Rout Boko Haram Insurgents, Nigerians in US Charge Jonathan
Seek implementation of national confab recommendations
in Ado Ekiti Nigerians based in the United States of America have charged President Goodluck Jonathan to rout insurgency in Nigeria, urging him to take more decisive action in this regard before the 2015 general elections.
Acting under the auspices of the Nigeria Moral Democratic Awareness Council (NMDAC), the body also praised Jonathan over the electoral reform he initiated to bring electoral rebirth to the system, saying this had started manifesting in the freeness and fairness in the governorship elections in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo States.
An electronic mail signed by its Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Ayodele and made available to THISDAY in Ado Ekiti yesterday, condemned the senseless killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians and expatriates by insurgents in the North, calling on the federal government to take more virulent actions to put these gunmen at check.
The body rejected the culture of impunity, violence and political intolerance before, during and after the February general elections for Nigeria to be in peace and remain indivisibly united.
Describing the body as a non-partisan, but patriotic group, NMDAC said “we reviewed numerous reports reaching us across the political spectrum at the end of year meeting held at Marriot Hotel in Washington D.C. on December 30, 2014.
“We therefore resolved that the climate of violence, counter-violence, intimidation and sheer thuggery may not give room for any atmosphere of peaceful coexistence in our dear and sovereign country. The members concluded that the lack of effective prosecution of several cases of corruption, lack of meaningful jobs and insensitivity of our government have led to several cases of insecurity in the country.
“We condemn various atrocity, murders, mayhem and intimidation that have been going on unabated on daily basis in the Northern part of Nigeria for the past few years. We find it very difficult to believe why the government does not have the will to confront these problems and arrest the culprits.
“We also observed that our armed forces are not well equipped to fight what we consider as the terror war with the well-equipped Boko Haram sect. To win this war of attrition, the Federal Government of Nigeria must do more than paying lip service to it”, it stated.
Exuding confidence that the general elections would be devoid of bedlam, NMDAC commended President Jonathan for coming up with electoral reforms that had given Nigerians a sigh of relief that their votes would count.
The group tasked him to implement the recommendations of the Senator Femi Okunrounmuchaired National conference, saying Nigeria nationals across the globe would be disappointed to see the reports going into the dust bin of history like the previous conferences before it.
It charged the citizens to rise up and appeal to all political parties to make infrastructure, meaningful employment, and robust public health programmes and policies the kernels of their campaigns; rather than beating the war drums.