THE MAKING OF A NATION

"If a government does not wish to take care of its poor for humane reasons, it might wish to do so for the pragmatic purpose of lowering crime rates... Poverty, in defiance of principle, begets a degree of meanness that will stoop to almost anything... He who never was a hungered may argue finely on the subjection of his appetite; and he who never was distressed may harangue as beautifully on the power of principle. But poverty, like grief, has an incurable deafness, which never hears; the oration loses all its edge; and 'To be or not to be' becomes the only question." – Thomas Paine. How about that?

When Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State said Boko Haram was better armed and more motivated than the federal troops, he quickly became a target of attack. What they heard was an attack on the state, an attack on the PDP, so instead of listening to the appeals of a man who daily sees his charges slaughtered with their homes destroyed -- a situation that he is overwhelmed by – they are blinded by ego and arrogance. That is the only explanation that can be given for the president to respond, “If I remove my army from there, I will see for how long he will last!” 

Almost as an immediate response, Shettima’s statement was confirmed. The killing of schoolchildren in the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State by Boko Haram insurgents was brutal, and it cast a chill over the state of our nation. At the last count, 49 beings had been killed; children, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts. This is war and everyday since then we have had killings and reports of atrocities being perpetuated by Boko Haram. Where is our protection? Is it so easy for a foreign body to invade and be so evil?

I too must ask what is the Nigerian government doing? We hear daily of villages being sacked by gun totting renegades in 20 strong convoys of 4x4 vehicles, with missiles, screaming and firing in the air with abandon, announcing their arrival as they approach defenceless communities and massacre the men, whilst they make away with the women and children. Are we in the 21st century? Where are our policemen, our protection? We hear that they stay in situ for 4 - 6 hours and there was no exchange of fire from our army; they have all the time in the world to destroy and all this during a state of emergency?

Where is the emergency? Where are our troops? Why do they only appear to clean up the mess and bury the dead? What has happened to their intelligence? Where do these people come from? Where do they buy these vehicles? Where do they get petrol? Where do they buy the arms? Where do they live? Why were they not engaged?

Where we have terrorism elsewhere, we are familiar with the tactics that are used: suicide bombers, IEDs or ambush. But what we see here, even in a state of emergency, are militia roaming free. We cannot even claim difficulty because of mountainous terrain and yet we cannot fish them out.

This is a failure of the state to protect life and property. They have failed. We are in a situation where we are more scared of the BH militia than we have belief in the army protecting us. There is no trust anymore, so even if we know or suspect any rebels, we will be too afraid to report. We are afraid and this is fuel for Boko Haram.

In Abuja we were having our centenary celebrations, whilst insurgents continued their massacre, this time in Michika, Gulak, Shuwa and Krichinga communities of Adamawa State. Armed with rocket-propelled grenades, the attackers maimed, looted and destroyed these communities for six hours. There was no exchange of fire!

We should not get used to this impunity.  40 students were killed last year in Mubi. I said then that Mubi should not go unravelled. I quote: “It is particularly true that justice breeds peace, and in environments where justice prevails, would-be criminals have been known to backtrack for fear of being brought to justice. Justice also prevents copycat attacks, sometimes deliberately perpetrated to validate a wrong premise.”

We are losing this war. Our generals need to re strategize, make sure that morale is boosted amongst the troops. We need to win the propaganda war, honour our dead and show our triumphs; make big news of arrested militia and justice being dispensed. Instil trust and confidence back into the communities and spread our tentacles. Communities do not stand and cheer when the Nigerian army approaches because fear is the only constant companion. We must not bicker but unite and defeat this enemy.