Security: Looking Beyond the Boko Haram.

By Sam Onimisi
Those with perceptive mind saw it coming, may be not exactly or precisely as it came. They knew that something extraordinary must be done to check the murderous activities of the Boko Haram terrorists and so, the state of emergency declared on the eve of the new year came not as a surprise to a few. What it entails is that individual’s freedom is curtailed and movement is restricted and subject to scrutiny for a period. Stop and search without warrant becomes the norm to which citizens must be subjected. It means therefore that movement of people and goods will be hindered and so, the economy of the areas affected will be slowed down. Perhaps this is a necessary price to pay for our collective amnesia over the menace of Boko Haram and other criminal groups over the years.
The Boko Haram did not start with the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan. They started long ago, changing names, leaders, locations and expanding the scope of their activities. The first group of religious terrorist started in Kano in 1980 and was known as the Maitatsine sect. Hundreds of innocent citizens were killed by members of the sect before President Shehu Shagari reacted to put a stop to their criminal activities. Next is the Tala Kato group which operated in the North East states of Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno for a brief period. By 1999, when power shifted from the North to the South, there was an upsurge in the activities of religious extremists which caused riots all over the North, with the Central states being the most affected. As a matter of fact there were over 100 ethno – religious riots during the regime of President Obasanjo, more than any regime before him.
Obviously, civil regimes cannot be compared with military regimes in terms of their reaction to criminal activities. The criminals know that unless the sitting government in the states is favorably disposed to their activities, they risked being crushed. Which goes to prove that each riot in the past were almost always supported by the state government or by their patrons in the federal government through whom they got assurance of protection from prosecution. This explains why, after every such induced-riot, a probe panel will be set up and the reports of such panels are never implemented. Also, the authorities who set up the panels either lack the power or the will to ensure that justice is done because most of them were either accomplices to the crime or are patrons of the criminals.
In a polity where certain categories of people are treated as sacred cows and are made or allowed to see themselves as above the law, enforcement of the law is always discriminating and criminals then wax more bold to continue and escalate their exploits. It is not certain if a state of emergency is the first step to take, except that it serves to check their activities from escalating to other areas. Beyond the state of emergency, the federal government should look inwardly to see what exactly is wrong with the system of government that motivate citizens to rebel against public authorities or take law into their hands. The truth is that the entirety of government, i.e. the executive, legislature and judiciary are not trusted by the average citizen even if for different reasons. Some fundamental questions to ask are what is wrong with the geo-political structure and unitary system of government which deprives it the trust, respect and obedience of the people? Why would one ethnic group trust a government while other ethnic groups distrust the same government? Where do we place religion in the governance of Nigeria? Or do Nigerians desire a theocracy more than democracy? What is the place of religion in a federation of ethnic nationalities? Does one ethnic group have the right to impose its own values on others?
If the general perception is that the Islamic North detests the rule of a Southern Christian, and so is fighting it through Boko Haram, what guarantee do we have that when power shifts to the North, a Southern based militia will not retaliate? Can Nigeria afford this cycle of offence and revenge and still remain one? Until these questions are answered properly by the constituents of Nigeria, we could just as well be beating about the bush.
… And the Politics of Petroleum
Since the 1st of January, Nigerians have been buying fuel at N140 a litre in Abuja and a few other cities, while other towns gets the product at N180 per litre. This is sequel to the undeclared debate on whether there was a subsidy on petroleum price or not. The government who insisted that there was subsidy has now removed it, thus the 108% increase in the pump price of fuel. The victory of government against the people will further alienate them from the people and makes mutual trust between both a mirage. The Nigeria Labour Movement represented by the NLC and the TUC are already mobilizing their members and the public for a nation-wide protest. As at Tuesday the 3rd of January, the Niger River Bridge at Koton-Karfi in Kogi State was blocked by protesting youths against the fuel price increase. There were reported cases of sporadic protest in Lagos, Kwara and some other states. How far the protesters could go is yet to be ascertained. The resolve of government to slam the price increase against the people is shown by the number of appeals they ignored.
I am not optimistic that the people are united enough to see us through the protest as the fragile unity against the fuel increase will dissolve in the face of the on-going terror attacks by the bomb-throwing Boko Haram terrorist group-what with the ultimatum they gave Southerners to leave the North! Even without the Haramites, the ranks of the NLC and TUC will soon be infiltrated by government’s hatchet men to scuttle the protest. If the protest will not achieve the desired results, isn’t it better to resolve to monitor the use into which the funds realized from the price increase? What is the gain of a protest that will be brutally put down by the security agencies, not minding how many lives would be lost? What is the rationale of a protest that would soon be abandoned by some groups, reading political motives into it? This is easily possible if some opposition parties take advantage of the protest to score points against the ruling party – which of course, it justly deserves.
The regimes of Babangida and Obasanjo are in records as the worst government in terms of incessant increase in the price of petroleum product in the name of removal of subsidy. Nigerians could not do anything to force their governments to reverse the increases. Their promises to utilize the gains to diversify and improve the economy were never fulfilled – and this is the reason why very few people will believe that President Jonathan will do what he has promised to do. Again, in view of the failure of the past, there is the genuine fear that government will fail again and therefore, the increase must be resisted.
So long as the agricultural and other sectors of the economy are neglected, so long shall we depend on oil as our main income earner. As a people who hardly think of the future but only of the pleasures of the moment, we are sentenced to endless agitation over the poor state of our economy and the resultant poverty development programme of the government. It is an open secret that the devilish cartel whom we blame for stealing our oil money through subsidy are proxies for government functionaries, whether of the past or of the present. Is this not the reason why the apprehension and prosecution of the oil thieves is not an option? Those who wasted our money on our refineries but failed to make them functional are roaming about the streets-free. And they are now insulting us by speaking against the price increase may be just to show us how hypocritical they are!