WHO BENEFITS?
So, the National
Security Adviser, Owoye Azazi, thinks that the current offensive unleashed by
the phantom menace, Boko Haram is a premeditated blueprint carefully
coordinated by specific Northern elements slighted by President Jonathan’s ignominious
decision to dishonour the gentleman agreement for power shift that the ruling
party had by contesting the 2011 and possibly the 2015 elections? At least
that’s what I think he meant last Friday when he addressed the South-South
Economic Summit in Asaba by blaming PDP and its zoning formula for the current
insecurity in the country.
If Mr Azazi’s explanation on this
matter reminded you of the kind of statements that our First Lady would ordinarily
make but with better diction, you are not alone. For several days since his
statement, I was completely perplexed as to why the most senior security
officer in the land would make such an exact declaration at the time and the
place that he did. I mean, hear I was thinking that this kind of information
was sort of sensitive, classified and not supposed to be revealed publicly
until a solution had been reached. But, in all honesty, it really did seem as
if the Chief security officer was genuinely frustrated at what seems to be his
interpretation and indictment of Northern efforts to scuttle President
Johnathan’s administration.
Apart from what
looked like a rather contradictory and injurious homily, it was disappointing
for a nation that houses 250 different ethnic tribes to be confronted with a
chief security officer that appeared to reinforce the kind of bigoted fantasy
and racial canard which he seemed so perturbed about in his speech. By making
the statements that he did, in the location he did, at the occasion he did, Mr Azazi
cut the same silhouette as the insensitive, dogmatist, provincial elements he
accuses of hounding the president.
But that aside, the
real issues with the NSA’s statement cuts far beyond the chimerical and
capricious conspiracies tailored to fit ethnic validation and primordial
interests. For starters, it is imperative at this point for Nigerians to demand
a full clarification from the NSA. For the chief security officer of the land to
give semi-cryptic messages at a time when Nigerians are being slaughtered about
the very thing that is slaughtering them, just does not cut it. It is
unacceptable for the NSA to play word games on who he thinks is responsible for
the present massacres while at the same time our fathers, mothers, siblings,
children, friends and neighbours are being targeted by this unspecified fiend.
The statements he made suggest that the security services are well aware of
those individuals who are the driving force behind Boko Haram. But if this is
the case and if the NSA’s suspicions are authentic, then why are the people in
Kaduna, the students in Kano, the children in Maiduguri, the parishioners in
Taraba and the pastors in Adamawa living in fear of moving an inch lest they be
the next victims? It really is mind boggling that in a country guided by a
constitution which declares no one to be above the law, ‘supposed’ known
terrorists and conspirators would be allowed to unleash their criminal might at
will. Unless the NSA was merely playing guessing games and lending himself to
the gallery of the regional machinations we have all heard, then he has a
responsibility to expose the names of those he believes are pupating Boko
Haram. Better still, he has a duty to arrest them.
Even if Northern
political elements were somehow orchestrating the offensive in some warped
design of gaining economic and political allowance, as the NSA seems to
suggest, the truth of the matter is that the way in which the Boko Haram
offensive is playing itself out has got to then be the worst plan ever devised.
It would literally be giving a new meaning to the term, ‘cutting off your nose
to spite your face’. With the kind of acrimony targeted specifically towards the
core north by virtue of the Boko Haram attacks, at this rate it is doubtful
whether a northern Muslim could win a presidential election in Nigeria today if
one were held. The bottom line is that the very fabric of the north is the main
entity being destroyed by the offensive. It is the north, its people, its
unity, its chances, its existence that is worst affected by Boko Haram. So in
that respect, the idea is what? For the north to destroy itself in order to
somehow punish President Jonathan? I may not be an expert in Suduko, but
somehow that rationale just doesn’t seem to add up. It just doesn’t. If there
were a northern force trying to ease out President Jonathan and if they were as
powerful and determined as he National Security Adviser suggests, then would it
not be easier for them to opt for the Military option? It’s not like they have
not done so before.
With no apparent
sense of irony, the NSA made these controversial statements about the president’s
entry into the political race forming the catalyst that provoked Boko Haram’s
current onslaught. He spoke about how the concept of the zoning formula of the
PDP nurtured regional grievances. But he said nothing of the actions of the
president himself in violating the very zoning formula that the PDP thought
would keep peace and a sense of inclusion for the whole country. Mr Azazi spoke of how Boko Haram’s offensive disadvantages
the Jonathan presidency, but said nothing of how the region worst hit is the
most disadvantaged by the violence. Neither was there any acknowledgement that the
violence creates the biggest crevice along religious lines that the northern
entity has ever seen; the kind of fracture that can never be for the benefit of
the north as one entity, the kind that is certainly not in the north’s
interest.
He indicated the
notion that after the 2011 elections, aggrieved northern politicians funded,
trained and armed the sect in order to hold on to a power that they deem
belongs to them. That may possibly be so, but not once did he point towards the
likes of the Chief Edwin Clarks, the Tony Aneneihs, whose appetite for
remaining in the corridors of power at every cost is probably more palpable
than the appetite of those he accuses. The apparent need for such forces to
remain in power is no different to the elements that the National Security
Adviser says have lost out. And if it’s no different, then that yearn for power
that the NSA accuses the north of must be a Nigerian avarice or probably just
an African avarice. We bare witness to it everyday when African leaders refuse
to vacate office. President Jonathan being a classic example himself!
But in perhaps the grossest pronouncement of condescending,
the NSA hinted that the president was a target because of where he comes from
and that all those who opposed him do so because of his qualification as a
South-South son ruling the country. As a northern Katsina woman who publicly spoke
against my own States’ people when the likes of Turai Yaradua and Tanimu Yakubu
were acting like cannibals at a buffet of raw meat, that notion is an insult. The
majority of Nigerians today oppose President Jonathan, not because he is from
the South-South or because he is from Bayelsa state, but because they feel disenfranchised
by his government since the fuel subsidy debacle. Nigerians are angry with him
because after electing him to power, he has not shown the zeal to protect and
unify the nation. He has shown little initiative in bringing to book those that
have pillaged this country dry. He shows little interest in guiding us and
being the strong leader Nigeria needs.
There is little doubt that there
is more than meets the eye in the whole Boko Haram affair. An unknown force
with the might and desperation to unleash the most lethal form of destruction must
definitely be fuelled from somewhere. But as we get closer to the day when those
who are really behind Boko Haram will be exposed, we must be cautious with the
accusations and declarations we make.
The one thing I have learnt from
this very heartbreaking Boko Haram affair is that no theory is a valid theory
because every time one forms reasoning, the next bomb comes and dispels the
rationale of it. But the one thing I know for certain, and I know this purely
from basic logic, is that whoever is sponsoring Boko Haram is sponsoring them in
order to benefit from their actions. So maybe the question we should really be
asking ourselves in determining the true face of Boko Haram is not, “Who are those
behind Boko Haram?” but instead, “Who benefits from the actions of Boko Haram?”
Maybe the National Security Adviser should think about that!
Article Written By Hannatu Musawa
Twitter- @hanneymusawa
The North should accept the fact that the deep differences with the South South and SouthEast of the country can never ever allow peaceful cohabitation again.The North should also face reality that the people of this zones will not willingly allow the North free access to their resources as innthier past, the North should get back to basic education, agriculture and solid minerals and stop looking for how to continue attaching themselves to others or how to save a moribund country. the DISENTEGRATION of Nigeria is in the long term interest of the North and all
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Mr Michael Ijere. While I fully believe in a united Nigeria and a one Nigeria, if it is to be that the country splits, then so be it Sir.
DeleteBelieve me, Nobody is doing anybody a favour by staying as one country. I think if we all get off our high horses and get over the fact that only one region is benefitting at the detriment of the others, we would each be able to see things from a clearer objective.
I hope it doesnt, but if the DISENTEGRATION of Nigeria is our destiny, then we shall all welcome it with open arms. Thankyou
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ReplyDelete@ Michael, it semm you are explicit in your statement regarding disintegration and claimimg of resources. However, as a northerner, I agree with you that north should face basic education, agriculture and co, but dont you think you alone and your resources cannot survive and you have to do exchange for that resources to survive. where were you when the north was feeding the nation with its resources before the oil boom and have you forgotten that the so called resources that the people of SS/SE are claming is now found everywhere including Niger and Chad and in large quantity?
ReplyDeleteI suggest we should all accept the blame wen pointed out and put Nigeria first by submitting our personal interest to collective interest.
Thanks for your comment Mallam Aminu Shuaibu.
DeleteI believe in the Nigerian project and for the nation to remain as one, but honestly if we must break up as a country, then so be it.
What baffles me is the belief people have that the North is somehow scared of the disentegration of the country. If the country breaks up, every region will suffer but each will survive. Thanks