I READ an interesting article by one Sani Dikko in the Vanguard edition of January 9, 2019 entitled: “Boko Haram and Gov. Shettima laughable gaffes”. Apparently, the author had some bones to pick about the visit of a delegation of Borno State leaders led by the state’s Governor, HE Kashim Shettima.
Dikko started his article on a polite enough note, but somewhere along the line he lost his composure and resorted to near or outright insults.
Over what, you may ask? The source of Dikko’s displeasure was the 10-point agenda the Governor submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari. These were obviously the resolutions reached during the meeting with elders, leaders and stakeholders in Borno State Government House on Monday, December 28, 2018. That meeting drew national attention because it came on the heels of the ambushing and killing of scores of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram in Metele and other areas, and the recapture of many formerly liberated communities by the insurgents.
Strangely enough, Dikko’s anger was directed at the 10-point agenda which the Borno leaders had hoped would help to reverse the rapidly deteriorating situation if implemented.
These items were not made public, and the public did not even clamour for them to be disclosed because they were for the President’s ears only. They were mere suggestions, and the President was at liberty to do what he chose with them.
Dikko claimed that “a reliable security source” confided in him that part of the suggestions was for the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, popularly called “Civilian JTF” to be provided with arms to help the military in the war against Boko Haram. Dikko did not realise that, in his haste to discredit Shettima and the Borno delegation, he was actually betraying the confidence reposed on him by the “reliable security source”.
Not only that, he was exposing to the public and the insurgents a carefully concealed secret meant only for the ears of the Commander-in-Chief, President Buhari. There is no doubt that some elements within the Presidency and the military were displeased by the Borno leaders’ delegation to Aso Villa.
They were also unnerved by the governor’s sobbing while he read the State’s message to the President. The Governor’s open admission that “we rushed here because Boko Haram threatened to retake Kukawa (Local Government)” angered some highly-placed regime and military officials who still wanted the old stance that “Boko Haram no longer occupies an inch of Nigeria’s territory” maintained at all cost in spite of clear evidences that the insurgents, especially the Islamic State in West Africa, ISWA, commanded by Abu Musab Al Barnawi, have taken more territories than Governor Shettima dares to publicly admit.
Thousands of new refugees were streaming into Maiduguri every day, and the news was all over the internet. Can you hide a full-term pregnancy by covering it with your palms?
