Boko Haram: North’s Inhumanity to
North
By Jude Ndukwe
The recent revelation by the
military that “some prominent individuals and political groups who hail from
Borno State in particular and the North East generally” are employing marabouts
and other unethical means to reverse the gains made so far in the fight against
insurgency is not only worrisome but also a confirmation of what many Nigerians
already know about the whole saga of Boko Haram being nothing but a fraud
perpetuated by a wicked cabal who turn brothers against brothers for the
singular and selfish purpose of feathering their own nests while the crisis
last.
Indeed, there is nothing new in
what the military has revealed. Events of the past have always pointed to the
fraud that the insurgency is. From Borno to Adamawa to Yobe, northern elders
are yet to tell Nigerians the truth about how they have been conspiring with
Boko Haram while frustrating the efforts of the military over time.
Initially, discerning Nigerians
had thought that the only reason some of these heartless northern elders had
embarked on this wicked mission was to use it as a political tool to discredit
the government of former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, make him look weak
and incapable of reining in the terrorists so that the end result would be his
defeat at the polls, but with this recent outcry from the military, it is now
clearer that the intention of these prominent individuals and political groups
from the North East is beyond political calculations, it is also for filthy
lucre!
With the vigorous but futile and
spurious attempt by the same military to try and “clarify” its earlier
statement on this issue, it is obvious that these same elders have held the
current crop of military leaders by the jugular. Unfortunately, rather than try
to clarify its statement, the military ended up strengthening its earlier
lamentation and worsened the situation. It is becoming more frightening that with the way things are
going, our military will soon be totally emasculated and surrender to the
seeming superior firepower of the Borno and North East elders. For the army to
have balked at the barking of the Borno Elders Leaders of Thought (BELT) sends a
dangerous signal in the fight against terrorism.
There are many questions to ask.
Who are those who make up the BELT? Why are they so concerned about the earlier
statement of the military indicting some elders in the North East? If they are
not involved in sabotaging the efforts of the military against the terrorists,
why did they rush to stampede the military in “clarifying” its statement? Are they the only elders in Borno or the North
East? Are some people afraid of having the searchlight beamed on them, getting
them exposed and arrested for aiding and abetting terrorism for their own selfish
gains? How connected are these people to the highest authorities of the land
that even our military seem to be cowed just by their sneezing? What political party are these political
groups working for? Why would the military not arrest such persons or groups
which it claimed it was aware of their sabotage rather than issue a lame statement
that would soon be “clarified”? Many
questions begging for plausible answers!
It is now clearer why these same
northern elements launched a vigorous, relentless, expensive and expansive but fruitless
campaign against former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, under
whom the Boko Haram terrorists had their ever worst nightmare till date. One
had wondered why anyone, particularly the northern elders, would want to so
castigate a man who gave the terrorists a run for their money. One had thought
such organized brutish attack against Ihejirika was borne just out of nepotism
and tribalism, but with this latest saga, it has become more obvious that it
extends to profiteering from the barbaric commercialization of sheer wickedness
that has led to the avoidable and needless spilling of the blood of the
innocent, harmless and helpless members of our society! Rather than warn and
give these vampires, whether their forum is consultative or elderly, the
opportunity to reverse the gains of the military, Ihejirika, in a no nonsense
manner, went after them, smoked them out from their hiding places and got them
scattered and scampering for safety where there was none. The drivers of the
respective forums in the north east became highly disenchanted and
disappointed. As we say in our local parlance, Lt Gen. Ihejirika was “bad
market” for them. He would deal with them before warning the remaining ones
rather than warn before threatening to deal with them and then clarify the
threat later as it is the case now!
This brings us to the issue of
terrorism and insurgency as a commercial venture incorporated with the sole aim
of defrauding Nigeria politically, financially and otherwise. This also reminds us that the issue of the
Chibok girls and other related issues might just be a scam after all.
Finally, what would anyone gain
by subjecting a whole region in our nation to the barbaric and spineless
killings of people mostly women and children even in places of worship? Rather
than blame others for their woes, the north should do a soul searching and find
out why it has become its own worst enemy. Why is it the most backward region
in Nigeria? Why, in spite of its long hold on to power for so long in the
history of our nation, they still have the highest number of illiterates, diseased
and poor? And upon that, they have inflicted upon themselves this misery called
Boko Haram to finish off the little or nothing they already have? Why? Until
the north flushes out the dubious “prominent individuals and political groups”
among them responsible for its unchecked descent into abyss, north’s inhumanity
to north will totally obliterate that region! God forbid!
Jude Ndukwe, Abuja
Twitter: @stjudendukwe
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