By SALEH MARI MAINA

Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima is not exactly a happy man. He cannot but be sad considering the seemingly endless orgy of violence that has continued to ravage the state orchestrated by a gang of blood thirsty hoodlums, who, masquerading as a Muslim militant group have unleashed a murderous campaign in the name of seeking to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.

Of course, the people of Borno have not been left alone to heal their wounds or bury their dead beloved ones. Messages of sympathy and understanding have been powering from all parts of the world, including the United Nations, to the government and people of Borno state. All men of goodwill have stood by the people of Borno in its hour of need and have been contributing in one way or the other towards finding a lasting solution of the state of insecurity in Borno. The Military, Police, SSS and the Civilian-JTF have sacrificed their lives for Borno.

The conduct and disposition of former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff as it relates to the crisis facing the state has not only left much to be desired but is capable of undermining the gains so far made to restore normalcy in the embattled state.
As the ex-Governor under whose rule the Boko Haram crisis started and who even appointed one of the Boko Haram chieftains into his cabinet one expects him to be part of the efforts to identify the brains behind the murderous gang or at least be a factor in the search for solution to the crisis. The truth is that Borno and indeed the nation is paying dearly for Sheriff’s wrongs.

By his body language, Ali Modu Sheriff is telling all that care to listen to him that Borno State could continue to burn for all he cares as long as his political ambitions are not achieved. This is rather most unfortunate.
Recently ex-Governor Sheriff came up with the apparently ill conceived idea of addressing what he called a world press conference in Maiduguri. The objective of the press conference according to sources close to the ex-Borno strongman, is to re-launch himself into the state’s political scene in the pursuit of his obsession of staging a come back into the Nigerian Senate.

For the avoidance of any doubt, no one begrudges ex-governor Sheriff’s bid to regain political relevance despite the controversies surrounding him. This may be necessary considering the seeming fall of ex-governor Sheriff’s popularity in Borno politics due to issues not unrelated to the Boko Haram saga in the state. It may be recalled that after the arrest of Borno State All Nigeria Peoples Party chairman and attack on the ex-Governor’s house by the civilian JTF in Maiduguri some months ago, Sheriff appears to have gone underground in the face of what is obviously a severe blow to his political image.

We had expected that Sheriff would remain underground, at least for now, given the precarious security situation in Borno which calls for putting all hands on deck in order to save the state from total destruction. The least expected of Sheriff is to come up with any idea of a press conference or a rally which could rock the fragile peace now prevailing in the state.

The Governor naturally raised fears that the proposed world press conference by Sheriff would undermine the relative peace prevailing in the city. At the end of the day, sources close to the Maiduguri Government suggest, it took a visit to Abuja by top JTF operatives in Borno to stop Sheriff’s plan to hold the press conference. This did not go down well with the ex-Governor who immediately summoned Governor Kashim to Abuja and gave him a dress down. His grouse with Governor Shettima is that his role in the saga was responsible for preventing the fulfilment of his ambitions, which Sheriff considers as an act of conspiracy against him. For now, the world press conference is put on hold but, according to sources close to the ex-Governor, he (Sheriff) is mounting pressure to be allowed to hold the political rally after the sallah.

Ex-governor Sheriff’s conduct raises a number of questions. Firstly, what are the ex-governor’s real motives’s behind holding a press conference/political rally in Maiduguri at this particular time? Are these motives inclusive of the desirability for peace in Maiduguri which is the most prized commodity for now? Is Sheriff worried about the implications of his actions in Maiduguri, which is just regaining its lost glory as the home of peace?
Maina wrote in from Abuja