THE SMELL OF TRIVIA - Garba Shehu

A good number of the reactions to President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement that Nigeria has joined the Islamic Coalition Against Terrorism, show quite clearly that many Nigerians do not fully understand the president’s motives for this decision. With the rise of the Boko Haram Terrorist group of the past few years, Nigeria faces a threat such as no other in its entire history and existence. Desperate times require desperate, unusual, measures.

The girls in Gwoza who were raped by militants do not care where the help comes from as far as they will eventually be able to move about freely without fear of being kidnapped and used as sex slaves. The mothers in Bama whose sons were slaughtered before their eyes do not worry whether Boko Haram is defeated by a Christian or Muslim coalition. The hundreds of thousands in IDP camps are concerned simply about when they can safely return to their homes and resume their normal lives. For these ones most hard hit by the Boko Haram terrorists, whether the help they so desperately need comes from the United States of America or from Saudi Arabia does not matter.