PLAYING WITH FIRE

Now that the government has woken up to the realization that we are at war with insurgents, secessionists troubling the north east, the next step is to understand that the hypocrisy and propaganda of war are as crucial to victory as the war itself. The enemy itself has been using lethal tactics, including mind games, to wreak havoc on innocent Nigerians. The insurgents have deployed psychological propaganda to more effective use than the Nigerian government.  They post video montages on YouTube! They seem more techie than our army. The side which better controls the instrument of propaganda off the field of battle often wins the battle proper. To keep our troops motivated and focused, and to make the Nigerian people trust and believe in their leaders, we must be seen to be winning.        

Segun Adeniyi was right in his recent article when he said, “… There is little or no appreciation of the fact that efforts to defeat Boko Haram can never succeed without a deft information management strategy that would require the collaboration and support of critical stakeholders in that sector… Is there a media strategy for the Boko Haram area of operation by way of a sympathetic radio station that could be deployed for propaganda? Do our military/security chiefs understand the critical role the media can play in this war that is fought both on the battlefield and in the minds of people?”

The other day our president offered the insurgents amnesty, they sarcastically rejected it, stating that it was the Nigerian state that should seek amnesty from them. How did the state respond to this mind game? To them, it was a morale-boosting jibe; who are these people? It is not enough for the military high command to say, every now and then, that the JTF killed 40 or 50 insurgents in gun battle. The trial and life sentence of British duo, Adebolajo and Adebowale, who killed a soldier in London, were a spectacle of justice.  The frenzied media buzz that trailed the capture of last year’s Boston bombers was a spectacle of justice. They need to understand that no matter what, we will go after them, flush them out and ensure that they are punished. Killing them is not the answer, we should show them where we are better than them, by granting them those same rights which they are trying to take away, and use our counter-terrorism apparatus to extract information, know our enemy and rehabilitate them.

If in some quarters the belief is that the insurgents are better armed and motivated, it is because of the results that we see and hear about – over 300 innocent lives taken in less than one week!  But we don’t get to hear and see our troops marching on the enemy. We don’t see live engagement and counter-attacks. We don’t see routed insurgents subdued and shamefully grilled. We don’t hear of them convicted by our law courts or specially formulated tribunals to deal expeditiously with this. Perhaps these institutions exist but we do not know about them. The merits or otherwise of the Afghan war are there for all to see. These aspects of the war strategy we have left unexplored and that is certainly a failing on our part.

The danger in not making a spectacle of justice served is that it doesn’t allow the citizens to have confidence in the system or measure the progress made. It is for this same reason that the government is not trusted. It is described as impunity or corruption. Any people who doubt the ability of their government to secure and control an equitable society will take the law into their own hands and in doing so will exercise the most dangerous ruthless evil imaginable. The attack on the Enugu State Government House by the Biafra Zionist Movement is a new copycat example. The secessionists stormed the government house and have given us till the 31st of March to vacate Biafra! One year after the Tsarnaev brothers disrupted the Boston marathon, Americans returned, knowing that justice has prevailed and the evil quelled. Wannabe perpetrators live with the realization that a whole city could be on lock down in search of just one criminal until he is brought to justice.

We should not play with fire. Listening to silly words coming from Doyin Okupe or Labaran Maku or hearing rumors of the new Minister of Defense threatening to resign because there is no structure does not give us confidence. It is imperative that our teams of dedicated law enforcement agencies communicate and give us the security that we need. Good governance and equity will go a long way in facilitating this. We need to work smart. Our future depends on it.