Recently,
virtually every national daily has as its headline the unwonted killings of innocent
Nigerians. Hardly will a day pass by that I will not hear on the radio station
or watch on the television that some people have fallen to the sword of one
blood thirsty group. Through acts of bombings, slashing of the throats of
innocent souls and sniping, the Boko Haram guerrilla sect seems to be at the
moment the greatest threat to Nigeria’s
security. From the bombing of the police force headquarters and the United
Nations building in Abuja, to the massive gory invasion of churches, mosques
and other vulnerable centres, this unholy, blind and vision less alliance has
rendered some North-Eastern parts of Nigeria securely insecured.
The Federal Government last year
declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states, and by the ratification
of the senate, he has extended it to another six months and yet it seems as if
their tide of operation and sophistication is growing everyday in leaps and
bounds. Just late last year, this diabolic sect invaded the Federal Government college of Agriculture, Yobe killing many students
who were lost in their sleep. Few days before the centenary celebration, they
unceremoniously laid siege on the Federal
Government College,
Yobe killing over 50 pupils. And at about 6:30pm on the 1st of
March, a twin bomb exploded in Borno state killing over 40 persons. And all the
presidency keeps saying to Nigerians is ‘we are on top of the situation’, ‘we
will bring the perpetrators to book’, ‘we will compensate the bereaved’, ‘we
send our heartfelt condolences…’ to mention but a few. When El-shabab attacked
the West gate mall in Kenya,
the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta ordered that the Kenyan flag be flown at
half mast and three days of national mourning be observed. But nothing tangible
and visible that portrays the Nigerian spirit except the usual one minute of silence
has been seen to be done to those victims of the Boko Haram onslaught.
The Federal Government has ordered
that the chief of Army staff be moved over to Borno State in a bid to curtail
the excesses of this sect. He has also ordered that the Northern borders
between Nigeria and Cameron, Chad
and the Niger
republic be blocked. But that has not in the short-run stopped the Boko Haram
sect from invading at will. We know that the members of the Boko Haram sect
have no true identity and that the security of this country lies on the general
responsibility of Nigerians. But one cannot be security conscious only when he
or she cannot see visibly the security apparatus put in place by the federal
government. When some of the members of the Boko Haram sect where set to assail
the Federal Government college in Yobe state on Tuesday, February 25, 2014, it
was said that the security sentinels strategically positioned to cordon off the
premises, took to their heels because of the calibre of weapons they saw, and
now more than 50,000 persons have fled Borno state for their dear lives. So
while people are been clutched and clawed to death in the North-eastern parts
of Nigeria, others in political positions are left carousing, reveling,
promising and laughing out their senses in the Southern and Western parts and
other parts not affected of Nigeria. The families of the late legal icon; Chief
Gani Fawehinmi and the late afro beat singer; Fela Anikulapo Kuti did not just
reject the centenary awards out of sheer jealousy rather the feelings that what
they fought for and against still prevails in the country.
I understand that robots are rarely
used in this country. Why can’t that industry be developed and its products
used as security network and personnel. The creation of state police has been
one of the hue and cry of some people. But the fears that in the time of
disputes between the federal and state government, an order made by one and the
neglect of it by the other in dire situations may plunge the country into her
long list of unresolved problems.
When the ring leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama
Bin Laden bombed the World Trade centre in the US on the 11th of September,
2001, the American Government wasted no time in bringing justice with action by
putting him to the sword. Abubakar Shekarau has been detected to be the ring
leader of Boko Haram, instead of the media to keep peddling false information
about his death, the armed forces should as a matter of urgently change
strategy in bringing justice with action so that when the shepherd is put to
the sword, the sheep will be bound to scatter.
GOD DIRECT OUR LEADERS
Davidson .I. Obabueki
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