Afenifere in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Comrade Yinka Odumakin, expressed dismay over a statement credited to the forum asking President Goodluck Jonathan to bring back the abducted Chibok girls and end insurgency in Nigeria by October or forget about 2015 elections.
The group said, “The statement signed on behalf of the forum by Solomon Dalong and Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed also alleged that “we are convinced that most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically by interests which intend to exploit such weaknesses for electoral benefits”.
Afenifere urged the Northern Elders Forum to name the interests engineering the conflicts in the region, saying the wicked and insensitive ploy to turn the misfortune of the Chibok girls and their parents to an electoral weapon has become apparent in the forum’s stand.
It said: “By linking the electoral fortune of President Jonathan in 2015 to “Bring Back Our Girls” latest by October as well as ending Boko Haram at the time, the “elders” have just confirmed the suspicions in the land that the activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, is either enjoying the sponsorship of some elites of the North or at the least having their sympathy”.
“In all the sound and fury of the Forum, we searched in vain any outright condemnation of Boko Haram. And this has been the pattern of most reactions from the majority of the elites of the region who always appear politically correct to the insurgents while using their activities to rattle the government.”
"That traumatized country that has been held in anxiety over the fate of the abducted girls cannot but challenge these elders at this stage to appeal to their wards in Boko Haram to release the innocent young girls who now appear cannon fodders in the struggle for “we want our power back”.
“A time has come to let these elites know they can no longer play the ostrich by burying their heads in the sand and think no one sees them because they are seeing no one.”
The group pointed out that a similar pattern played out at the on-going National Conference where some of these elites pushed for Boko Haram to become a derivative item.
“Shortly after the conference adjourned, there was an increase in insurgency in the North West which would appear an attempt to alter the “sharing formula” of this “terrorism fund.
“We however frown at the disingenuous attempt by unconscionable elites who are now dishing out two months ultimatum to end an insurgency that they prepared the atmosphere for in decades of exploitation and iniquitous dealings with their own people. Can they name one country that has defeated terror in 60 days?
“How many rulers have we had in Nigeria since 1960 and how many came from the North? Why did it not occur to any of them that the Almajiris should go to school?”
Source: Culled From Leadership News
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