The Code Group has urged President Goodluck Jonathan who is visiting Borno and Yobe states today to unfold ‘clear and unambiguous plans’ to end the Boko Haram insurgency.The group in a statement by Garba Deen Muhammad its publicity secretary said it “appreciates the President’s decision to undertake the visit to assess the tragic situation for himself”
The group noted however that “Already whatever the president’s motives and intents for the visits are, they are being overshadowed by political chess game between his office and the opposition political parties; who, rightly or wrongly, are describing the visit as a mere political response, as against a genuine working visit, to the earlier visit by the eight APC Governors.
“Be that as it may, The Code Group hopes that the president will use the opportunity offered by the visit to unfold a tangible, convincing and sincere package that will reassure the beleaguered people of the two states and the country at large that his visit is not a mere window dressing to achieve cheap political visibility and no more. The president must say in clear and unambiguous terms what his plans are for bringing immediate succor to the people of Borno and Yobe states; and what his long term solution to this protracted bloody conflict is ” the group said.
It cautioned however against reducing the visit to political jamboree. “The Sultan of Sokoto, seen by many as the spiritual leader of Muslims, the religion that the insurgents profess, has called on the president to offer amnesty to the insurgents as a way of enticing them to accept the invitation for a Ceasefire. The Sultanate call is neither misplaced nor over ambitious. Too many innocent blood had been shed, and is still being shed, in this conflict that no sacrifice, within reasonable limit to end the carnage is too much. On no account must the president reduce his visit to a political jamboree.
Read the press statement below:
THE CODE GROUP
PRESS STATEMENT
AS PRESIDENT JONATHAN VISITS BORNO AND YOBE STATES
Finally, after two years of bloody insurgency and thousands of lives lost, many of them women and children, the President and Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has decided to visit the two states of Borno and Yobe in the North East of Nigeria where the insurgency had it’s roots.
Belated and almost lusterless as the visit is, as it is coming only after the visit to Borno state last Thursday by the coalition of the opposition political parties known as the APC, The Code Group nevertheless appreciates the President’s decision to undertake the visit to assess the tragic situation for himself. As the Chief Security Officer for the entire country, Jonathan’s visit is by far the most critical, coming after the visit to the trouble areas by the National Security Adviser Col Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) last year, and that of Vice President Namadi Sambo last month.
Already whatever the president’s motives and intents for the visits are, they are being overshadowed by political chess game between his office and the opposition political parties; who, rightly or wrongly, are describing the visit as a mere political response, as against a genuine working visit, to the earlier visit by the eight APC Governors.
Be that as it may, The Code Group hopes that the president will use the opportunity offered by the visit to unfold a tangible, convincing and sincere package that will reassure the beleaguered people of the two states and the country at large that his visit is not a mere window dressing to achieve cheap political visibility and no more. The president must say in clear and unambiguous terms what his plans are for bringing immediate succor to the people of Borno and Yobe states; and what his long term solution to this protracted bloody conflict is.
The Sultan of Sokoto, seen by many as the spiritual leader of Muslims, the religion that the insurgents profess, has called on the president to offer amnesty to the insurgents as a way of enticing them to accept the invitation for a Ceasefire. The Sultanate call is neither misplaced nor over ambitious. Too many innocent blood had been shed, and is still being shed, in this conflict that no sacrifice, within reasonable limit to end the carnage is too much. On no account must the president reduce his visit to a political jamboree.
Nigerians–and indeed the rest of the world– are watching and listening with keen interest to see how seriously the president is in ending this conflict. If he ends his visit without a convincing performance that will give the people of Borno and Yobe states genuine hope that he cares about their plight, he would have done an irreparable damage to himself as an individual and to the government he heads.
Signed
Garba Deen Muhammad
Publicity Secretary.
Abuja, 7/3/2013.
