By Emman Ovuakporie

Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, a member of the Green Chamber representing Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), Borno State, under the aegis of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview, speaks on the state of emergency imposed on Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, describing it as a blessing.

Sometime ago, the JTF said it had achieved 80 per cent of its mandate in Borno State. Do you agree?

Yes. If the military operatives who are the people in charge of the operation said it is 80 per cent, then it is gladdening. For them to say 80 per cent was a responsible statement. We have never heard this kind of statement in the last three years. We are happy with all the sacrifices they have made. But we should also be charitable to them because they were humble enough to admit that the civilian JTF or the youths in Maiduguri my constituency answered to their civic responsibility when they came out in large numbers and offered assistance against Boko Haram.

File photo: A military operation…

The raid worth mentioning is the one carried out in Bulabulin and surroundings where the JTF showed to the world the slaughter slabs, the mass graves of victims of Boko Haram. That raid was carried out in partnership with the youths whose only weapons were sticks and cutlasses. The president described them as the heroes of Nigeria. The irony of the situation is that a man with just a stick or a staff would be

running after a man with AK 47, overtake him and subdue him. To the people of Maiduguri, it is a miracle, it is divine intervention.

Some people have been calling on government to honour these youths and their leaders. Do you share that view?

I have received messages to that effect. Some people from Maiduguri even came to  my place in Abuja with a letter recommending some of the youth leaders for national honours awards.

I believe that, as their representative, as a responsible member of the National  Assembly, if there is any person in the year 2013 that deserves national honour, it should be the leadership of these youth because that will go a long way to showing example to other youths of this generation and the future that no sacrifice will go unrewarded in Nigeria.

The president also gave out about 500,000 bags of 50kg of assorted grains to be shared to the displaced people of the three states. Yobe, got about 100, 000, Adamawa also got about 100 ,000. This is what I call the humane face of the state of emergency. I am part of the committee that sat down to draw the modality of sharing the grains in line with the president’s directive that it should reach every community and almost every household in Borno in the holy month of Ramadan. And no government assistance has ever come their way before. So Mr. President has started implementing the three Rs of reconstruction, rehabilitation and re-engineering our socio-economic life in Borno.

You represent in the House of Representatives the centrestage of the Boko Haram sect violence. Since the declaration of state of emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan in May, can you tell us how far the implementation has gone based on the information you get from your constituency?

The state of emergency has not only been effective, it is also some kind of divine intervention to restore peace that has eluded the people of Maiduguri for the past three to four years. We give a lot of credit to whom credit is due and in this case, the President, for refusing to play to the gallery at a time where everybody was talking about amnesty and dialogue. Of course, most of us spoke about dialogue but people like me were not talking about amnesty, we Kaka Kyari Gujbawu, a

member of the Green Chamber representing Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), Borno State, under the aegis of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview, speaks on the state of emergency imposed on Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, describing it as a blessing.

But many have argued that the declaration of emergency was belated as it ought to have been declared long before.

No. The so-called many still were angry at the President for proclaiming amnesty for Boko Haram. Amnesty and state of emergency hardly go together although Mr President said both would be explored, that it will be a multi-tracked approach. The Turaki committee came out to tell us that, they had some kind of understanding with the Boko Haram group on the amnesty issue and the rest. The same Maiduguri youths at the receiving end of this crisis came out and gathered at the Ramat Square, the largest square in Maiduguri, and said no to amnesty for these people. Now the so-called many that said it was belated said Mr President should proclaim amnesty. This is a contradiction.

So, why are you against amnesty? Why did the youths come out to protest against amnesty for Boko Haram?

Even Boko Haram insurgents themselves said they don’t want amnesty. If they don’t want amnesty, why should you them? Giving amnesty and accepting it is a two-way affair.