THE activities of the recently inaugurated Amnesty Committee seem to have become a media fanfare in ways that could detract from its salient task of producing a blueprint for finding peace and weaning the Islamic militants currently attacking Nigeria from the path of violence. While the media is awash with news of persons it has met, locations it has visited, speculations about the psychological state of its members and its inability to establish contact with the leader of Boko Haram, Alhaji Imam Abubakar Shekau, the committee further raised the media hype with an interim report. In the controversial report, it advised the government on the need to release women and children of Boko Haram members to facilitate dialogue with the sect it has yet to meet. Its position was based on the absence of concrete evidence to establish their culpability in terrorist activities. Also, the committee sought to convince the cynical members of the sect and the general public of its commitment to fairness and justice without any discrimination.

Given the weight of its assignment, there ought to be no basis for these avoidable diversions and publication of an interim report, which has further stirred victims’ sensibilities.  Achieving its objective is more important than the distracting media hype and attention. It is common knowledge that Nigeria is in the throes of a national security crisis with the persistent and continuing attacks on innocent Nigerians, churches and security personnel in northern parts of the country, especially the North-East for four years on by the Islamic militant group – Boko Haram.

In the light of the state of affairs, managers of the country have been challenged to find lasting solutions to the lingering insurgency. Indeed, the need for an all-round strategy to rein in the Islamic insurgents has been canvassed by well-meaning Nigerians. Amnesty for the insurgents lately gained currency and the Jonathan administration after an initial hesitation moved to embrace the suggestion and concretise the effort by the constitution of The Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, otherwise known as the Amnesty Committee.  Made up of eminent Nigerians, its task is to dialogue with the Boko Haram Islamic sect at the centre of the simmering crisis.

The Amnesty Committee is expected to squeeze water from stone or in the words of President Jonathan ‘perform magic’ to end the problem that has ruptured the peace in the country and hampered development. The Committee headed by Special Duties Minister, Kabiru Turaki, has a three-month mandate to establish link and open up dialogue with the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, to develop a structure for disarmament, work out an enduring preference that could form the basis for granting amnesty, including a comprehensive victims’ support programme. Besides, the committee is expected to come up with suggestions on how to deal with the root causes of the crisis to avert future security breaches in the country. Truly, this is an enormous task.

The activities of the Islamic militants have remained a cause of concern to many Nigerians and the international community. Perception and reality underscore the country as anarchical, fragile, and failed following the activities of the insurgents who have bombed targets in several places, including the country’s capital city of Abuja with heavy toll on lives and property. Websites of many embassies in the country are replete with travel warnings about safety in many parts of the country. This has obvious implication for Foreign Direct Investment flow and ultimately development in the country.

Today, the questions in search of answers are: Are there genuine political reasons behind the activities of terror organisation such as the Boko Haram and how could they be addressed? This is the urgent and sensitive task before the political authorities in our country and in particular the Amnesty Committee.

It is important that the committee should remain faithful, stay the course and come out with results and avoid diversionary reports. The task before it is more than a media affair and events seemed to be moving faster than the pace of its work with the recent declaration of a state of emergency in three states of the federation, namely, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe by the president. The state of emergency underscores the sheer size of the problem at hand and a further prod for the committee to produce results. It is an arduous task, the success of which would be an immense contribution to the peace and development of the country.

Given the integrity of its members, there is no doubt that the committee will justify the confidence reposed in it by all Nigerians.