What will it take to get Nigeria's Boko Haram under control

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NTM....

Nowhere is this more evident than in the north, a majority-Muslim area that has benefited far less than the south when it comes to development and infrastructure. The allocation of government revenues per capita in the north is about half the rate for the south, and about three-fourths of the northern population live in absolute poverty, as compared to about two-thirds for the country as a whole.

Some northern Nigerians are working to address these issues, including Shehu Sani, an activist who runs a human rights and political advocacy group called the Civil Rights Congress in the central northern city of Kaduna. Sani, who was a political prisoner before Nigeria's civilian government took over in 1999 and is now running for a senatorial seat in the 2015 election, disparages the JTF's reaction to militant violence. He tried to arrange talks between the government and Boko Haram leaders in 2011, but says the government's unwillingness to meet any demands halfway has consistently scuttled discussions.
"The administration is hiding behind the state of emergency to commit evil under the guise of fighting terror," Sani said by phone. "There should be some commitment on the side of the government to find a solution, but it is not possible to organize any form of dialogue while they are enforcing this state of emergency."

President Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeastern states of to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in May, sending thousands of extra troops to quash militant movements there. But the violence continues; a clash between troops and militants on Oct. 24 killed at least 127 people in Yobe's capital city of Damaturu, and an attack on a wedding convoy in the Borno city of Banki killed at least 30 on Saturday.

It remains unclear whether Boko Haram alone is to blame for these tragedies, since the organization has become increasingly opaque in recent years. "The group has metastasized -- they've gotten more broad, but they've also gone underground," Verini said. "West Africa and the Sahel have become a sort of welter of various jihadist groups; the movements are becoming difficult to distinguish."

Nigerian troops have been strongly criticized for their actions in northern Nigeria. Human Rights Watch reports that Nigerian soldiers and police have committed serious human rights abuses against citizens who had little or no links with the militia, including summary executions, destruction of property and arbitrary arrests. The organization estimates that of the 4,700 people who have lost their lives in connection with the insurgency, nearly half have died due to abuses committed by national security forces. Amnesty International has documented inhumane treatment of suspects in Nigerian prisons that led to the deaths of more than 950 detainees in 2013 alone.

"What human rights groups are saying is a fact -- a truth on the ground," Sani said. "At my office here in northern Nigeria, I receive many calls reporting gross violations committed by the Nigerian military. People have been detained and people have been killed indiscriminately."


Distrust of the central government, weak local political institutions and widespread underdevelopment have made northern Nigeria fertile ground for radicals and militants, who draw on popular discontent to raise support for their own aims

 

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Boko Haram can be roughly translated from the Hausa language to mean "Western education is forbidden." But this is not the organization's official moniker; it was first used by outsiders as a derisive nickname for the conservative sect. The group refers to itself in Arabic, as Jama-atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda-awati Wal-Jihad, which means "The Sunni Organization for the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad." This incongruity over the group's designation is more than skin-deep; it reflects some confusion over the group's original aims. Boko Haram began as a locally focused movement first and foremost, not an anti-Western one.

Critics of the government allege that for the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Boko Haram has become a political tool -- a way to encourage foreign defense partnerships and an excuse to clamp down on dissent in northern regions where support for the Abuja administration is low.

"Yes, the government has become involved. The fight against Boko Haram has become big business for local companies and international consultants," said Sani. "The problem can only be solved if the government accepts the fact that the use of force alone cannot address the issue."

 

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Recent outbursts by some prominent politicians from the North have confirmed the fear that Boko Haram presently is the military wing of a few power-hungry politicians, who, having failed to get power through normal elections, promised to make Nigeria ungovernable and have been fulfilling their threat by sponsoring the terrorist sect. These blood-and-power-thirsty leaders have even promised Nigerians that, come 2015, both monkeys and baboons would be bathed with blood unless the Independent National Electoral Commission gave to them the presidential ticket at all cost. How? By sponsoring of militants, of course. Now that their army, Boko Haram, is being displaced, they are groaning and crying foul at the state of emergency declared by the President in the terrorist havens of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, acclaimed by all except Boko Haram supporters and sponsors.

All well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of tribe or religion, must identify and condemn these political hawks who have set their political ambition far above the nation and the blood of her citizens, whom they pretend to love and want to rule at all cost. President Jonathan should be warned that the battle against Boko Haram and the insecurity in the land will not be completely won unless these sponsors are unmasked, arrested, tried for treason and punished. The era of sacred cows, their political rascality and impunity in Nigeria must be eradicated. And now is the time!

Gilbert Ugwu,

Isolo, Lagos State,