Who is Stephen Davis? The government should address the serious allegations
Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davies, who alleged that he was engaged by President Goodluck Jonathan to dialogue with Boko Haram for the release of the abducted Chibok school girls recently mentioned some highly placed Nigerians as sponsors of the Islamic militant sect. In a series of interviews both in his homeland and with some international networks in London, Davis has specifically accused the former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, and immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika (rtd) of funding Boko Haram. An unnamed former top official of the Central Bank of Nigeria has also been fingered by him as providing funds and other logistics for the sect.
Quite naturally, the allegations by Davis have excited many Nigerians while the people he accused of duplicity have been defending themselves and making counter-allegations. Who really is Davis? “It was at Shell in the mid 2000s that he began peace negotiations with rebels in the Niger Delta. He then served as an advisor to two Nigerian presidents, developing links with terror cells as he negotiated on behalf of the government”, the widely-read Australian daily, The Sydney Morning Herald said of him.
Before we go into the allegations Davis raised, there are some pertinent questions that beg for answers. One, the claims by Davis who obviously knows how to work the media were based largely on what he said some Boko Haram commanders told him. The question arising from that is: Why would Boko Haram leaders tell someone negotiating with them on behalf of the government the names of their sponsors? There is also the issue of motive. Davis has been granting several interviews that border on an orchestrated campaign to achieve an objective. Why would the negotiator for federal government be all over the place?
We ask those questions because of the timing of his intervention, the slant of his narratives and the implications for the ongoing war on terror. It also should not escape the attention of Nigerians that at a political season like this, nothing should be taken at face value. Besides, at a time Boko Haram insurgents are fighting for the control of some major towns in Borno and Yobe states, and when hundreds of thousands of our citizens are being displaced, the last thing we need is a distraction that could take the attention of Nigerians from the real challenge that the insurgency poses to our national survival.
Notwithstanding our misgivings, Davis has made some serious allegations that need to be fully addressed and the situation is not helped by the fact that officials of the federal government who are ever quick to jump into the fray on matters like this have suddenly lost their voices. Of course both Sheriff and Ihejirika have dismissed his claims but they are really not the issue, it is the government that allegedly hired Davis that needs to come clean on several issues.
For instance, without being categorical, Davis has hinted that the federal government may have given up on the idea of rescuing the Chibok girls who have been in captivity for almost 150 days now. His account of a bungled effort does not depict any sign of seriousness on the part of the federal government and Nigerians would need reassurance that concerted efforts are indeed being made to rescue the girls. Again, the allegations against some prominent Nigerians, including an official of CBN, need to be probed. Beyond all these, there is need for clarification on what exactly Davis role is/was. More than at any period in our history, Nigerians need to be reassured that their government is working for them, and that notwithstanding the cold calculations for the 2015 general elections, concerted efforts are still being made to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
