Noting that the deployment of the military in Sambisa forest to completely wipe out the terrorists was a good idea, but not the final panacea, he asked: “What do you do after wiping out Boko Haram today?”
The monarch spoke on Wednesday through a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) and the Katakan of Kano and District Head of Albasu, Alhaji Bashir Albasu, at an international security workshop in Abuja.
According to him, “Look at what happened about 30 years ago when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was in power.
We had the Maitasine sect in Kano which claimed over 10,000 lives. The military was used to quell the sect, no sooner than that, another sect emerged and today we are battling Boko Haram.
“This means that we just allow the tree to grow and we go and cut the branches without uprooting the roots, which also means that the tree will still grow again.
“Terrorism does not start from the air as there must be a breeding ground which is ignorance, poverty, corruption and injustice.
“If government is fighting on the field like in Sambisa forest, it also must fight these root causes from the background and there must be a purposeful programme to tackle corruption which I know the present administration is doing, but it must also tackle ignorance, injustice and poverty.
“And if this is done when a child is growing, he is sure of his future, his job, and that he can get anywhere within his rights; and I still maintain that unless this is done we will take time to stamp our insurgency completely,” he said.
Sanusi however commended the Muhammadu Buhari administration for its political will in confronting Boko Haram, but reiterated that the government must make sure that it addresses corruption, injustice and poverty that fuel terrorism and as well rehabilitate the devastated towns so that displaced persons could live a meaningful life and peacefully again.
“If these people are not properly rehabilitated, you are also breeding another terrorist organisation in the future,” he said.
The emir expressed concern that government was also not making progress at enhancing collaboration between the security agencies, adding that the police are the security agency seen and known by everybody, but the Department of State Service (DSS) is the undercover security agency, and so both must complement the job of the military.
He added that the recent conflicting news on the arrest of suspects involved in the kidnapping of Chief Olu Falae and the murder of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s aide showed that the security agencies were working at cross-purposes and without synergy.
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