Anti-Terrorism War: There should be less noise, more engagement — Ex-SGF tells FG
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By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
The immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, on Thursday, weighed in on the federal government’s efforts to tackle insecurity in the country, warning that there should be less noise and more engagement.
Mustapha, who served in the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, maintained that the prevailing situation required a high level of diplomacy, saying, “We must evolve our indigenous ways of solving our crime.”
He spoke to journalists in Abuja shortly after the Nigerian Law School, NLS, Class of 1980, unveiled activities it had lined up for the commemoration of its 45th Anniversary and Reunion.
The former SGF recalled that steps the administration of late ex-President Buhari took to ensure that the country was delisted as a Country of Particular Concern, CPC, in 2021.
According to him, “with diplomatic backdoor shuttles, with empirical explanations and statistics, we will overcome these challenges.”
He said: “This is not the first time. We have been declared a Country of Particular Concern in 2020.
“It was the same Trump that put us there, but without the drama that this one followed. There was no tweet.
“It was just at the level of a policy decision, and I remember then that we engaged. We dispatched a team of technocrats to Washington.
“We applied soft diplomacy in terms of reaching out to friends within the global diplomatic community, and we leveraged the advantage of the stature of President Buhari then, to talk.
“A lot of things happen in the diplomatic climate, behind the doors. It is not for the media.
“Eventually, we got Biden in 2021 to delist us. I expect that that is what is ongoing now, and I believe that there should be less noise and more engagement.
“President Buhari will always remind me that America has a big stick, and if they hit your head with it, the headache will never disappear.
“In his lighter mood, he would always remind me that caution in dealing with superpowers is important.
“Constant engagement, political backend engagements, and leveraging friendships globally are equally important for the resolution of the issues now. We will resolve it.
“Nigeria is a great country. We are 230million people. If anything happens to this country, if we explode and just walk across West Africa, we will eat up all the food, and there will be starvation. People will die of starvation due to our sheer number.
“So, even globally, the world is not interested in the breakup of Nigeria. I can tell you that. Because they know the enormity of the problems that will overflood Africa, not just West Africa.
“Right now, our people have travelled to different areas of different countries. Even the migration issue affecting us has become a matter of concern for those nations, not to mention the 230 million people scattered all over the world.
“So I believe that with engagement, with diplomatic backdoor shuttles, with empirical explanations and statistics, we will overcome these challenges,” the former SGF added.
He stressed that what is happening in the country reflects a global crisis, saying, “There must be a new renaissance of the Nigerian people to go back to our old ways.”
“Our common values, our family values, have totally been eroded. Humanity has literally jumped out of the window. That affects the essence of life. And I believe that all Nigerians have a responsibility to restore what we used to be.
“It is not only left to the government. I know the limitations of government. The people themselves must awake from their slumber and begin to do things differently.
“We must be our brother’s keepers. We must care for human love. If we do not return to those old days and ways, we will continue to drift. As I said, it’s a global phenomenon.
“Everywhere you go, there are crises. But countries have evolved means of solving their own crisis.
“We must evolve our indigenous ways of solving our crime. Some of them are afflicted by climate change and other factors, including economic downturns.
“So there is intense pressure on the lives of our people. But the decision must be made consciously by the people themselves. We live in the midst of our diversity, our differences together.
“We should be able to hold this nation and lift it from where it is now. That is what I see for the future,” he added.
Meanwhile, as part of activities lined up for its anniversary, the NLS, Class of 1980 said it secured the release of eight inmates from the Nigerian Correctional Service, Keffi, and also embarked on physical projects that included a donation to the Nigerian Law School (Port Harcourt Campus), installation of a solar-powered borehole, as well as provision of 30KVA alternate power supply to the Medical Centre.
Among eminent personalities produced by the class are; a serving Justice of the Supreme Court; 10 Justices of the Court of Appeal that include the current President of the Court of Appeal; several Cabinet Members; eminent Judges and Chief Judges of various High Courts; about 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria; former Deputy Governors and Senators; as well as Royal Fathers that include HRM the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, SAN, who is the class President.
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