group, we have to appreciate the culture and the government roles.

A recent interview of some men with affiliation to Boko Haram confirmed that the group receives money and ammunitions from undisclosed sources. Further, the interview confirmed that the men were mere touts in jeans and would kill for very little. So, where does this lead us?

For one, we know we are not dealing with a rebel with a cause. A rebel with a cause espouses a higher motivation that may fuel their rebellion. Boko Haram is neither religious nor tribal and is not bound by geography. The group’s articulation of Islam as a religion is fraud and sets them apart from the holy religion. At the core of Islam is obedience to a God, love of mankind and desire for knowledge. Sex and marriage are human and cultural. Even, in places that practice the most conservative form of Islam, the dreadful punishments under Sharia are reserved for vices under the religion. There is no practicing Moslem that advocates indiscriminate killing, regardless of the branch of Islam he or she practices. As such, it is important to deny this group any claim to Islam as a religion.

Two, Almajiri System of Education incorporates Quranic and moral educational systems that operate in most part of Northern Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and other similar places in West Africa. According to Professor Idris A. Abdulqadir, a notable Islamic scholar, “the Almajiri system of education as practiced today in the Northern Nigeria is a completely bastardized system compared to the form and conditions under which the system was operating and its output during the pre-colonial period… During the pre-colonial era, begging was never involved and certainly the pupils were not reduced to doing menial jobs before they could eat.”

A friend from Bauchi State, in the northern part of Nigeria, once narrated how he managed to escape the Almajiri System of Education. The young, middle-aged man explained that, as a kid, he was sent to an Almajiri school headed by an Imam. That, early in the morning, his Imam wakes students up to go to the farm to work for hours and returns them back to study Quran for a short time. He explained that the essence of the schools were to serve the Imams.

The Almajiri schools were product of the jihad mounted by Dan Fodio in the Northern Nigeria in 1804, which, rather than the intent maintained a conservative form of Islam. During the pre-colonial days, Almajiri schools were supported and funded by the community. The Imams received compensation directly from the State. The British colonial masters were reluctant to support these schools, as such, the Imams task the students for their compensation. The students are forced to work for the Imams, and are taught menial jobs or begging. The Northern Emirs, on the other hand, are powerless to stop these Imams from this modern day slavery, which has perpetuated the conduct that has left millions of able body human beings in a state of abject poverty, and a fertile recruiting ground for the group that calls itself Boko Haram.

Three, the borders separating countries in West Africa, especially in the savanna areas, are plain, open, extensive and unmanned. In 1980, Abdurraman Shugaba Darman, simply known to many Nigerians as Shugaba, was a prominent Borno State politician and the Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly. Shugaba was arrested for false claim to Nigerian citizenship and was deported to Chad Republic. Shugaba challenged his deportation and won, but the fact of his court challenges exemplifies what it is to be a Nigerian from many parts of Northern Nigeria. The more than 7 million able bodies, graduates of this Almajiri System of Education, roam through borders unimpeded.

Before the advent of Europeans in West Africa, the open borders separating Northern Nigeria, Chad Republic, Mali, Cameroun and other West African countries were the source of civilization, trade and cultural exchanges. Goods from the forest of the Southern part of West Africa traveled to North Africa through these open borders. Men and women moved freely and the cultures across the borders were indistinguishable. With this background in mind, the nation’s predicament will begin to crystallize and possibly guide us towards manner of addressing this scourge.

As a start, the government cannot negotiate with this group. The group does not have a cause; it is not sophisticated enough to respect any negotiation, and most likely does not have a unified political structure to negotiate. Government must treat this group as an enemy of the State and a bunch of criminals. To be effective, the government has to set up a special unit of an elite force, consisting of intelligence, police, army and air force officers, task with the responsibility of combating this group. The United States and other countries around the world each maintain elite forces. The United States Navy SEALS, for example, was tasked with the responsibility of killing Osama Bin Laden, while, in United Kingdom, the SBS and SAS performed excellently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nigeria has maintained a mobile force—a branch of the Nigerian Police, tasked mostly with the responsibility of crowd and riot control. Nigeria must inaugurate her own special force to deal with special operations in the riverine areas, as well as in the thick of mainland forests and the back hills of our countryside.

The recent kidnapping of more than 200 girls from Borno State has made any initial government response to this group more complicated. With limited intelligence and the lackadaisical response to the kidnapping, it is impossible to mount an effective force against the group. Nigeria government may have to initially attempt to negotiate the release of these girls before any major offensive is initiated against the group. In short, the government has to be more flexible in the initial stage.

Also, Nigeria must collaborate with other nations around the region to effectively tackle this group. As at the present, Nigeria does not know the membership and how expansive the membership of this group is, but it is good to assume that the membership spans the countries bordering the entire Northern Nigeria. Nigeria must engage these countries to flush this group out.

Nigeria must embark on long and sustained eradication of Boko Haram. The long term project must be directed to educating the Imams and empowering the Emirs to dangers that the Almajiri educational system poses as it is currently undertaken. There must be a long sustained strategy involving the Federal government, States and Local Government in Northern Nigeria to design and develop an educational system that would utilize the potentials of all school age children in the north. The educational system may be an abridged version of the present system or something very different. As it is, Almajiri System of Education has created an unsustainable class structure in Northern Nigeria. The appropriate governmental agencies must be prepared to invest in human and political development of these affected areas to address this situation.