• Seeks speedy approval of $1b loan request
• Reps canvass more action against terrorism
• Ask panel to produce report on PIB
TO enable the nation to finally check the ongoing insurgency in the North East, the Senate Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a total war on Boko Haram. It also urged him to mobilise all recourses and efforts to that effect.
The upper legislative chamber, which resumed from its long recess yesterday, also resolved that the $1billion external loan requested by the president shortly before it embarked on break be granted an accelerated approval.
Accordingly, the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Committee on Finance was asked to consider the request and report to the Senate within one week.
Adopting a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and all other senators tagged “Threat to National Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Nigeria by Insurgents”, the Senate resolved that the Boko Haram challenge had risen beyond mere insurgency to a full-scale war against the Nigerian State. They insisted that only a declaration of a total war by the president would offer a sustainable solution to the menace of the group.
Ruling on the motion, Mark said that “when Boko Haram moved from kidnapping, killing of people and destruction of property to the occupation of parts of Nigerian territory, it has declared a total war on Nigeria.
“There is no difference between what Boko Haram is doing against Nigeria and what an enemy country waging war against Nigeria would have done.”
He added: “The issue is beyond that of mere internal security. It is about how we execute the war. If Boko Haram has captured most parts of the country we represent and has created a caliphate, it means that some of the senators from those areas can no longer be in this chamber. This is why we must pay an urgent attention to the matter.”
Mark also noted that the threat posed by the Boko Haram war would affect the 2015 general election. He, however, insisted that the issue at stake was far beyond that of an election.
He said: “There is no question of election, it is not even on the table now. We are in a state of war. All of us cannot carry guns to fight but we all have roles to play in bringing the situation to an end.”
The entire Senate leadership, chairmen of committees that have roles to play on national security, defence and intelligence as well as all senators from the three affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe are to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan and deliver the resolutions of the Senate to him.
In their respective contributions, senators laid bare the challenges faced by the country in the fight against Boko Haram.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, Taraba State, without mincing words blamed the military and the political class for the prolonged battle against the insurgents. He based his argument on the assumption that the military was heavily infiltrated by members of Boko Haram.
His words: “The biggest problem within the military is that there are Boko Haram members within the military. I am calling on the Nigerian military to look inward.
“Until we look inward and purge the military of saboteurs who act as informants, we will appropriate millions of naira and there will be no result. The military agencies must search themselves and look at those who are very serious.
“The political class is also not helping matters. There are those who are benefiting from this problem and they will not want it to stop.”
Senator Solomon Ewuga, Nasarawa State, urged Nigerians to refocus attention on the state of the Nigerian Army.
“Generally, there is no morale within the military and until it takes up the responsibility, it cannot give us value. There are clear indications that the military officers are not trained. We have to also consider the state of the leadership of the military. They have integrated so much into civilian life”, he noted.
For Senator Abdul Ningi, Borno, the activities of Boko Haram have developed into a full-scale war, resulting in sacking of some villages in his state.
He sought the suspension of electioneering in those states until the war against the insurgents was fought and won.
In his contribution, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, drew the attention of his colleagues to the fact that the nation’s constitution itself imposed certain responsibilities on the Senate to intervene in matters of grave national security.
He appreciated the interventions of the Senate in past national crises, submitting that such interventions had become more urgent now that the nation was at war. He expressed the fear that even the 2015 general elections might suffer serious problems in the face of these security problems.
According to Ekweremadu, some of the provisions of the constitution were clear on the fact that if the nation is at war, the issue of election could be endangered or jettisoned. He said that was the reason this issue of Boko Haram should be given serious attention by the Senate.
In his attempt to amend the initial prayers, Umoru Dahiru suggested that the Senate should specifically mandate its leadership to meet with Jonathan and categorically request him to make a declaration that the country is at war and should be treated as such. His amendment was unanimously adopted by the chamber.
Earlier in a welcome address, Mark warned stakeholders in the nation’s democracy to restrain themselves from inflammatory and treasonable statements or actions.
He maintained that collective or individual ambitions were subordinate to national interest and as such, people must always consider the primacy of national interest above self.
He noted that although his address was essentially to welcome his colleagues and to unfold legislative agenda, there were other critical issues at the moment for which Nigerians demanded their urgent action.
“The escalation of violence and the heinous crimes daily perpetrated by insurgents and terrorists including the declaration of a caliphate has reached alarming proportions.
“Regrettably, the Boko Haram sect, these harbingers of death have become more emboldened and daring, killing innocent Nigerians and destroying property at will.
“From abductions, kidnappings and bombings, the situation has now degenerated to capturing and occupying some parts of Nigeria. In what is obviously intended to humiliate us as a sovereign nation and test our resolve, the terrorists have brazenly hoisted their flags to confirm their assault and affront on our collective will as a nation.
“My dear colleagues, to put it otherwise is to shy away from the truth. In my candid opinion, the Boko Haram sect has in no unmistakable terms declared a total war on Nigeria and Nigerians. Their ideology is alien to our culture. We must as a people and nation handle this situation with all the seriousness it deserves.
“I have consistently advocated dialogue as the needed panacea to this malaise. Sure, dialogue must not be ruled out but this time around, with this scale of warfare, we must first demonstrate our strength, confront and defeat these terrorists and insurgents before we resort to dialogue.”
Mark continued: “I am yet to come to terms with what the Boko Haram sect actually wants. And I dare ask what offence has the Chibok girls or any other schoolchild, a market woman or artisan struggling to earn a living committed that he or she deserves to be felled and decimated daily by the bombs and arsenal of these insurgents?
“This war has certainly come to our door steps. As senators of the Federal Republic, destiny has entrusted us to be at the helm of affairs today. We must all rise to the current challenge.
“The government must be supported fully by this Senate to confront the challenge headlong. Therefore, we must devise a better strategy to win this war at the earliest possible time.
“We must come out with a clear, concise and unequivocal mission statement on how to win this war. As I have repeatedly said, we must as a matter of urgency, fish out the financiers of these terrorists and all collaborators wherever they are, and bring them to book. My appeal to you, my bosses, is to continue to provide the necessary legislative framework that is needed to win this war.”
Meanwhile, a motion which decried the attacks on communities by insurgents in Borno and other states in the North East yesterday forced the House of Representatives to go into a closed door meeting which lasted for over one hour.
Emotions were beginning to heighten on the floor at the resumed session yesterday after a two-month recess, following the motion brought by Mohammed Tahir Mongonu, and supported by other North East lawmakers who called for the intervention of the parliament to save the people of the area from extermination by Boko Haram.
Gauging the emotional drift of contributors to the motion, the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, abruptly called for a “closed door meeting” to enable the chamber to receive briefing from the chairman of the House Committee on Defence on the matter.
At the resumed session after the closed door meeting, Tambuwal announced the resolution of the House to set up a legislative diplomacy liaison with other foreign parliaments aimed at exploring, as well as addressing possible inhibiting laws that may be preventing direct foreign cooperation in the fight against the insurgents.
The speaker also noted that the leadership of both houses of the National Assembly, and their respective committees on defence would engage the executive arm to know the challenges, and to provide the maximum legislative support for tackling the security challenges.
According to him, the House has agreed to set up a special ad hoc team to mobilise additional fund from members for a terrorism victims support fund initiative as well as receive other material for succour for the displaced people in the affected areas.
Tambuwal also gave the special ad hoc committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and others 21 days to turn in their reports.
The House reviewed with its sitting schedule for legislative activities as part of efforts to reposition the chamber to address pressing parliamentary issues and enable it to function effectively in line with it responsibilities.
Announcing the adjustment, Tambuwal said the chamber would now resume legislative activities from Monday to Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
Hitherto, the chamber sat for only three days beginning from Tuesday to Thursday every legislative week.
On the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the speaker commended the spontaneous response by the government and announced the setting up of a six-member committee on Ebola to enhance legislative liaison and to provide the requisite legislative support for the success of the project.
Source: Guardian
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