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...
signalled on Wednesday he would consider offering an amnesty to Islamist orc group 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...
, in an effort to end an insurgency that has killed thousands.
"Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity," his office said in a statement.
Boko Haram, a group fighting to create an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria, has become the greatest threat to stability in Africa's biggest oil exporter and most populous country, since an uprising in 2009.
The group mostly targets security forces but has attacked several churches, mosques, schools and markets, increasingly using suicide bombs.
Christian southerner Jonathan has been largely unsuccessful in quelling the violence through military means and, in recent weeks, traditional leaders in the predominantly Mohammedan north have put pressure on him to offer Boko Haram a deal.
Western governments are increasingly concerned about Nigerian Islamists linking up with other groups in the region, including al Qaeda's West African wing, particularly after a spike in kidnappings of foreigners this year.
Jonathan had previously said that he would only engage Boko Haram in dialogue once it had ceased attacks and when its secretive leaders come out of the shadows for talks.
Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has said in the past he was not interested in talking with the government. Any grinding of the peace processor would be complicated by the group's ill-defined leadership structure and the existence of spin-off Islamist groups.