I agree that no insurgency can survive this long without local support. Having said that there are many things about BH that don't make sense. They are killing Muslims as well as Christians. They have , largely, been concentrated in the North East. Why would the people of the NE support their own annihilation? Before now, I could rationalize using it to chase GEJ out of Aso Rock. If that was the goal how come BH killings is not letting off? There is more to BH than meets the eye. This is because, it is rather counter-intuitive for some leaders to unleash killing squads destructive on their own people, just to be collecting security votes and under-developing an entire region of a nation for this length of time in the 21st Century AD. There are different ways to make money; and this type of blood money is rather unthinkable for a traditional and religious society like Nigeria; don't people have a conscience anymore?
But in regard to the military statement, how do you separate "supporters" of Boko Haram from Boko Haram? It is like separating a church from the Laity! The fact is that, in the absence of the laity, there will be no church because the Priest or Bishop alone does not make a church!
What is the basis of the prolonged Govt's accommodation, tolerance and kids' gloves in handling Boko Haram considering all the killings and destruction that are not anchored on any self defense, survival, sensible, humane or internationally acceptable rationale for ideological crusade or struggle by sects, communities, groups or peoples? If Nigerian Military honestly knew [know] that some prominent Nigerian politicians, traditional and religious rulers are behind Boko Haram, why have they not acted by now? And more importantly, how come better intelligence has not been used to identify Boko Haram supporters and masterminds for over 10 years now? Something is very SPOOKY about all these and it stinks to the heavens!!
What and who really is/are Boko Haram? Some of us tend to come across as if there is a "special core doctrinaires" comprising Shekau, late Yusuf and possibly ten or a dozen others that make up the masterminds of Boko Haram; and these core Doctrinaires are supported by politicians and sympathizers who help with resources, intelligence, recruitment etc. The politicians in turn get protection from Boko Haram etc. If the Institute for Strategic Studies, the sociology/political science Depts in our universities or the military academies/institutes have not figured this out by now, then we're not SERIOUS!
According to Sun Tzu of The Art of War fame:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Boko Haram, as an insurgency, had never hidden its aim of overthrowing the Nigerian State and replacing it with its own form of State. Any insurgency of such magnitude MUST have the support of a certain group of people who share similar aims, in this case, what the army says are "prominent individuals and political groups". They could not carry out a military coup and could not manipulate the electoral system in order to achieve their aim hence the resort to terrorism, aimed at directly overwhelming the State.
The question still will be: what is the State doing about it (the prominent individuals)?
The Nigerian State, under Jonathan, had been shown to be at best lackadaisical; even his Chief of Defense Staff stated that they had no weapons with all the trillions spent of procurement. The military itself was even in no position to fight as BH captured territories and moved from what the army called "asymmetric" warfare into the conventional mode, as if guerrilla warfare/terrorism is a function of nomenclature. Going by the deliberate wreckage of the economy under Jonathan, it would seem as if the Jonathan regime wanted to "help" BH achieve its purpose by bringing down the whole house where everyone will be for him/herself and God be for us all.
The Nigeria State, under Buhari, has been shown to curtail the "asymmetry"; there is more productive regional cooperation and the weaknesses within the army is being tackled. That the army would come out with this statement only points to the fact that it is either preparing to launch an offensive against these political groups OR is warning them to desist. Any counter-terrorism effort has a political angle that can only be resolved politically by neutralizing, one way or the other, the political support groups of such terrorism----which is even different from the "normal" security strategies of intelligence gathering or prosecutions. The statement by the army would point in the direction of this political phase. And it is no accident that some prominent NE politicians are also now asking for a new development orientation for the NE which would be akin to creating a political opposition to those accused by the army as being behind BH. And of course,
Another scenario would be some sort of a "creeping" military coup going by the role played by the military in maintaining the Jonathan administration as an end in itself.
Let us all agree that BH was a political, religious, socio-economic and revolutionary reaction by a small radical group of Nigerians which was allowed to morph into a dangerous international insurgency through the carelessness, commission and omission of several previous administration which focused too much on its political aspect. Now, we must unite to cut BH off and kill it, and all its supporters.
BH may not end in December 2015 - terrorism hardly ever ends - but a determination to seriously degrade it so that it never controls territory (e.g with a flag planted and an emir) by then is worth supporting.
Army statement:
The Nigerian Army on Friday raised alarm over plans by “some highly-placed individuals” in the North East, particularly Borno State, to sabotage military operations in the region.
A statement by the army spokesman, Sani Usman, said the elite were bent on having the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists prolonged for their selfish interests. Mr. Usman, a colonel, did not however state in clear terms the means through which the notable individuals were undermining the war against terrorism or how they would benefit from the insurgency when prolonged.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups who hailed from Borno State in particular and North East generally, that there is information of plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in this country.
“The unscrupulous individuals and their cohorts were determined to reverse the gains made and scuttle our efforts of achieving the Presidential directive to defeat Boko Haram terrorists within 3 months. They are enlisting the services of some Non-Governmental Organizations in this grand design.
“It has come to our knowledge that they were employing every means to see that the operation does not succeed in order for them to continue to enjoy certain benefits.
“It has been revealed that they are employing the services of marabouts and other unethical means in order to frustrate our efforts and the operations in addition to campaign of calumny.
“We are aware of their clandestine meetings and other diabolical efforts to achieve their nefarious aims. This would not be tolerated.
“Therefore, such individuals and groups should be warned in unmistakable terms that anyone found would be dealt with accordingly. “People should place the interest of the nation above any personal gain or ambition. The continued lost of lives and property in this country through terrorists activities does not one any good,” the army spokesman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment