Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar III
The
Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has warned the Sultan of
Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, against holding talks with the dreaded
Islamic sect, Boko Haram, until he receives an official approval from
the Federal Government.
The apex body of Muslims in the country
fears that the Sultan might be blackmailed by the government if he goes
ahead to negotiate with the terrorist group, especially on the over 200
pupils of Government Girls’ Secondary School abducted by the sect on
April 14, without an official consent.
The council warned that the Islamic
leader should not be hoodwinked into making such moves by those calling
for his intervention in the insurgency by the sect.
Some Islamic elite, under the aegis of
Concerned Muslim Professionals, had written to the Sultan earlier in
July, asking him to lead the dialogue with the Boko Haram sect.
The group told the monarch, who is the
President-General of the NSCIA, to use his position and engage members
of the sect in dialogue that would make them stop their campaign of
killings.
Similarly, a human rights activist based
in the North and President, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu
Sani, had earlier in May asked the Sultan to spearhead the moves to
secure the release of the abducted pupils from the group’s captivity.
Sani, in a letter to the religious
leader, had said, “You (Sultan) have a moral duty and a spiritual
responsibility to be visibly and actively involved in seeking the
resolution of this impasse happening within areas you have religious
influence.”
However, the Secretary-General of the NSCIA, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while speaking to reporters
on Thursday, warned that the President-General of the council should
not be hoodwinked into taking up the task of negotiating with the
terrorists.
He said, “The Muslim community had always
been taking action; it had always been appealing to the people (Boko
Haram) but Muslim leaders are also cautious because in your process to
go out to look for these people; if in the process you’re caught talking
with them, the government can even turn against you and say you’re part
of part of Boko Haram.
“No matter the level of the Muslim
leader, he has to think twice before he begins to communicate with these
people (sect) because the same government that you want to work for can
turn against you and accuse you of complicity; and you will be on your
own.
“They (government) have enough machinery
to present you as a devil such that members of your family will believe
that you’re a devil.”
When asked if such could be done to the
Sultan, the professor insisted that the Islamic leader could be
implicated without the backing of the government, especially at a time
when “many of us are being unduly monitored.”
He added, “I am not the Sultan but
fortunately the Sultan has dual status; traditionally, he is the Sultan
of Sokoto; religiously, he is the leader of the Muslim community. I
relate with him as far as his mandate as the leader of the Muslim
community is concerned.
“In that capacity, I will not advise him
to hold any unilateral action with the sect without having the full
confidence of the government of the day. If anybody makes such calls,
somebody like the Sultan should think twice before venturing into
searching for people you do not know.”
Oloyede asked why the Federal Government
kept the findings by the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful
Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, which was chaired by
the Minister of Special Duties, Taminu Turaki.
“I believe that by now, as Muslims
leaders, we should have access to the findings; we don’t. We are just
working in darkness. By now, even if the report had not been released,
we should have had access to it. Then, we will be able to have some
clues to what is happening,” the NSCIA scribe stated.
Also, an Islamic pressure group, Muslims
Rights Concern, said it was the responsibility of the Federal
Government, and not the Sultan, to seek an end to the insurgency by the
group.
The Founder, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, stated
in an interview on Friday that the Sultan had spoken out against the
activities of the sect on several occasions, “what else do they want him
to do?”
He said, “I stand by the decision of the
Supreme Council; it is a very correct position. The Sultan cannot
negotiate, particularly without the Federal Government’s green light. We
don’t support the idea of the Sultan negotiating because he would be
seen as somebody who has vested interests. Why can’t the Federal
Government take that up?”
The Professor of Islamic Eschatology
stated that there was no reason for the Muslim community to rise up to
the challenge separately, as it would be “tantamount to sedition,
separatism and rising when the Federal Government should rise.”
Efforts to get the Presidency for
comments on Friday and Saturday proved abortive. Calls made to the
mobile phones of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public
Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and the Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, respectively, were not picked.
Also, they did not reply to text messages sent to them.
In the letter to the Sultan, the
President, Concerned Muslim Professionals, Alhaji Mohammed Saidu, said,
“A failure on the part of the Muslim leadership (under His Eminence the
Sultan) to discharge these responsibilities/actions to the later will
render it of questionable ability, doubtful recognition, decimal loyalty
or an outright dismissal as a mere smoke-screen. As obedient and
loyalists to His Eminence the Sultan, our hearts bleed on these
realities.”
Sani, in an exclusive interview, had stated that the sect would prefer Islamic clerics as its negotiators.
He said, “The group (Boko Haram) is
mostly comfortable with Islamic clerics. The insurgents are more
comfortable with people that are considered neutralists. .
“For the purpose of negotiation, if the
government is setting up a team, I strongly advise that the team should
be made up of Islamic clerics, who are going to reach out to them to
seek the release of the girls.”
Just as the Islamic bodies have
requested, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had insisted that
President Goodluck Jonathan must approve his planned move to secure the
release of the Chibok schoolgirls.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV
on May 31, 2014, the ex-President had said while he had not been
officially mandated to lead the mediation, his next step was to get an
approval from the government. He insisted that the President must know
about his moves.
Again on June 12, 2014, in an interview
with the BBC Hausa Service, Obasanjo had expressed his regret that the
Federal Government had not yet given him the green light to reach to the
insurgents for the release of the girls.
The Federal Government had, however,
insisted that Obasanjo had access to President Jonathan, if he truly
wanted to make inputs. Sources at the Presidency had also expressed
doubts over Obasanjo’s sincerity with his plan.
Ebola: The enemy at your door!
West
Africa is gripped by the worst outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
in history. The deadly virus, which has over 90 percent fatality, could
cross borders to more African nations and even Europe. Last week,
Nigeria recorded the first ever suspected case of Ebola. What
implications does this development portend for Africa’s most populous
nation. What lessons do we learn from the outbreak in the sub-region?
By Sola Ogundipe
IS
Ebola in Nigeria? Are Nigerians at risk of transmission the incurable
disorder? No one could provide a definite answer to this question on
Friday after the confirmation of the suspected case by the Nigeria
Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Abuja, and the Lagos State Ministry of
Health the previous day.
–
A file photo taken on June 25, 2014 shows the isolation ward at the
Donka Hospital in Conakry where people infected with the Ebola virus are
being treated. AFP PHOTO
Prior to this development,
millions of Nigerians did not imagine the seriousness of the threat of
the EVD epidemic ravaging the West African sub-region. Currently, the
probable risk of transmission of the disease is the newest security
threat confronting Nigeria. With the persistent epidemic incursions into
the West African sub- region, the threat of possible outbreak in
neighboring countries including Nigeria was never in doubt.
Worst outbreak ever
But experts are worried that rather than come under control, the
situation seems to have worsened. “This is the first time we have ever
seen an urban as well as rural Ebola outbreak,” noted Laurie Garrett, a
Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“It is the first time we have seen Ebola in the capital cities. It is
the first time we have seen Ebola crossing borders, now in three
countries. And it is the first time we are having an Ebola experience in
an area rife with the tensions and the hostilities born out of two
really brutal civil wars in Sierra Leone and in Liberia, with spillover
into neighboring Guinea.
Garrett, who lamented that Ebola has
worsened survival, safety and security in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone, where, in the best of times, they are hard-pressed to meet the
public health needs of their people, said they are now dealing with
what is officially designated an out-of-control epidemic on their hands.
Caution
In
the view of Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist
& Managing Partner, EpiAfric, there is a real need for Nigerians to
be concerned about the Ebola Virus disease threat. “That but that
concern should be directed into holding our government, and health
officials accountable. For now, let’s hope that it does not spread to
Nigeria, because if it does, it will really test our health systems,
especially now that doctors are on strike.
“If it does spread to
Nigeria, then we will all be at the mercy of the response mechanism and
we can only hope that they are prepared. If we are not, it will expose
our incompetence in a way that has not been done before. There is no
easy way to say it. We just hope there is no out break, if there is it
will be really bad. An Ebola outbreak at this period would be dangerous
for the country,” he cautioned.
First indication
EVD not only
brings about a general fearfulness from the population, but also
elicits widespread crazy rumours that are making the problem more
difficult to contend with. In Nigeria, the first indication of Ebola
trouble came through a red alert issued by the NCDC to all Port Health
Services staff nationwide after the suspected case, in a 40-year old
Liberian, was picked arrived the country through Murtala Mohammed
International Airport, Lagos on Sunday, July 20, 2014.
Vigilance all around
Port staff were urged to be extra vigilant, and report on suspected
cases while taking into consideration necessary aseptic techniques in
handling such cases and to institute the necessary actions to the border
communities. But all that appears to be cold comfort.
Earlier in
March 2014, on the heels of the outbreak of in Guinea, the Federal
Ministry of Health issued alert urging persons with high fever,
headache, severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea and bleeding and especially
with a history of travel to Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia, to report
to the health authorities at once. All 36 State Commissioners of Health
were put on alert to mobilise against the disease, while the Federal
Ministry of Health collaborated closely with the West African Health
Organisation, WAHO, and the World Health Organisation, WHO, to deploy
experts to affected countries to strengthen response capacity.
Findings
by Sunday Vanguard show as far as the average Nigerian is concerned, a
confirmation of suspected Ebola Virus Disease in Lagos is alarming,
while a positive confirmation would be catastrophic. Such fears are
well founded. The latest Ebola outbreak in West Africa is now the
largest and deadliest outbreak ever.
Unlike outbreaks of the past,
it is affecting both rural and urban areas. In the affected West
African sub-region, already a heavy-duty malaria area, millions of
people are walking around with high fevers and other kinds of symptoms
that could confuse diagnosis of Ebola. Worse still, the West African
sub-region is known for Lassa fever, another terrible, viral disorder
carried by rats.
Anxiety
Now health workers are having
difficulty in making a proper diagnosis even in the affected countries.
Reports from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, reflect the plight of
people being turned away from hospitals for routine care simply because
they have a fever or simply because they seem dizzy and a little out of
it, as, of course, would be a symptom of malaria. Already widespread
fear and rage is building in the populations against the health care
systems, because the system is afraid to take the contaminated patients
into the facilities.
All health workers are under attack. Even the
Red Cross has abandoned parts of Guinea because their workers are being
physically attacked ,Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Doctors Without
Borders, In the sub-region, Médecins Sans Frontières which has
intervened in almost all reported Ebola outbreaks in recent years, are
also under violent attack. They confessed it is facing an unprecedented
epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution
of cases.
Nigeria up to task – Nasidi
Nevertheless, Project
Director of the NCDC, Professor Abdulsalam Nasidi, affirms that the
country’s response mechanism is up to the task. Nasidi, who had long
admitted that Nigeria is at risk noted: “We are at alert. We are
prepared in terms of diagnosis, isolation rooms in health facilities,”
he assured even in the face of growing speculations that the nation may
not be truly ready in terms of the most important steps.
“Nigeria
has capacity to diagnose the disease if it appears here. We are studying
the outbreak trends and have mobilised rapid response teams in addition
to developing a detailed response plan that includes a comprehensive
health education/health promotion to sensitise Nigerians, enhanced
surveillance to detect and treat the disease.”
Gaps in preparedness
But doubts about the level of preparedness persist. For instance, a
visit to the website of the FMOH does not provide cogent information on
the Ebola Virus disease. Prior to the confirmation of the suspected
case, most Nigerians had been at a loss as to who is leading the
preparedness against the threat in the country. Who is communicating
with health professionals and the general public? Who is to be held
accountable, many kept asking? In other countries like Mali, Ghana and
Cameroun, health officials have routinely investigated possible
infection cases.
Alert in West Africa
Since March 2014 at the
onset of the outbreak of in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Nigeria
and neighbouring West African countries have been on the alert. Also in
the affected countries, anxiety is at fever pitch. People have generally
stopped sharing personal items such as towels, toothbrushes, cups,
cutlery and hankies. The tendency to indulge in shaking of hands,
hugging, kissing or even having sex has also reduced significantly.
Public
gatherings involving large crowds have more or less disappeared.
Healthcare providers have become reluctant to attend to patients with
symptoms of fever and other suspected signs of illness. Everybody goes
about wearing hand gloves, wary about touching anything that might serve
as a model of transmission of the deadly virus. The practice of killing
and consuming fruit bats and other suspect delicacies has declined
drastically.
Around the same period, Executive Director of
Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, had warned Liberians to
desist from consumption of bush meat. In a terse statement, the health
official highlighted the connection between the Mano River countries and
danger of the bush meat trade to lives of animals and humans in the
region. Such has been the magnitude of the threat of the disorder which
kills nine out of 10 victims.
Why Ebola is spreading
Theoretically, anyone that is ill with a travel history of traveling to
or from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea, is suspect. Sunday Vanguard
investigations reveal there are two theories from the medical community
about how and why Ebola has spread to so many different countries and to
the urban areas. The first concerns the habitat.
The unique
nature of the problem is linked to the West African rain forest swathe
that cuts across all three affected countries. The swathe is inhabited
by the Fruit bats that normally carry the Ebola virus. The argument is
that the bats are believed to be coming in proximity with monkeys or
other animals that humans secondarily come in contact with in order to
become infected.
The second theory is tied to the porosity of the
borders between the three countries. A visit to these borders reveals
the disdain for etiquette and lack of respect for immigration laws at
the boundaries. A similar situation is replicated at the Seme and
Idi-Iroko borders where people of all kinds of ethnic groups cross
unimpeded from one country to the other.
There are no visible
certified screening or containment procedures for possible bearers of
the communicable diseases such as Ebola Virus who might have travelled
down from the neighbouring affected countries. The chaotic nature of the
posts adds to the feeling of vulnerability of Nigeria.
At the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, the scenario is a
noticeably better. Security officials screen every traveler arriving at
all times of the day. Passports are carefully checked and travelers who
may have visited Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the recent past are
invited for questioning and further screening.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/ebola-enemy-door/#sthash.tgg8JAjx.dpuf
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An air strike early on Sunday morning killed four people, including two children, according to medics
Israelis who support the offensive faced off with those against it in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening
