Threatened by the growing wave of Boko Haram attacks in northern Nigeria and the refusal of super power, United States of America, to sell lethal weapons to the Nigerian military in recent times, members of StandupforNigeria Youth Initiative, a youth movement based in Abuja, recently appealed to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Britain’s David Cameron, as well as members of the British Parliament, in a letter, over the escalating attacks by insurgents and the need for the key members of the United Nations Security Council to help Nigeria defeat terrorism.
Moved by the recent suicide bomb blast that killed scores of teenage students of the Government Technical Science School, Potiskum, Yobe State, the group pointed out the need to draw the attention of Russian and British leaders to the sufferings in Nigeria, as a result of the incessant attacks of the Boko Haram group.
According to the letters submitted at the Embassy of the Russian Federation and the British High Commission in Abuja, the two permanent members of the UNSC must act in support of the Nigerian government to curtail the menace of terrorism before it blows out of proportion.
While speaking to journalists in Abuja on the group’s reasons for writing to the world leaders, Executive Secretary, StandupforNigeria, Adeyemi Moyegun, said the group cannot bear to see people cynically bashing Nigeria at the time of its greatest need.
“We affirm our pride in our glorious and beautiful country and resolve to do all we can to save it from the peril it faces and [help it] realise its true potential”.
In the letter to President Putin, the group said since Nigeria and the Russian Federation have enjoyed a strategic relationship for several years, it was only natural that the nation turned to it friends to join in standing up for Nigeria.
The letter read in part: “As you know, our country is the largest democracy in Africa and is developing fast, with the potential to be the economic powerhouse of our continent. Nigeria’s bright future is currently threatened by a terrorist insurgency in the North East of our country. It is being waged by Jamā’a Ahl al-sunnah li-da’wa wa al-jihād, popularly known as Boko Haram, which is linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS).
“We are grateful that your government agreed last month to assist our country’s security forces in terms of logistics and equipment to win the war against Boko Haram and we know that our government is now looking to Russia for the arms we need to defeat the insurgency,” the letter said.
Drawing from recent comments of the Russian envoy to Nigeria, Nikolay Udovichenko, who continually emphasised Russia’s readiness to expand bilateral relations with Nigeria in different fields, including security, trade, scientific, cultural and education spheres, the youths reminded Putin that bilateral relations cannot work for both nations if the youths of Nigeria are constantly under siege.
“We are concerned that the international community more generally appears to be neglecting our plight. Seventy per cent of the entire population of Nigeria is below the age of thirty five; that is over one hundred and twenty million (120,000,000) young Nigerians facing the immediate, medium and long-term consequences of the insurgency. If urgent action is not taken, the fall-out could be a security threat to the whole world for generations to come.
It also reminded Putin that, just as the Islamic State (IS) has declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram has declared a caliphate in Gwoza, Nigeria. It said that the objectives and modus operandi of waging war by both groups were identical.
“The gruesome beheading of Westerners and others in Iraq and Syria has been a fate shared by many in the North East of Nigeria and, seemingly, unnoticed by the world.” The letter also reiterated that kidnappings are endemic in Nigeria as well as in the Middle East. “The template is the same; the threat is the same,”it said.
It stated further that young Nigerians have become particular targets of the Boko Haram’s jihad. “Those of us writing to you are the lucky ones! Several of our brothers and sisters were slaughtered while asleep in their dormitories at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe State. More than 20,000 other Nigerians have lost their lives, many of them also members of our generation. But while the world’s attention has moved on, more than 200 girls are still missing and there have been further kidnappings since. We still need your help,” the group appealed.
In the letter to the British Prime Minister and Members of Parliament (MPs), StandupforNigeria Youth Initiative passionately appealed to the British leaders to see the reality of the great sufferings and death in Nigeria as a result of the actions of the Boko Haram.
It reminded the British parliament that the crisis had created a spectrum of humanitarian crisis in Nigeria, with more than 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPS).
“We are deeply troubled by the risks to their security and economic livelihoods, as well as the implications of food security. The concerns shown by the powerful nations have not led to assistance for those displaced persons,” it pointed out.
The youths further appealed to the British politicians to stand up for Nigeria, because “we share a common humanity that transcends national boundaries”. According to them, Nigeria had committed more troops to international peace-keeping missions across the world than any other nation.
“Shall we remind the world of our role in Liberia, our gallant army in Sierra Leone, Bosnia Herzegovina and Lebanon? We were there. Never shall we forget our singular effort and commitment to the African National Congress (ANC) while it was tagged a “terrorist organisation” by the international community. We provided all the necessary support, financial, military, moral and economic. Now, we ask; doesn’t one good turn deserve another?”
The appeals to the two powerful leaders was a follow-up to an earlier letter written to the United States president, Barrack Obama recently on the need for his country to support the efforts of the Nigerian government in winning the war against terrorism in Nigeria.
Whether President Putin and the British Prime Minister will response to the appeal of the youths remains to be seen in the future, as the war against Boko Haram rages on while the dead continue to pile up and the victims continue to languish in pain.
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