A Professor of Islamic Studies, Is'haq Akintola, has again urged the Federal Government to dialogue with members of the Boko Haram sect instead of using force against them.
Akintola, who is the Dean of Arts, Lagos State University (LASU), spoke at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at a Ramadan lecture organised by Abdulrauf Jimoh and Co., a firm of chartered accountants.
The lecture was on: Terrorism and Corruption Ravaging a Promising Nation: An Islamic Solution.
Akintola said: "In solving the Boko Haram menace, I will suggest to government not to use force. Soldiers are out there, in parts of the North, pursuing Boko Haram. But those might not be the only places where Boko Haram exists. Force alone cannot stop terrorism. Poverty created Boko Haram.
"The Federal Government should listen to the sect's members and ask them what they want. In Turkey, the government dialogued with the PKK members; the British Government dialogued with the Irish Republican Army (IRA); the Italian Government, rather than use force, dialogued with the Red Brigade and they stopped throwing bombs.
"In Spain, we have the Barth's Separatists. But the government dialogued with them and settled the rift. That is why we will support what will bring peaceful coexistence between the government and Boko Haram."
The don noted that the fear of God is the antidote to the social malaise ravaging the country.
He said: "If the politicians govern well and give the people their due, terrorism would be wiped out.
"There is a strong umbilical cord between a lack of fear of God, bad governance, corruption, poverty, frustration, anger and terrorism.
"About 70 per cent of the secondary school leavers are unfit for university education. I have a cause-effect theory of terrorism, as there can be no smoke without fire. It's because people are angry with bad governance that they vent their spleen on the society. People are reacting to some form of injustice.
"It could be socio-economic or religious but anytime there is injustice, there will be a reaction. But I want to make it abundantly clear that Islam opposes terrorism. Terrorism is antithetical to violence."
