The Political Boko Haram

I doubt if Nigeria will ever find
a solution to the Boko Haram
problem until the other more
visible Boko Haram lays down
its arms and stops waging war
against the Nigerian State.
This other Boko Haram had
positioned itself well before
independence and has since
eaten deep into the skin of
the nation, so much so that
the nation’s internal organs,
which are also presently being
infected, now lay bare. If this
other Boko Haram is not
curtailed from its present
assault on the nation, by the
time it wholly infects all the
nation’s internal organs, not
even transplant would save
Nigeria. Whenever I look at the
killings that have been done
by this other Boko Haram, I
shudder because it makes the
number of killings ascribed to
the Islamic sect we all know as
Boko Haram look like child’s
play.
To recruit their members, this
other Boko Haram does not
consider religion, tribe or even
intelligence. Their recruits
need not be brainwashed;
there are simply a lot of
carrots dangled before them
to make them fall in line. Unlike
the Islamic sect, which
probably convinces its
members of the reward of
paradise for martyrdom, the
other Boko Haram cares not
about paradise as their
reward is here on earth. And
just so you know, most of its
members are scared of death,
so don’t even mention
martyrdom to them. This
world is too sweet for them
to lay down their lives for one
stupid cause!
The Islamic sect seems to have
restricted itself so far to the
North. This other Boko Haram
is everywhere in the country
and nobody dares arrest or
molest them as they have
informants and loyalists in all
the security agencies. In fact,
the security agencies rely on
them for their budgets. Who
then can arrest them? Far
more lethal and dangerous
than the Islamic sect that it is
even said that it gave rise to.
This Boko Haram has
membership in all families in
the country. Some of us even
have them as friends. They
are the greedy politicians and
the conniving civil servants
who have dirtied the
landscape of this country
since independence. Don’t get
me wrong! I am not saying all
politicians fall into this
category, but more than 90
per cent of them are
members of the political Boko
Haram. Until we find a solution
to their attacks, we may not
solve the problem of the
Islamic sect because their
actions gave rise to some of
the underlying factors
responsible for the birth of
the Islamic sect you and I
know as Boko Haram.
According to the Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC) at a
forum in 2010, of the over
one million reported cases of
road accidents in the country
since independence, 314, 016
deaths have been recorded.
Most of these accidents were
caused by our poor road
network which the political
Boko Haram has failed to put
in good shape despite the
country’s vast resources. A
lot of bright stars have been
cut down by road accidents;
very fresh in my memory was
that of the 18 corps members
who were traveling from Imo
State to the NYSC orientation
camp in Taraba State; all 18
died. Some people may argue
that some of these accidents
were due to drivers’
recklessness, maybe they are
right, but many more were
caused by the poor condition
of the roads. It is only in
Nigeria that roads newly
constructed wash off within
one year. Do you blame the
contractors? No! Blame the
political Boko Haram whose
palms must be greased from
every contract money. Like
hawks, they have thrown
caution to the winds, preying
daily on lives which would have
brought glory to this country.
Heaven knows the number of
pensioners who have died
while awaiting their dues and
yet some people allegedly
downed over 14 billion naira
police pension fund as if we
are in a banana republic. I
couldn’t but be amazed when
one of the accused said she
made 544,000 dollars found in
her account from the sales of
pure water. Who knew pure
water business could be that
lucrative!
We would be deceiving
ourselves if we think there is
any solution in sight without
first curtailing the political
Boko Haram and the conniving
civil servants who have
perfected various means of
shortchanging Nigerians. Does
anyone ever put the cart
before the horse? To solve a
problem, you start by
addressing its root causes.
According to the late
Reverend Martin Luther King
Jr, injustice anywhere is a
threat to peace everywhere.
Let us organise ourselves into
a strong unit, one whose
ranks cannot be broken,
because unity of purpose is of
essence to dislodge the
political Boko Haram. Let us
get involved by becoming
members of political parties
for it is only from within that
the fight can be effective. It is
only by being involved that we
can effectively negotiate with
our numerical strength.
Without this political strength,
our representatives will
always be chosen for us by
leaders of political parties. This
is why rather than represent
the masses to the political
class, most of our so-called
representatives have become
representatives of the
political class to the masses,
justifying to us how difficult it
is to govern.
The masses do not have to
start from Presidency; they
can start from councillorship,
local government chairman,
House of Representatives,
Senate, governorship, eating
gradually at the foundation of
the political Boko Haram until
it finally crumbles like a pack
of cards.
To stay away from the
political process is to leave
our destiny in the hands of
the political Boko Haram. For
how long would we complain?
Let us stop talking and start
acting! Too much talk does
nothing! Haven’t we been
talking since 1960? What has
it fetched us? Has the political
Boko Haram stopped stealing
our commonwealth since then?
It is the masses that can
provide solution to their own
predicament; not the political
Boko Haram. Theirs is to
plunder; ours must be to
restore. And let us remember
when we achieve our aim that
nothing would be deadlier to
our survival as a people than
to repeat the pattern of
those we presently criticise.
When all this is done, then we
can be sure of victory over
the other Boko Haram, the
Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna
Lidda’awati wal-Jihad.


Source: Tribune News