Boko Haram: ‘FG not opposed to dialogue’

THE Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Olusola Obada said on Tuesday that the Federal Government has not ruled out dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, provided the members are ready to come out from their hiding places.
The minister, who made the disclosure while welcoming the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Chris Cooter and the Canadian military attaché, Colonel J.G Savard in her office, asked the Canadan government to assist in taming the menace of the terrorists in the country even as she warned terrorists in the northern part of Mali to embrace dialogue or face the wrath of ECOMOG Force.
She  explained that as much as the government is ready and willing to use dialogue to restore peace to the part of the North where the sect is unleashing mayhem, the leadership of the Boko Haram sect has not helped matters by staying underground.
“For our local problem, we even believe that some of the elements over there in Mali are having an influence here. We shall be happy if you can assist in training troops. We are hoping that all these things will become a thing of the past. As much as we aspire to bring things under control or eradicate them, we also believe that if these people are known, there is nothing stopping us from dialoguing with them. But for now, we don’t know them but you can be assured that the president and the government are not averse to bringing peace to the country through dialogue. So we are not closing that option,” she asked.
Obada said Nigeria is a united country that will remain one, irrespective of the security challenges facing her. She said the goal of the government is to restore peace into the areas where the sect is attacking as soon as possible.
On the Mali problem, the minister disclosed that both President Goodluck Jonathan and his Burkinabe counterpart are the mediators in  the crises and once it becomes expressly clear that the dialogue has failed, the ECOMOG Force would storm the northern part of Mali with a view to flushing the terrorists out once and for all.
The Canadian  High Commissioner had in his speech  recalled the bilateral commission between Canada and Nigeria and said of later, both countries have seen the need to take it to a higher level covering areas like security. He said it was because of the importance attached to Nigeria on the continent that is making Canada see the need to work with the country on problems in the sub-region and in the whole of Africa.
“We have taken note of your great role in West Africa and in Africa, particularly your role in working with ECOWAS, African Union, and the International community to restore constitutional order and democracy in Mali. We had the same co-operation with you in Sudan. Our visit today is to exploit how we would be able to assist and expand cooperation with the ministry (of Defence).”

Tribune