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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Rev. Fr Atta Barkindo is the Executive Director, of The Kukah Centre, Abuja. He is also the Head of the Secretariat of the National Peace Committee. A Ph.D. holder from the University of London, he wrote his dissertation on Boko Haram and Terrorism. Although a Christian by faith, he also studied Arabic Language and Islam. In this interview, he spoke on how the government can defeat the bandits and terrorists in the seemingly intractable battle going on between the state and non-state actors. He also believes that vote-buying may be difficult to eradicate from our polity and he stated why.
Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?
I come from a tiny sleepy village called Sugu, in Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State. This is located in Southern Adamawa, under the Atlantika Mountains. I am Chamba by tribe. I come from a family of 15 children. My parents have Muslim and African traditional religious backgrounds before they converted to Christianity. It is from this small, tiny village that was part of the German colony, and sitting at the border with Cameroon, that I left for Egypt in 2007 to study Arabic and Islam. I ended up in Italy, and then in England at the University of London for my Ph.D. I had the privilege to intern, consult and work briefly at the University of South Florida and the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore respectively. These experiences continue to support my work at the Kukah Centre and the National Peace Committee.
Are you a detribalised Nigerian? How can you prove this?
I am a staunch believer in the dignity of the human person. Everyone should be respected and treated equally because of the humanity we share. It is difficult to prove this by the things one achieves. Rather, it can be seen by the way I live with and treat others. Personally, I have tried to learn as many languages as I can. I am open constantly to learning about other religions, ideologies, histories and perspectives. After all, to defeat the devil, you need to know the devil.
You were educated in Egypt and Italy on Arabic, political Islam and inter-faith dialogue. What did you learn in the courses that are helping you in the job you are doing now at The Kukah Centre?
Interesting! I was selected by Bishop Christopher Abba of blessed memory to study Arabic and Islamic Studies. The courses were meant to help me understand the socio-cultural and political underpinnings of Islamic societies in order to support the Catholic Diocese of Yola and improve strategies for interfaith dialogue and engagement with our Muslim brothers. For the first year, I studied Arabic grammar and its philosophy and this remains the best year of my studies overseas. I understood how much Islam as a religion is embedded in the philosophy of Arabic as a language. It remains one of the most fascinating languages you will ever come across. In Egypt, I was able to conduct Catholic Masses on Sundays in Arabic and speak to the congregation in Arabic. When I came to Italy, 80 per cent of our lectures were in Arabic. My courses were in political Islam, terrorism and inter-faith dialogue. This was a massive opportunity and it helped me understand the historical relationship between the West and Muslim-majority countries, between Western civilisation and Islamic civilisation. I was able to proceed to the University of London to complete my Ph.D. in Terrorism and Political Violence in the Sahel. The experience I got, the contacts and the networks I established were of tremendous assistance when I was made the Director of The Kukah Centre and eventually the Head of the Secretariat for the National Peace Committee. I still see this as a privilege to serve Nigeria and the Catholic Church which I do not take for granted.
Your Ph.D. research was on the “History, Memory and Resistance in Northern Nigeria: The Transformation of Boko Haram.” Talking about the synergy between gown and town, what did you find out that can help us to fight the group or similar groups like ISWAP successfully?
Since the advent of the Boko Haram conflict, both local and international consultants, scholars and analysts have interrogated the issues linked to the emergence, nature, texture and dynamics of the conflict. The analyses have been linked to issues of religion, poverty, marginalisation and exclusion. Sadly, some are based on hearsay. My research was based on collecting sermons, news reports, social media engagements, books and articles written and published by Boko Haram and ISWAP so that from the very source, I can understand the mind and working of these terror groups. What I found was that in addition to the manipulation of religious texts, ideologies and teachings, Boko Haram equally exploits the history and memory of the relationship between the West and Islam, particularly the Kanem-Borno Empire to construct resistance against the western concept of state – democracy and constitutionalism – as currently practised in Nigeria. They retell this history in Arabic, Hausa and Kanuri, to a largely uncritical mass of young people and the result then is the mobilisation of disenfranchised and disgruntled young people who had been killed and maimed in the name of God and religion. The solution to this is that beyond the massive military deployment and offensive we have seen for so many years, there must be a concerted effort to redefine the place of religion in the Nigerian society. How much ground should be conceded to religion without oversight function by the government? Secondly, Nigeria must review its status as a secular state and reinforce this. This means that the way religion is taught must be based on balance and moderation.
From 2014 to 2016, you were a consultant to the European Union Technical Assistance on Nigeria’s evolving challenges. Have you also been consulted to provide solutions to Nigerian security in their fight against terrorists?
You can recall that the Nigerian government’s initial response to the conflict shows that offensive military approach became the first option rather than the last resort. However, in 2011, the government passed the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (Amended 2013) into law and established in 2015, the ‘soft approach’ to the conflict. The strategy was divided into three key elements: Counter-Radicalisation – which focuses on socio-economic projects to reduce radicalisation; De-radicalisation – which aims at reintegrating ex-combatants back into society through various interventions and Strategic Communication – which seeks to moderate views and produce counter-narratives, while promoting core national values. This eventually became the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism launched by President Buhari in August 2017. I became a consultant to support the de-radicalisation programme. In January 2015, there was a public launch of the de-radicalisation programme for Kuje Prison. The technical team consisted of a mixture of national and international experts. Kuje Prison was physically upgraded to provide the basic facilities needed to run a de-radicalisation programme. Existing personnel from within the NCS were trained and deployed to run the de-radicalisation programme. This included prison personnel who were imams and pastors; teachers; vocational instructors, art therapists, psychologists and medical personnel. As expert consultants, we designed a basic prison-based de-radicalisation model, providing training to NCS personnel, developing risk assessment and case management tools; and writing a detailed de-radicalisation programme guide and training manual. The adoption of this methodology enabled personnel to assess, identify needs, monitor progress and update the outcomes for those detained. The intended outcome was rehabilitation and final reintegration back into communities, especially for low-risk combatants. After the 2015 elections, the rest as they say became history. Hopefully, the new government that will emerge in 2023 will have an entirely new security strategy to deal with the issues.
What advice would you want to offer us in our fight against terrorism?
The fight against terrorism must be conducted in a way that is consistent and sustainable. All the indices for terrorism to fester in Nigeria are obvious for everyone to see. We must deal with structural issues of dispossession, unemployment and poverty. The government must end the culture of impunity where no one, not even the president’s son, is above the law. It is important that we review the Nigerian Constitution to project the secular status of the Nigerian state, promote common citizenship and project our obedience to a single constitution. There must be a template for inclusion, managing diversity and delivering immediate justice to victims of violence.
On public policy, the centre seeks to foster an informed and active electorate that recognises the urgent need to participate in shaping government policies. Isn’t this a tall order you’ve taken upon yourself given the divisive tendencies in our polity?
At the Kukah Centre, everything that is worth doing for the progress of Nigeria is never a tall order. Increasingly, public policy formulation is founded on sentiments and emotional attachment to primordial and sectional claims. Additionally, voices, perspectives and opinions of people affected by social and conflict issues hardly make it to the policy platform, and as Bishop Kukah always says, if you are not at the table, then you are the menu. The strategy of The Kukah Centre is at two levels: first, we conduct research and collect evidence. The evidence collected informs the strategic policy recommendations that we carry out. Secondly, most Nigerians may never have access to policymakers at the highest level of government. We work with our partners, contacts and networks at the grassroots to collect information and ensure that the voices of those most affected by the issues are brought to the attention of the government. The Kukah Centre is unique because it has the convening power to bring the voices of normal people to the attention of decision-makers.
Most of these electorate that you are talking about are in the rural areas and uneducated. How do you hope to achieve that?
As the saying goes, all politics is local. It is unfair to suggest that because people did not go to formal schools and may not be able to speak English, that they do not understand political processes. We provide training and sensitisation in the local languages. We deploy media, both mainstream and social media, to reach Nigerians in local communities. Currently, we are providing training for political participation and peaceful elections to women and youths respectively in all six geopolitical regions. We are also bringing women from the North and South to share experiences on political participation and to see how they can learn from each other. Some of the challenges likely to confront political participation are the spread of fake news, as well as vote-buying. Considering the structural issues in Nigeria and the increasing levels of poverty, it is difficult to completely wipe out vote-buying and also challenging to regulate social media. In this context, we are training political parties on strategies for mitigating fake news and limiting the hunger for trading in votes.
