Guardian

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan shocked Nigerians when he declared emergency rule in three northern states of Borno, Nasarawa and Yobe in a national broadcast.

Perhaps, they were caught napping not because it is an entirely new phenomenon to them or because the troubled states did not deserve such a drastic measure to curb the growing insecurity in the land.

The people were surprised that President Jonathan could muster the courage to take such a courageous decision at this crucial time that his administration has been labeled as non-performing, slow and directionless.

This is coupled with the rebuttal by both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency against the speculation. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati had earlier said, “No such decision has been taken and people should stop speculating. The Federal Government is studying the situations in the affected states and would take a decision that would be in the best interest of the security of not just the people of the states affected but the country”. But this is not to be!

Albeit, the President in a no-nonsense-like voice said; “Following recent developments in the affected states, it has become necessary for Government to take extraordinary measures to restore normalcy. After wide consultations, and in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the provisions of Section 305, sub-section 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, I hereby declare a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.”

Before the broadcast, members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North had allegedly met behind closed doors with President Jonathan in continuation of their consultation with vital stakeholders on the violence in parts of the country.

Until now, the nation’s perilous security situation has been a source of concern which the President had acknowledged as “reprehensible, causing fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country, especially the North”.

No doubt, the affected states have been heavily militarized with the massive deployment of troops to battle the Boko Haram insurgency, following the brutal murder of some police and State Security Service personnel by a militant group, Ombatse, in Nasarawa State and well as the Baga and Bama killings.

Perpetrators of the carnage were said to have attacked public buildings and facilities, murdered innocent citizens and state officials, set houses ablaze, taken women and children as hostages and embark on other atrocities the President said amounted “to a declaration of war and a deliberate attempt to undermine the authority of the Nigerian state and threaten her territorial integrity.”

Any civilised society should do all legitimate things to denounce and condemn such lawlessness and wickedness as attacks by Boko Haram and other splinter groups had led to clashes with government security forces, resulting into extrajudicial killings said to have claimed almost 4,000 people since 2009.

As the debate on whether a state of emergency was on, there were serious criticisms against the moves. For instance, the spokesman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Lai Mohammed said, “Perhaps President Jonathan should emulate late US President Harry Truman by putting a sign on his desk at Aso Rock that reads ‘The buck stops here’ to remind him that he bears the ultimate responsibility for the security situation in the country today, instead of any attempt to blame some state governors in the affected states.”

Similarly, the 36 state governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had asked President Jonathan not to yield to the agitation.

In a statement, its chairman and Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, said we “call on the Federal Government to ignore the ongoing agitation for a state of emergency in some parts of the country. These requests are being made by people who do not wish our country well and who are bent on plunging the country into a deeper crisis. The Federal Government should not allow itself to be distracted from our collective goal of curbing the insurgency in some parts of our country once and for all.”

Declaring states of emergency may not be a bad idea provided the action will bring about sanity and peace in the polity. Hence, it is a decision borne out of necessity.

As such, the nation had witnessed some emergency rule in its 53 years of political independence beginning in 1962, when Dr. Moses Majekodunmi was appointed the Sole Administrator of the defunct Western Region as a strategy at resolving the impasse that threatened the troubled Action Group government in the western region.

What led to the crisis was removal of the then Premier of Western Region, Chief Samuel Akintola and his replacement by Chief Dauda Adegbenro, which led to confusion as the two made claims to the Premiership of the region at the same time.

In line with the provisions of the 1960 Constitution, the federal parliament declared a state of emergency in the Western Nigeria and hereby approved the appointment of Dr. Majekodunmi, to administer of the region.

Both Plateau and Ekiti States were the only states that had experienced emergency rule since 1999, when the nation commenced an uninterrupted democratic rule.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2004 declared an emergency rule in Plateau State, following a protected sectarian crisis that destroyed hundreds of lives and property and Major-General Chris Alli was appointed to take-over the affairs of the state for a period of six months.

Again, on Thursday, October 19, 2006, President Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Ekiti State to ensure that peace and orderliness returned to the state and Major-General Adetunji Olurin was appointed as its Administrator.

What next? Now that a state of emergency has been declared, there few steps that should be taken so that the desired effects could be achieved and the exercise will not be in futility.

To begin with, the security agencies should be prevented from abusing the enormous power bestowed upon them as Mr. President had disclosed that “the troops and other security agencies involved in these operations have orders to take all necessary action, within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists. This will include the authority to arrest and detain suspects, the taking of possession and control of any building or structure used for terrorist purposes, the lock-down of any area of terrorist operation, the conduct of searches, and the apprehension of persons in illegal possession of weapons.”

Despite government’s denial of allegations of security force abuses, labeling those who report such abuses as “Boko Haram sympathizers”, Human Rights Watch, in a report “Nigeria: Massive Destruction, Deaths From Military Raid Satellite Images, Witness Accounts Raise Concerns Of Cover-Up-HRW” noted that “Satellite images reveal massive destruction of civilian property from a military raid on April 16 and 17, 2013, in the northern Nigerian town of Baga, undermining the military’s claim that only 30 houses were destroyed”, calling on the government to thoroughly and impartially investigate allegations that soldiers carried out widespread destruction and killings.

Secondly, the activities of politicians in the three states should be checked such that this anomaly of the declared state of emergency will not be used to hunt and persecute their perceived enemies.

It is curious that state governors are not removed from office in the new dispensation as against the usual practice in the past; following this strange clause when the President announced that “the Governors and other political office holders in the affected states will continue to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.”

Efforts should be made by the government to control the influx of suspected criminals into the country through our porous borders. This will largely help to stop the proliferation of arms and availability of vulnerable volunteers for insurgents.

That is where the promise by the President that diplomatic channels will be deployed at apprehending terrorist elements that may escape across the border, is apt.

What now becomes the fate of the Boko Haram Committee? Is it a way to ‘shut-them-up from doing a good job? Will this emergency rule work with all the political appointees in those states intact? Are we playing politics with this controversial declaration? These and many other questions will certainly be running in the minds of the people.

*Kupoluyi writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.