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09.02.2015 Feature Article

Commuting The Illegitimate Death Sentences And The Nigerian Elections

Commuting The Illegitimate Death Sentences And The Nigerian Elections
09.02.2015 LISTEN

During the 8-year illegitimate and tyrannical regime ofDictatorIbrahim Babangida in which he committed several crimes against the Nigerian people, he stood out in a particular statesmanlike action. He defended West Africa from the nefarious machinations of DGSE, Colonel Gadhafi, and CIA operatives like Charles Taylor who had common goals of destabilizing Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.

Mr. Babangida stood shoulder to shoulder with Lieutenant (leftenant) Jerry Rawlings to stop the advance of chaos in the region. The West African sub-region is currently in the midst of another massive destabilization effort which kicked off in Libya with the assassination of Gadhafi, and the decision by NATO to allow large amounts of weapons to flow from North Africa into Mali and further downward.

Nigeria is on the verge of conducting the 2015 elections this February/March in the midst of the trickling violence that has killed nearly 20,000 inhabitants and displaced more than 2million people. The authorities have recently postponed the elections citing security reasons. Along with the contest for power and resources is the problem of Boko Haram. These “Islamic” insurgents have held the northeast region under siege.They started with bombing churches, government buildings, and have evolved into an indiscriminate war of attrition against fellow Nigerians, Cameroonians, and Chadians. Due to corruption and the lackadaisical way President Jonathan's government has approached this affront, we are forced to rely on soldiers from Cameroun and Chad to liberate and secure our territorial integrity.

Sadly, the same nation that took the fight to Liberia and Sierra Leone has been brought to its' knees by Boko Haram forces, which consist of less than 10,000 combatants. Our military which has a proud history of serving in various peacekeeping missions is unable to protect lives and properties in the so-called giant of Africa. While corruption and apathy festers in Abuja, indifference and horror in other parts of Nigeria, and Boko Haram has operated with the tacit support of many northern elites. With the aid of our corrupt officials Boko Haram fighters have ransacked whole states in Nigeria and have caused our soldiers to flee from battles. We now have a weakened military with low morale whereas the scourges of corruption continue unabated.

Interestingly, the proposed remedies do not seem to include policies against corruption and making government expenditures transparent.The brilliant idea is to convict some of our military personnel for mutiny and impose the death sentences on them. There is no doubt that some members of the armed forces are compromised when it comes to the fight against Boko Haram. Those soldiers should be identified and prosecuted for dereliction of duty which should not amount to capital punishment. In fact Nigeria and other African countries should abolish the death sentence and get off the implementation of capital punishment. There are no justifications for taking the lives of fellow Africans when African elites have codified and sanctioned the theft of public resources.

Furthermore, it is morally and spiritually reprehensible to send out troops to bravely protect us, when we cannot provide themnecessary tools they need for their mission and survival. Some of these young heroes have gallantly sacrificed their lives,while Mr. Sambo Dasuki the national security adviser to President Jonathan and the other military service chiefs remain perplexed about Boko Haram. President Jonathan has sanctioned a culture in which his finance minister Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-iweala can disburse public funds to the states without adequate oversights like anti-corruption federal prosecutors in all the states and local governments.

What should we expect when the minister of petroleum Diezani Alison-Maduake's children and others are hopping on private jets like cabs and globetrotting? Conversely, as the nation starts dithering about the coming elections most Nigerians are actually considering another military criminal to save us. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) wants people to vote for Dictator Muhammadu Buhari to usher in change but we are yet to see his educational records and certificates.

ACN claims to be change agents but their political brain Mr. Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu (former governor of Lagos State) and financial sponsor Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State became excessively wealthy (multi-millionaires) by siphoning allocated state public funds. Mr. Buhari a former military governor of the Northeastern state- home of Boko haram, who failed woefully as military head of state in the 1980's, now has the solutions for Niaja.

Interestingly, Mr. Buhari has issued most of his harsher criticism against the Nigerian military and mollycoddled Boko Haram. The “messiah” Buhari was also the former petroleum minister in the 1970's and never uttered a single disapproval of Dictator Abacha who appointed him the chairpersonof the petroleum trust fund in the 1990's. Nigerians are so gullible and psychologically impaired to cast dictator Buhari as a born-again democrat though only few recall the name of the late Mr. Gani Fawehinmi's party.

How can we have a national conscience when we have failed to really view Mr. Buhari for who he is? Why notcompare and contrast him with his contemporaries like Lt. Jerry Rawlings of Ghana and Captain Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso? Both men made changes in their homelands.

Nnamdi F. Akwada MSW, BA is a Social Justice Activist

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