ABUJA, Nigeria, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has called for leaders of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram to make a list of demands to start a dialogue.
The president's remarks came nearly a week after the group bombed a police station in the northern city of Kano, killing 185 people, the BBC reported Friday.
Nigeria's Civil Rights Congress Shehu Sani said Jonathan should have initiated dialogue between the government and Boko Haram leaders at the beginning of his presidency.
"Boko Haram picked up arms when violence was used against them in 2009 and their leaders were killed in cold blood by security agencies," Sani said. "When [President] Goodluck Jonathan took up power it wasn't his problem -- all he had to do was to simply say: 'Here am I, a new person, and I have a different agenda and I am calling you to come and sit down and let's discuss this issue.'"
Sani said if a cease-fire agreement be reached, Boko Haram members are not likely to breach it.
"The command is usually given by their council and their spiritual head and for such an organisation that is structured that way, I believe that it is possible to also to sit down with them -- and once they agree to a cease-fire you will find it very difficult to see it being broken because they have a leadership structure," Sani said.
Some people think that Nigerian President "GoodLuck Johnathan" appears weak by trying to negotiate with Islamist extremist. However, it takes a strong will power and intellect to even consider a dialogue with the leaders of the Islamic Militant group "Boko Haram", seeing that hundreds of innocent Nigerian citizens were harmed due to the ideology of a religious group that has taken violence as a means of redress due to not being allowed a voice in governmental policies that do not agree with their religious ideology. I see no weakness in the President at all, the true test will be for "Boko Haram" are they man enough to come out of hiding and try to become part of the solution or will they keep on with this unnecessary violence and alienate them selves from the mainstream of society and appear as cowards. May the force of good be with the President of Nigeria as he try to create a peaceful resolution for the citizens of Nigeria. Because surely nothing good can come out of violence but violence, there are many ways to resolve conflicts that do not involve harming innocent people.
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