Since Nigeria became a nation under terrorist attack, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan must ensure that due process and rule of law are diligently followed to avoid situation where corruption and negligence continue to jeopardize the internal insecurity of the nation. The Federal Government of Nigeria knows the Boko Haram leaders and has been having series of meetings with them, in and out of the country; therefore, in the interest of world peace, Jonathan's administration must take more decisive action to protect his people and the integrity of his nation through genuine crime control and fight against terrorism.
The government must not treat the fight against corruption, campus cultism, crime, poverty, unemployment, poor educational system, mismanagement of national resource and other related problems with kid gloves. The moral integrity of President Jonathan’s administration is at stake over the manner it has been handling security issues; also members of his government have failed to demonstrate genuine patriotism, believe in and commitment to the transformation agenda of his government.
The British Government has demonstrated seriousness in fighting terrorism worldwide, which was the case when a member of the British House of Lords, David Alton, accused a London-based charity organisation called Al-Muntada Trust Fund of financing the operations of Boko Haram in Nigeria. However, the charity organisation has denied any connection with the Boko Haram as alleged in The Observer newspaper. This confrontational effort of the British Government is not the case in Nigeria where identity of those involved in sponsoring terrorist organisations are protected.
Denying the allegations however, Al-Muntada claimed that they never had any correspondence, never offered any financial assistance or had any contact of any kind with the Boko Haram or any other militant group or groups in Nigeria or in any other part of the world. According to the organisation, "Al Muntada is renowned for its humanitarian work in Africa. We see these allegations as part of a worrying trend whereby aspersions are cast upon Islamic charities without proof, thus harming their efforts to save lives in the world’s poorest regions.... As a registered charity, we are fully compliant with all Charity Commission regulations and look forward to working with them to continue improving our procedures."
The British Charity Commission is yet to confirm whether the charity organisation alleged to be funding terrorism in Nigeria is directly related to the London-based Al-Muntada. The commission noted that there are several other charity organisations registered under the same name. But the Guardian newspaper in London reported that the London-based Al-Muntada is notorious for being a platform for radical clerics. This alone is enough for the British Government to ensure proper investigation is conducted on London-based charity, Al-Muntada Al-Islami Trust. They must review its various activities and financial matters both locally and internationally. All offices, centres and outlets of the Al-Muntada should be scrutinized. This will check terrorism and other crimes that might be associated with use of charity organisations to promote terrorism.
Al-Muntada Al-Islami Trust claims to be an independent organisation initially established in the UK to cater for the needs of the local community with a number of centres around the world, each delivering need-based projects through local initiatives. Its projects include feeding programmes for some of the poorest people in the world, educational programmes to tackle illiteracy, building of water wells, and community outreach programmes. Since its activities include dealing with local people in Africa as well, then there is need to carry out proper investigation on all their operations and programmes not only in Nigeria, but around the world. Investigation should also look into the organisational framework of its operations and policies, comparing it with the belief and ideals of Boko Haram and Al Qaeda.This might help relevant government agencies around the world to look into activities of charity organisations operating within their countries and prevent avenues where charity organisations are used to fund, train and perpetuate terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, the Charity Commission of the British Government is still investigating the claims in The Observer newspaper that Al-Muntada has link with terrorist groups that is connected with attacks against churches and Christians in Nigeria. Likewise, the Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) is also working on their own investigation into the matter which is expected to be independent but in cooperation with relevant government agencies of other countries around the world.
It is noteworthy that telephone and email conversations are not enough to handle this manner of investigation. There is need for on-sight study and critical investigation by Nigerian security agencies, ensuring that visit is paid to and inspection of records is undertaken at the various locations concerned. They must also come up with intelligence reports to assist all cooperating international agencies involved in the investigation.
Even though it might be wrong to jump into conclusion that the allegations raised against Al-Muntada Trust is not be true, but it is possible that any organisation involved in funding terrorism will quickly deny its involvement considering the gravity of consequences involved. Therefore, background and various means of income for Al-Muntada and its operating and board members must be investigated, ensuring as well that area where their wealth and resources are disbursed is crosschecked.
On the other hand, Nigerian Government needs to improve on its fight against terrorism. So far, the attitude of the government has shown likely compromise as it fails to exhibit courage and sincerity of purpose in its handling of the matter of Boko Haram. The greater responsibility of restoring peace, unity and progress back to the country require that governments at all levels and their public officials in Nigeria should follow due process and rule of law; give account on the various allegations of corruption levied against them; develop sound and clear objectives to pursue matters of national interest with responsible political will that will restore confidence in the people and the world at large. The idea of sparing and granting bail for those who are indicted with corrupt and criminal practices should be stopped, reviewed and corrected to restore law and order, and respect for good governance.
It is clear that governments at all levels in Nigeria have allowed the worry of finding solution to terrorism linger unnecessarily for too long without good results to show forth. They have emphasized much on budget matters to waste resources that could have been diverted to consolidate efforts for infrastructural development and job creation. Meanwhile, their ridiculous budgets and spending at all levels and their involvement in corrupt practices have illegally enriched many politicians who now provide financial support for terrorist organisations like Boko Haram and militants for the realization of their selfish political gains.
So, it is necessary at this juncture that cooperating nations fighting terrorism, which include Nigeria, start doing more on investigation into the various means of income or funding for the Boko Haram in Nigeria. Attention should be drawn to the local source of income for terrorists in Nigeria because of the alleged involvement of powerful and rich politicians, including government officials, who secretly sponsor them for selfish gains. It is possible that Boko Haram generate enough money locally to sustain its terrorist affairs.
Locally generated income by terrorists might be in multiple folds compared to the funds they received from abroad. Possibly, the support they receive abroad might be for logistics and training of their members, while internal generated funds might be for purchase of weapons and substance of action. There have been allegations of the Boko Haram sect also extort money regularly from government, individuals and private organisations in their operating areas. It is possible that a bulk of this income could be enough to fund terrorist attacks with less need for external funding.
The Federal Government had series of meetings with the leaders and representatives of the sect within and outside the shores of Nigeria, and such meeting must be reviewed and details provided to combat terrorism worldwide. If the sect do not have strong international network with other terrorist organisations in the world, such meeting arranged through Nigerian government and officials cannot be perfected by the sect.
Nigeria has all it takes to succeed as a great nation and have positive impact on the world around her. The terrorism, bombing, kidnapping, and all forms of terrorist acts being perpetuated in the country today are products of unchecked menace of campus cultism in Nigeria. It is unfortunately that government is not looking in this direction to further check terrorism. Importantly, the idea of paying lip service to numerous problems in the country make government fail on its promises and judicious use of abundant human and material resources. Likewise, government idea of pampering terrorists and criminals under the pretext of buying them off is having bad influence and gross implications that complicate matters into worse senario. The people of the country must be protected against terrorism and Satanic practices. The leaders must redeem their images and become good example of leadership.
For Nigeria Government to succeed in its fight against Boko Haram, it must correct injustice, poverty, police abuse, human rights violations, the belief that the West is a corrupt influence in governance, and allow the mass populace have access to basic health, education and empowerment services. According to Human Right Watch, over 14,000 people have been killed in Nigeria by sectarian violence since 1999. The people do not need to resort to violence or use of arms against constituted authorities before they are heard and taken care of accordingly as rich as Nigeria.
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