Pukkah:

Is Boko Haram ready for peace? Why should government extend an olive branch to a band of bomb throwers that are making difficult demands? Let them go their way if they so wish and if it's the desire of the majority of the people there. Should the majority of the people there be against the bomb throwing, then they should prevail on the 'minority' in order not to be cut off with them.

However, the Intelligence units of our security agencies need to be overhauled so that they respond proactively to events like this and quell them when they happen before the problem snowballs into an emergency. For now, government should not appear weak or indulging, the security agents should mingle with them and break them from within while shelling them from outside. The Boko Haram people should be brought to their knees and government should not kowtow to them. The perpetrators - barons, patrons, foot soldiers, etc - should be arrested and tried. Sadly, I doubt the ability of our security agencies to bring this matter to a close in record time. They are too corrupt and inept for that.

The way this Boko Haram issue is handled becomes a template for other forms of agitation or crimes. Ask yourself, are you going to be making peace overtures to every disgruntled group that employs violence as its placard? Before long, it will become abused and the country will play host to several violent groups requesting for one thing or the other raging from the mundane to those bordering on the Constitution. And really, there are so many things for different groups to bicker about in this country.

Most importantly, governments at all levels should be responsive and live up to their responsibilities: Provide infrastructure for your people and stop (or at least slow down) stealing money as if there's no tomorrow. Desist from sharing guns and ammunition to unemployed youths for political purposes. Know that the 'area boy' or 'almajiri' becomes not only useless to himself but a menace to the whole society. This is the way to prevent the problem in the first place instead of running after symptoms and leaves of a problem as opposed to tackling the root.

For example, beyond revelling in the amnesty-induced respite in the Niger Delta, what have governments (Federal and States) done to address the problems that led to the Niger Delta agitation and emergence of the militant groups? I hope we won't blow this opportunity to achieve a long-lasting peace in the Niger Delta. Should the present crop of (ex)militants drop the agitation, other groups, probably more violent, will emerge.