FOLLOWING the Boko Haram sect's rejection of the amnesty proposal by the Federal Government on Thursday, a prominent member of the Northern Elders' Forum (NEF), Prof Ango Abdullahi, Friday advised the Federal Government to note the rejection but continue with the proposed amnesty.
However, leader of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Mallam Shehu Sani, has blamed the Federal Government, for the rejection of the amnesty.
Speaking with The Guardian, Abdullahi stressed that the government should learn lesson from late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua's approach to the amnesty his government granted to the militants in Niger Delta region.
He said: "It would be recalled that when late Yar'Adua's government offered amnesty to the Niger Delta militants, some of the militants rejected it, while some were dilly-dallying. But the government did not give up on the approach as it continued to appeal to them to lay down their arms and embrace peace.
"That was the situation before some of the militants started responding positively to the offer. With the government setting out a deadline for the laying down of arms, some militants that rejected the offer initially accepted it when they realized that government meant well.
"Government should not be daunted with the rejection, because it is expected initially especially when they are not sure of how genuine government's offer is."
Abdullahi averred that the offer and its rejection was the beginning of dialogue between the sect and government.
"I don't think the rejection is a denial of dialogue. It is better for government to offer the amnesty and let the sect reject it. The world will see that government is not the problem," he said.
In his reaction, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. (Dr) Matthew Kukah linked the Boko Haram rejection of the offer to what late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo- Kuti would call Shakara.
He said that since the Federal Government has presented the issue as one involving government, its security agencies and Boko Haram, the rejection is part of the posturing.
"In conflict situations, combatants cannot resolve their problems because if they could, they would not be at war in the first place. I think we would have been having a slightly different conversation if there was the perception that other interlocutors are involved, even outside Nigeria.
"But if the government continues to stand toe-to-toe with Boko Haram, it will not work so easily. What is more, the government has not shown any sign that it is engaging many of the victims and this is why the Borno visit should have been preceded by this initiative," Kukah said.
On the setting up of committee by the government, Kukah said that it is a case of putting the cart before the horse.
He said: "It is like a man who went to a doctor, he said, 'I am not well', and the doctor says, 'you are imagining things'. Suddenly, I show signs of real sickness and now you are telling me to come for medical test.
"Government must be commended though for stepping back. The government has gained some moral capital and it now depends on whether it has the diplomatic skills to spend this moral capital wisely by rejecting the temptation to score points."
On insinuations in some quarters that nothing good will come out of the amnesty offer, the Catholic bishop stressed that God draws straight with crooked lines.
"I am an Easter Christian and I know that these dry bones called Nigeria will rise again. All these trials, including the seeming stupidity of Boko Haram, are not outside God's plans. It depends on whether we have the patience, honesty, sincerity and courage to get on top of this situation.
"But that will not happen if the security agencies continue to push the President under the table in the Villa. There is such a thing as Presidential courage (Kim Il un is showing a bit of that in a bizarre manner in North Korea), but a President and Commander-in- Chief has to be a Commander-in-Chief even it means walking on fire.
"I know a man, a big man from Rivers State and I will not mention his name. When he went to visit a girl he saw and loved, the young lady vanished for three days from the village at the sight of him. She came back after three days hoping he had gone and found that he was still waiting. They have been married now for over 40 years. The wife told the story herself.
"Things take time and some things take longer time. We need new tactics, patience, prayer and imagination. Nothing is impossible, but the President must not think that the solution lies with the security agencies and the inner caucus of this party. Nigeria is hemorrhaging badly.
"Fixing Boko Haram cannot be separated from fixing our roads, railways, health services, electricity and other hallmarks of our corruption. Boko Haram is merely a grandchild of our corruption," Kukah said.
While reacting to the development yesterday, Sani said: "Well, I am not surprised. In fact, it should be expected that they (Boko Haram leaders) should reject it because the government has put the horse before the cart. First and foremost, the whole idea of amnesty is a charade.
"The concept brought by Northern elders is an amnesty modeled along the line of Niger Delta and it is attached to financial commitment from the side of the state. They wanted to buy peace at a heavy amount of money just the way it is being brought about in the Niger Delta.
"The committee being set up by the government would naturally be rejected by Boko Haram because it was not constituted after a consultation with the leaders of the sect."
Sani, who is also the President of Civil Rights Congress, (CRC) explained: "The whole idea is about extracting billions of naira to be shared to insurgents and also giving out contracts, using the names of Boko Haram leaders.
"They simply rejected being used by some persons who want to profit from the amnesty deal. The way forward is for the government to go back to Dr. Ahmed Datti Ahmed peace talk, which was facilitated by a journalist, Ahmad Salkida of which the group acknowledged and endorsed at that very time.
"The outcome of that talk should then be preceded by a committee which will have the input of the sect and also be recognised by the government. The next stage will then be a six to eight or nine-month ceasefire, which will ensure justice for all the victims of Boko Haram."
Sani also spoke of his effort to mediate between the leaders of the sect and government, which led to the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying that the security advisers to President Goodluck Jonathan frustrated the peace move.
