I Don't Believe in a Messiah Coming to Save Us – Ayo Obe
Long time human rights lawyer, Ms. Ayo Obe has said that the solution to Nigeria's problems lies with the people and not in the hands of a messiah coming from outside to save the nation. She made this observation in an interview inside the New York City studio of SaharaTV.
"Maybe we need a broom to sweep clean… all that I will say is that we've had broom sweeping before. Because we have not learned to do the sweeping ourselves they adopt bad habits afterwards."
Ms. Obe, a former president of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), insisted that the fate of the nation is in the hands of its people. "It has to be, we, the people, taking the broom ourselves," she said. "I don't believe in a Messiah coming from outside or somebody coming to force us to behave appropriately."
Obe, a board member of the Dakar-based Open Society Initiative for West Africa(OSIWA), expressed skepticism in the desire of Nigerians in having a dictator as a savior. She said that she understands say we do need Buhari or somebody who everybody will be afraid of – who will not play this game of everybody must chop from the government pot. "It's greed," she said. "The amounts that are taken out are mindboggling."
On how Nigerian democracy had been going, Ms. Obe said that we haven't been in democracy since 1999. We returned to civil rule she noted but insisted that nobody would mistake that for democracy. The foundation of the crisis of governance in Nigeria she said was not far fetched. "The size of the Nigerian prize is so great," she concluded.
Boko Haram is Too Violent for Al Qaeda says Jacob Zenn
A West African security analyst Jacob Zenn has said that Boko Haram sect was too violent for Al Qaeda and it frustrated the efforts of the sect to establish a solid relationship with the terrorist group. Speaking to SaharaTV, Mr. Zenn said that West African nations have taken the threat of terrorism very seriously and as such made serious efforts to disrupt their coordination of activities.
He gave credit to the Nigerian security forces for their recent successes against the sect. "The Nigerian security have disrupted the Boko Haram operatives in Nigeria," he said. As a result the effort by the group to penetrate the middle belt and down to the south has been squashed.
"Boko haram will still be able to continue its slaughter even if, Abukakar Shekau is dead," he said.
