Dear Malam Abubakar Shekau alias alias Darul Akeem wa Zamunda Tawhee (دار التوحيد),
I chose to address this letter to you in English because of my poor knowledge of that your lingua franca, that means ‘ba Hausa’. I know you may feel slighted that it is openly published rather than being confidentially sent to you. Again pardon me for that; you see I attempted to search and know which part of Sambisa forest you are residing, of which I would have sent the letter, but I was told your fellow patriots have rendered that part of the country incommunicado for postal agencies and other such support services. Of course I would have asked any of your brothers here to interpret for me; again this will dilute the message and possibly negate the essence of its confidentiality.
Sir, less I forget my ethics may I extend my best wishes to you , your wife(or wives) and children. I wish them peace, security and the best in life. As you know, so many families in Nigeria, especially in Chibok and other towns in the North East have not enjoyed this luxury for some years now.
I want to use this opportunity to remind you that among other things you had a communication barrier with the outgoing President Dr Goodluck Jonathan, most likely because he (like most of us) did not understand your language, and in line with your ideology, you never see English as a vehicle of communication.
Throughout the last couple of years, so many families especially in that your part of Nigeria have been rendered fatherless, motherless or child(ren)less, brotherless and sisterless, no thanks to your heroic exploits. Till date, we are aware that your authority on an issue has outweight that of other recognized authorities. It is assumed that even security agencies allegedly tremble at signals of your approach, and the near helpless citizens prostrate before you. Your voice is a command, while our soldiers’ ego has been seriously deflected. I remember reading this line in an article by a colleague, “ if Boko Haram sends a threat letter to a church that they will strike on a particular Sunday, and the military tells to church to go ahead with their worship service because they’ve got everything under control, whose opinion will be respected by the church members?” The feeble response of the superior federal might has not been able to put an end to your activities.
Sir, I don’t know how up to date you are with developments in the country, but as a refresher, the elections in the country were held on March 28 and April 11. What this means is that our patriot and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari has been elected as the new President and will be sworn in on May 29, 2015. This means that a man who had been previously suggested to broker peace between you and the federal government, is now at the helms of affairs. As a consequence, you now have a man who understands your plight, shares in your history and speaks your language.
That brings me to the crux of my treatise. You have had several uproars bordering on your belief and ideology. I am not among those who have bought into the assumption that your upheaval was because you hated President Jonathan, or that you were sponsored to foment instability and insecurity. Because if you hated the President or his people, you would have at least made an attempt to attack him. You never did, neither did your attack get to people in this part (Southern) of the country. It was either Chibok, Mubi or some towns in Borno and Yobe States. That to me was a show of patriotism, a belief that ‘charity’ begins at home.
Ete Shekau, I know that of recent, there has been a further intensity in the chase on you and your battalions by the federal and allied troupes. So you may not have the time to read the dailies or watch the news on tvs. I am sure like many others that until otherwise proven, I have no time to waste in believing that you have been threatened by the so-called clean up in the Sambisa Forest. To me, the war against you and your men is far more than relying on the feedback we get from the military mouth organ.
I know you are a man of many parts and obviously not given to long essays. Let me drive the nail straight on the head, please sir, it’s high time you sheathe your sword and give peace a chance. I have heard many interpretations on your demands, prominent of which is the allegation that your sect is seeking the abolition of western education in accordance with the wish of Allah. Well, for your information, the new president who you allegedly have huge sympathy, has acquired formal education and that’s what has stood him out from his contemporaries whose only literacy is in understanding the language of their cattle.
I don’t have a fair knowledge of what actually is contained in your holy book about education, but I am sure President-elect Buhari does. Please, bury your hatchet and allow Buhari to hit the ground running with a bang. He understands your problem, and if you are able to convince him, I am sure he will accede to your demands and ban all forms of western education in the country.
You will agree with me O ye Shekau that the last four years have rather been hectic for you and you foot soldiers, and there has been enough blood spillage on the land, enough to drown a community. What this means is that your governors, local government chairmen and even the federal government, are unable to execute projects in your areas for fear of insecurity. The money meant for taking care of the populace is frittered away to tackle insecurity, while the western part of the country, the east and Southern part of the country are a beehive of new life-enhancement projects, day after day. As it stands, you have, or your activities have reduced the life expectancy rate of your people by more than 70%. Yet your aims have not been achieved.
That reminds me Malam Sheks, will you still say that those young girls that you guys seized, sorry invited into the forest did not become a burden to you after they had succumbed to malnourishment and infections? Do you know that by destroying these young girls, your male children may have lost a chance of finding soulmates? Is it not time you make haste to release the much talked about Chibok school girls or whatever of them you have remained to go home after the mandatory one year internship programme in your camp?
Now that Buhari is assuming office, it will be in your interest to encourage him to use this opportunity to correct all the ‘injustices’ that were inflicted on the North by successive military rulers most of who came from the north and who for 28 years failed to change the story of the people of the North positively. He is not a magician and so don’t expect a miracle from him. If per chance(Allah forbid), he is unable to proffer solutions to all your desires in the next four years, then we still have IBB waiting in the wings to continue in 2019, while Abdulsalami Abubakar can return to complete his turn in 2023. So sir there is no cause for alarm as yet.
Did I hear you say you want Amunesufee, no they call it amnesty.
