Boko Haram: Jonathan Values Reelection More Than Lives Of Nigerians – Chris Okotie

"No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies
these actions. There can be no reasoning – no
negotiation – with this brand of evil. The only
language understood by killers like this is the
language of force" – President Barak Obama on the
ISIS terrorist group.
The Federal government's widely publicized ceasefire
agreement with the Boko Haram insurgents was met
with more violent attacks, and the capture of more
territories by the Islamists. Their leaders even went
ahead to disavow any negotiations with our
government, with a firm promise never to make
peace.
Of course, Boko Haram has made good its threat. The
bombings have continued unabated; and as you read
this, the North Eastern towns of Gwoza, Mubi,
Michika, Gulak, Madagali, and several obscure
villages are still occupied by the insurgents. During
the week, Gombe and Potiskum were attacked, with a
lot of casualties. Same familiar story!
Atrocities being committed by Boko Haram in these
captured territories include rape, forced marriages
and conversions to their bizarre brand of Islam;
beheadings, random executions and looting. As far
the insurgents are concerned, we are all infidels.
The Chibok Girls remain in captivity, with no hope
they'd be freed soon; we have reportedly lost some of
these hapless girls to snake bites and sickness. This
current level of pessimism is informed by the
hopelessness of the war effort and the government's
apparent lack of an effective strategy to defeat the
insurgents. Clearly, our military is now in disarray,
with soldiers fleeing the front as the insurgents
advance, almost unchallenged.
So sad, the Cameroonians, supposedly our partners
in this terror war, gleefully advertise stories of
deserting Nigerian troops who seek refuge from
advancing Boko Haram fighters in their territory.
Obviously, for a country like Nigeria which prides
itself as the largest, most powerful black nation in
the world, with the biggest economy in
Africa to boot, our management of this war does no
justice to our image.
Indeed, it merely exposes the false optimism which
our outlandishly great power image confers. How is it
possible for a middle – sized regional power, which
defected Ebola with adroit, efficient execution, that
even the world powers envy, seem powerless against
about 10,000 bandits and terrorist?
Defeated Ebola and a successful war on terror are all
about logistics, efficient
management of crisis and coordination. Why we can't
replicate the Ebola winning strategy in this terror war
is confounding. Ebola is as lethal as Boko Haram,
with potential to decimate populations much faster
than terrorists. Yet, we acted swiftly and contained it,
to the admiration of the world.
In Ebola's case, we adopted an effective bi-partisan
approach, not often seen in our strife-ridden polity.
What has aggravated this terror war and made it so
difficult to manage is, chiefly the failure of a divided,
acrimonious and antagonistic political class, to unite
against the common enemy of the nation. There are
Boko Haram sympathizers in the political parties, in
the military, Intelligence Services and the Jonathan
Administration. Therein lays our failure to win this
war.
It was easy for Gen. Yakubu Gowon to lead federal
forces to overcome Biafra in just 30 months, because
he had behind him a cohesive administration and
competent, efficient war machine. And he acted
swiftly to replace even his most popular commanders
when they performed below expectations. President
Jonathan, who has neither a strong war machine, nor
a loyal, cohesive administration behind him, may
need to look at Gowon's template in his execution of
this terror war.
You don't keep a failed group of war commanders
when your troops are being routed on every front,
and territories lost randomly, almost on a daily basis.
I made this point in my latest syndicated article
coming out shortly. Even, football coaches replace
under-performing star players when the team seems
to be headed for defeat. President Jonathan should
have wasted no time in sacking his entire war team
and replace them with more proactive generals and
advisers, in view of the vanquishing of our forces by a
rag-tag, but well armed Boko Haram fighters.
He should not wait until the insurgents march
towards Abuja before he does something drastic to
save the situation, which is becoming fiercely urgent.
More urgent, in fact, than his re-election bid, which
obviously dominates his agenda at the moment.
Nigeria's survival comes first before anything else,
including a Presidential election.
The ruling PDP tends to give greater priority to
perpetuating itself in power than destroying the
insurgents who pose such a potent threat to our
sovereignty. That's not realpolitik, its bad logic. Like I
wrote elsewhere, this war should be at heart of the
President's agenda; without it, he cannot transform
Nigeria, no matter how effective his Transformational
programme is.
Boko Haram, like all Islamists everywhere, espouse a
virulent brand of austere, absolutist Islam, driven by
atavistic impulses. It takes more than mere
grandstanding to destroy this barbaric group of
deranged individuals."

Posted By David Aniemeka