Preamble On this 150th Day since the abduction of the Chibok girls, we members of the #BringBackOurGirls Movement sign this Declaration and call on all Nigerians to do the same so that we can come together to save the Nation. Our advocacy has always been for a singular purpose, that our Government and security agencies act to save the girls and all other Nigerians in distress. The response from them has not yielded the result that most Nigerians want. The reality on the ground today is that the terrorists are well armed, they are motivated and they seem to have a game plan for carving out their vision of an Islamic Caliphate from Nigeria and its neighbours. This must never happen. Over and above the Chibok Girls, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Nigerians are in danger of falling into organised bondage, torture and death at the hands of the terrorists. This is happening because our armed forces are not sufficiently armed or motivated to fight the terrorists. The result is that the rampaging insurgents are conquering more and more of Nigerian territory. With over three million Nigerians displaced from their homes by the ravaging terrorists, no sane person can question the capability challenges that our armed forces have. It is clear today that our call for action was not heeded because the capacity to act had diminished. Yet, we cannot continue to go down the path of the dismemberment of the country. We must reconquer and reclaim lost territories as well as re-establish sovereignty over the nation and security for our people. The President must show leadership in this process or else we will fall into the dangers associated with alternative action that could lead to chaos or further loss of our sovereignty.
Dangers
If Government does not act quickly and effectively, the danger we face is that of communities arming themselves through local militia. Already, we saw signs of these last week when a massive congregation of hunters, ex-servicemen and civilian JTF in Maiduguri demanded for arms to save their communities from the terrorists. They declared that given the evident challenge within the military, they should be allowed to procure arms and save their community from the terrorists. This solution might appear viable but we believe it is a dangerous one. We must take on board the contemporary lessons we have learnt from arming militia to fight a cause in Libya and Syria. Yes they can start the fight and even achieve early successes but they will not stop the fight and allow the state to operate subsequently thus creating anarchy in the land. We cannot afford to take the risk of arming the militia because they can become just as bad as the terrorists. We also do not have the option of relying on the Western powers to solve our problems. We have invited the Western countries to join us in the search and rescue operation of the Chibok girls but although they came, they have made it clear that the core work is our responsibility, which we have to carry out. They have also said that they cannot work with our military so clearly we have to rely on our own armed forces.
Best Solution
The best option really is that dictated by article 14:2(b) of our Constitution that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. If government has not been carrying out its primary purpose, we should come together to create conditions under which we can solve our problems. Serious allegations made against people in high places who have been helping the enemy must be investigated sincerely and the guilty punished. We cannot allow corruption and treason in high places sap our capacity to defend our sovereignty.
We must rebuild the capability and confidence of our armed forces. At the same time, we as citizens need to play our role in creating the conditions for recovery. In the past, our armed forces have proven their mettle even in global warfare where they were in foreign terrains from the Second World War through the Congo to more recent successes in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Our armed forces have also, during the Civil War, successfully saved our country from dismemberment. We must rebuild those armed forces of our past to ensure that we have a future.
