Produce chibok girls or forget 2015

Northern Elders Forum (NEF) yesterday, said that
President Goodluck Jonathan should forget about
contesting in 2015 if he fails to produce the Chibok
secondary school students kidnapped by the Boko
Haram sect in April.
According to statement, signed by Barrister Solomon
Dalung and Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the group
NEF states that it does not believe that the Nigerian
military cannot defeat the terrorists, and that it feels
the conflicts in the country are simply being
engineered to weaken the North politically and
economically.
"We also reject the notion that multiple internal
security challenges such as attacks on villages,
ethno-religions conflicts and banditry springing up
by the day in many parts of the north are all a
coincidence," the statement said. "Indeed, we are
convinced that most of these conflicts are being
engineered to weaken the North politically and
economically by interests which intend to exploit
such weaknesses for electoral benefits."
NEF expressed strong displeasure over the Boko
Haram insurgency, the government's failure to deal
with it, and the recent massacre in Gwoza town in
Borno State.
It said it was issuing the statement after concluding a
major review of the state of the nation, and as part of
its continuous commitment to help to resolve
Nigeria's current political, economic and security
challenges, and facilitate the emergence of a more
united, secure and prosperous nation out of its
present limitations.
"The security situation in our nation today represents
the most serious threat to our individual and
collective lives in our entire history," NEF warned.
It observed that the reality is that the threats posed by
what appears to be an insurgency that has many
manifestations and defies a clear and consistent
identity is growing on account of a clear national
consensus over its nature and it solutions.
"The lack of a strong will at the level of the
presidency to fight it, as well as deep-seated
corruption and incompetence in governments and in
the management of our security challenges has
allowed a band of terrorists to take and hold vast
parts of our land and populations hostage, while
every citizen lives in fear that they will be its next
victim."
Asking Mr. Jonathan to forfeit 2015 unless he
produces the Chibok girls, the Northern Elders
warned, "In the light of our firm conviction that the
insurgency and related security challenges pose
threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our
nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its
manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before
the end of October, 2014. The circumstances under
which our fellow citizens in and around Gwoza in
Borno state in particular live and die will not be
tolerated by any people who have a government and a
leader sworn to defend them, and they must be
reversed immediately. In the event that President
Jonathan fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with
the only conclusion that he has forfeited his right to
ask for our mandate beyond 2015.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.