Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
said on Monday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, that the resort to do-or-die politics by some politicians is fuelling the rage of terrorism in the country, as he declared that politicians needed to return to politics without bitterness as practised by the late Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.
The president, who stated this while declaring open the 2012 Senate Retreat in Uyo, said that politics of bitterness had become a source for the rising wave of terrorism. He said that the Federal Government needed the cooperation of the Senate and the House of Representatives to tackle the menace.
According to the president, different causes had been adduced for the rising wave of terrorism but that government had come to the conclusion that stronger laws needed to be put in place to tackle the menace. He attributed the emergence and upsurge of terrorist activities in the country to some "do- or-die politicians."
"Whatever the causes of the crisis, the solution lies in stronger laws, fear of God, transparency and accountability," he said.
The president further stated: "I tell all Nigerians that if God did not will it, we will not be a country today. Our unity is our strength. Those who want to weaken us through the axis of hate are perpetuating the crisis."At the retreat with the theme, "The National Assembly and National Security: Securing the Future for Development," Jonathan observed that unguarded remarks and statements by 'do-or-die' politicians had led to destruction of several lives and properties in the northern part of the country. He warned that such politicians must stop fanning the embers of ethnicity and religious extremism.
The president, who sought the cooperation of the National Assembly in tackling terrorism, said that the laws needed to be reviewed. According to him, the lawyers would say that it was right for nine criminals to go scot-free than for a just man to be punished, but according to him, such laws were creating problems for security agencies, adding that "our laws need to be reviewed."
The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, while speaking at the retreat warned the North to be wary of those promoting religious fundamentalism and ideology, adding that the activities of the Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
sect were capable of breaking up Nigeria.
He declared that the rising wave of kabooms in the North was due largely to "religious fundamentalism and ideology."
According to him, the ominous silence of the northern elders was also bad for the polity.
"If the elders in the North cannot speak out and stop this menace, let them tell us. Let them come out and say so boldly, because the belief out there is that some elders know about these people and decide to keep quiet. If care is not taken, the way things are going, if the Boko Haram menace is not halted, it can lead to break-up of Nigeria, because there is an extent to which the people can take it."
He said that Christians should refrain from engaging in retaliation, because vengeance belongs to God.
Mark stated, however, that that it was becoming increasingly difficult for Christian religious leaders to hold their followers from seeking vengeance because churches were being destroyed on a weekly basis.
"If a preacher wants to preach to his followers that they should not seek vengeance, by the time his church is destroyed where will he stay to preach non-violence?" Mark said.