Lawyers, Activists Disagree Over Call for GEJ’s Resignation

Nigerians have continued to react to the state of insecurity in the country which was heightened by the recent spate of bombings in the country.

There were bomb blasts at Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in a space of three weeks- one on April 14 and the other on May 1, 2014.

After claiming responsibility for the first bomb blast, the Islamic sect, Boko Haram was suspected to have also perpetrated the fresh attack, prompting wide condemnations by members of the public.

Some members of the public have since called for the resignation of President Goodluck Jonathan, but the reactions of lawyers and human rights activists have varied in this regard.

In a phone conversation, a humans rights lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, told our correspondent that there was no chance that Jonathan would heed the public call for his resignation, considering the antecedents of politicians in the country.

He dsaid, “No doubt, I would have supported the call for the president’s resignation but he will not heed to the call. So what is the point, why should you talk to people who will not listen to you. The truth of the matter is that there is no point making a call that will not be heeded. Our political leaders don’t heed to calls and the security operatives don’t heed to

calls, otherwise all of them should have resigned by now.

Look at what happened in South Korea, where the prime minister tendered his resignation following a ferry accident. Ordinarily people should have accepted responsibilities for incompetence and negligence in Nigeria. There were bomb blasts in the same area within a few days. The president is unperturbed and the military are just there. I don’t talk to people who are deaf so I will rather suggest that we take some actions. It will show the government that we are not satisfied with their handling of the situation.”

 Aturu rather suggested that Nigerians across the country should protest the handling of insurgency by the government and the security operatives on May 29, which is the country’s Democracy Day.

He also called for an end to corruption in the country, which he identified as major cause to the security challenge confronting the nation.

He said, “That is the way to show that we are not part of this madness and that will also show Boko Haram members that majority of Nigerians are not with them. We must fight corruption until we make sure we have done everything to ensure equitable distribution of wealth in Nigeria because the youths are disoriented and disgruntled.

“We must ensure we provide jobs for the youths to keep them busy and ensure that we equip our military personnel. We must give them good training on how to deal with the situation because for now it seems everybody is mesmerised, including the military. Boko Haram seems to be gaining the upper hand, unfortunately.”

In the same vein, another lawyer, Fred Agbaje, described the insecurity in the country as a failure of governance. He called on the public to use the next election to vote out the government in power and vote in a new government of their choice, saying he would score the Federal Government 15 per cent in security and 10 per cent in welfare.

Agbaje called for the Jonathan’s resignation, assuring that it would solve Nigeria’s problem of insecurity.

He said, “He should resign. The calamity that has befallen this country in the last one month is enough for the president to resign. The person that is coming in knows what led to the resignation of his principal, he must be aware of the banana peel so that it does not fall him as well.

The leader Nigeria needs today is not one that is intellectually disempowered, or one that suffered from poverty, but one that can address two major constitutional issues; insecurity and welfare. We don’t need a government that would take pleasure in telling us lies.

“If the interest of Nigeria has any meaning to the government of Nigeria, in other words, if the welfare of Nigerians means anything to the government, or the present ruler, they should have thrown in the towel. There is failure of governance in Nigeria today and this is attributable to the poverty in leadership.

“The constitution expects government at all levels to ensure security of lives and properties of the people and the welfare of the people but the Federal Government has breached that and the citizens have given up on those rights too. Therefore, the only solution left in the hands of Nigerians is to shine their eyes in the next election and have a fundamental change in governance.”

 Agbaje, who said he had voted for Jonathan in the last presidential, also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to return the vote he cast.

 “I am one of those that voted for Goodluck Jonathan. If I had my way, I would retrieve my vote back. I want them (INEC) to give me my vote back. INEC should return the vote I cast for Goodluck Jonathan,” he added.

However, a human rights lawyer, Wahab Shittu, disagreed with those calling for the president’s resignation and called for united front in the fight against insurgency in the country. According to Shittu, Jonathan should not solely be blamed for the problem of insecurity in the country.

 Shittu said, “I don’t think the resignation of Jonathan is the option because you cannot lay the blame of the crisis on the doorstep of Jonathan alone. He’s the president but the issue must be addressed by all stakeholders in the Nigeria project. The authorities too must stop the blame game, stop blaming the opposition or particular individuals for what happened. Everybody must come on board to say we are faced with a crisis of survival and it’s only when we survive that we can think of development.”

In addition, Shittu suggested a multi-dimensional approach to the fight against insurgency, saying that the threat posed by Boko Haram had gone “beyond a local problem”.

“The recent spate of bombings underscores the frightening and dangerous dimension terrorism had taken in our country. We are not dealing with domestic terrorism, we are dealing with terrorism of international character and the solution must go beyond local options,” he said.