The Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima has appealed to fleeing members of the Borno Elders Forum (BOEF) to return, despite the ongoing security challenges in rebuilding the state.
Shettima made the call yesterday in Maiduguri, the state capital while distributing relief materials donated by the Forum for victims of Boko Haram attacks in Maiduguri metropolis.
Since the activities of insurgents in the north-east state grounded activities to a halt, coupled with the state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan last month to restore law and order, residents of Maiduguri have fled the state in droves in fear for their lives.
However, according to the governor, the fleeing elders must return home to assist government chart a new course for the rapid development of the state.
“We know that some of the elders have remained in Maiduguri inspite of the numerous happenings. But some others could not withstand the pressures of the insurgency and they left along with members of their families to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.
Boko Notes.
In the acrimony of Boko Haram, the people stand at the threshold perching vicariously between the nadir of despairing anarchy and the beacon of civilization. They look up and onto when they will march firmly with strong strides crushing the heart of fear with their feet. For Fight, Fear , or Flight, is frightening , not fanciful at all and it certainly does not a rosy picture present.
Change has to happen at a point in time. Hardened positions and rigid myopia leads to the abyss of destruction.
Boko Haram is not immune. Religion ,presented upside down ultimately becomes an escape from reality and the false picture presented, used to blind the people, keep them dumb, ignorant and pacified, propelling them with doctrines to act at sub human level will eventually crumble with pain so deep when it comes into contact with reality. Killing in the name of God is the real axis of evil. And this seemingly unlimited reservoir of religious hatred and closet bigotry will not stand! We must tear it down. This intransigient stronghold must be pulled down. The power of primitive passion must go down.
Maiduguri! You must severe your links with Boko Haram. It doesn’t empower you. Difficult, yes! But can be done. Deliver your broken ties with boko in considerable ease and grace.
Bornu and Yobe! Make the effort to be loved. Never steep your feet in never ending hate. And have nights of peace.
Join hands across the aisle of religious /political differences with JTF and deliver smiles, love and prosperity to your people. There is neither liberty nor safety in boko haram.
Your Excellency the President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan , never let the little guy go down.
Never let them see you sweat.
Will you let Fat Cat eat up the fish and spit out the bones?
No Way!!
If the strong won’t protect the weak ,who will?
If not here, where?
If not now, when?
If not you, who?
On the tortuous terrain of trouble, there shall be no catwalk of success
For it’s a battle of the mind,
Bordering on the bizarre!
But the savour of freedom has a ring of hallo and a certain aroma that enchants.
God is on our side as a people. Nigeria’s people! Master the process and scale further up! Make Boko Haram hit pay dirt. If Shekau is in the sky, push him down without a parachute!
On ground? Make him search the clear blue skies, not for the new Moon to declare a Fast or Sallah ,but for invisible Drones. Let the farce of an Imam Shekau come to grief. Let him know the heartburn that comes with stoking the awesomeness of the vastness of a Commander In Chief of The Armed Forces Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria, born by the waters, raised in WAR..ri!
We shall have our snark and in this delicious irony, let’s see who is chuckling.
Before we have our Cause Celebre, we must retrieve our Lost Frontier, speaking a litany of hope rather than a litany of terror, you must swiftly end the current climate of their hostility and suspicion, piercing the toga of religious intolerance and ethnic hatred.
You got shiiit to do and it’s not pretty.
Lion of the forests in the Mangrove and the Savannah . Shark of the Atlantic Sea that i see . Crocodile of the Niger River and it’s creeks. Fish of the Nun that flows ebulliently and gracefully with the river Ase into the Niger .
Smoke out, shake up,shell out, shoot Shekau for disturbing the fisherman of the Chad who must fend for his daughters.
Chase him beyond the sahel of Mali to the sand dunes, hills and mountains of northern Algeria.
Lion! You will never eat grass! If Shekau is a gazelle, outrun and outpace him, you must!
Let your feet be nimble and swift.
This is a battle you must win! You cannot afford to loose the battle of the mind where the issues of hate and love are formed .
You are Ebele! Don’t be softhearted this time with the troubler of the farmer of Nguru and the herdsman of Damaturu. The yoke of Yobe must die! The people must be free to live in peace and dignity. Shehu must reside in his regal palace. The Kanemi of peace must be at rest.
The chimes of the bells of Catholic must co-exist with the sound of the muezzin at the break of dawn.
It is a basic right, wholesome and inalienable! It is the elixir of the drumbeat of exhilarating freedom!
So MuBARRACK, grandson of the chief of nKenya, in the valley of the Rift and beyond, where and about the hills and plains the Masai graze their cattle beyond the coast near Madiba Country would not look in to heed a certain call, and lend a helping hand? Leave him and let him go, Jonathan! You are more illustrious! Your cousin, the great grandson of the Princess that was made warrior Queen of beauty. He sits atop the royal stool of Zazzau! Your grandfather shouts, ‘Ozidi’.
There is a message! Be Audacious in Hope! You can make it! YES WE CAN! Can Shekau until he submits. Mosque and Church and Shrine must be separate from our Constitution!
Whatever it takes, do it!
We stand with you! Amandla!
Goodluck to Obama. You are Goodluck Jonathan. ♧