“Boko Haram Potentially Lurking In South Eastern Part Of Nigeria If…..” – Ozehkome

From: Bamidele Fasube

Popular Human Right Activist and Legal Luminary, Mike Ozehome has
warned of an impending insurgent similar to the ongoing Boko Haram
crisis in the north eastern part of the country.

The Lawyer who spoke at the fifth and 15th anniversary lecture of
Nigerian Pilot and Nigerian Newsworld, held in Abuja stated that
excerpt the Federal Government embrace dialogue with the agitating
groups seeking secession, there might be a replica of Boko Haram
attack in that part of the nation.
He said it was important to recognize interests and peculiarity of
different ethnicity and groups making the country.
According to him, the war against insurgency could be worn through
dialogue and reorientations of the people.
“You have to look at insecurity holistically. Brute force cannot rid
Boko Haram. It’s a fundamental problem. It’s like cutting branch of a
tree and not uprooting it. So to uproot Boko Haram, you need carrot
and stick approach.
“There is such Boko Haram potential also lurking in south eastern part
of Nigeria. So I am therefore telling the present government to nip
that thing in the bud instead of it spreading soon.”
He called for a new approach such as intelligent gathering rather than
massive use of lethal weapon.
According to him, Boko Haram is a foundational issue whose root cause
is predominantly poverty, illiteracy, and discrimination among others.
In his paper, Democracy in Africa and Emerging Security Threats:
Issues and Challenges, Chief Mike Ozekhome listed insecurity as a
major threat to the nation’s security.
He emphasized need for more training for the military and public
private alliance to ‎combat insurgency.
Earlier, the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife
said Nigeria’s disintegration is not negotiable.
He said the nation has the mantle to rescue the black race and Africa
at large from poverty and racism.
Ezeife said, “It is for Nigeria to develop into a super power and
raise dignity of the black race and wipe away the shame from faces of
all blacks.
“We cannot achieve it with tribalism or religion differences but
direction of massive economic development so unity should bind us
together.
“Thus it is shear laziness to quarrel on issues ‎we did not design. We
should focus and develop Nigeria.  We have to be big to achieve
greatness. We should not allow disintegration but sustain the
permanence of one Nigeria.”‎
Ezeife, who was chairman of the event‎ however appealed to Nigerians
to embrace divine purpose of the nation and do away with the British
imperialism.
He ‎restated need for sustained national unity, while commending the
media for their hardwork to promoting the nation’s democracy.