Stop This Cycle Of Pain -By Edith C. Yassin

Edith Yassin

Obviously, Abubakar Shekau is avoiding ‘martyrdom’ and his reward of 72 virgins. Elusive as he is, our military spokespersons have continually played into his scheme by claiming to have killed him several times.

This in itself gives him a larger than life persona. Unfortunately the spin keeps putting the information managers of the military on the defensive.

There is this school of thought saying citizens should ignore and even stop sharing Boko Haram (BH) videos. Their message is 6 years late. BH is a group that has changed this country with an ideology of death, perpetrated through hate and violence.

The recession in Nigeria can partly be linked to the trillions of Naira so far budgeted (mostly embezzled) and expended on this six year civil war. It is therefore understandable that citizens react to all moves made by BH. Every life in this country has been affected by this asymmetric war directly or remotely.

Last year, pre-election their (BH) every move was used as arsenal against the then ruling, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was the main yardstick used for measuring ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure. Most campaigns of the All Progressives Congress (APC) consistently pointed out failure to curb/capture kingpins and operatives of BH.

It is hypocritical to now turn around and chide citizens who have suffered from terrorism both physically and psychologically for so long for paying attention to a yet to be defeated terrorist’s video. It is more important to concentrate on why the country’s security apparatus is unable to stop BH from making and releasing such videos in the first place.

Is Shekau Kanuri? If yes, it begs the question, how did descendants of the Kanem Borno Empire, with a proud history that looms large in the books, allow themselves become tools of a twisted ideology? Who dropped the ball? Thousands have died and millions are displaced, many of them facing starvation.

To put the reason for these questions in context, here is a quote from a page on the history of the empire (Wikipedia):
‘’Mai Idris Aluma (c.1564-1596) took a keen interest in trade and other economic matters. He is credited with having the roads cleared, designing better boats for Lake Chad, introducing standard units of measure for grain and moving farmers into new lands. In addition, he improved the ease and security of transit through the empire with the goal of making it so safe that ‘a lone woman clad in gold might walk with none to fear but God.’ ‘’

Why do we have men of this same region involved in abductions and rape of young girls and women in the 21st century? The answer lies in the epicentre of this macabre war. The political elite, oligarchs, super rich and nouveau-rich most do some soul searching and come up with home grown solutions that will save the country from more years of bloodshed mayhem. At some point the military option will be replaced by dialogue that has to be honest and not sugar-coated.
To some war is profitable. For most, it is death, pain, grief and extreme suffering. The military personnel in the trenches keep paying the supreme price with their blood. It is because of their sacrifice that the bombings have stopped. Salute to the true heroes of this war and their families.

For all Nigerians, a raging war in the North East, militants on rampage in the Niger Delta, rampant robberies and kidnappings and an economic recession is quite a lot to contend with. The APC Government should walk the talk and take citizens to a better, safer plane.