A president gets his war

No one can understand what the president’s fascination with war is all about. They say that in the US, a president is not known to have deserved his ‘commander in chief’ title until he has taken the country to war. This is why American presidents are known for their penchant for war. Could it be […]

No one can understand what the president’s fascination with war is all about. They say that in the US, a president is not known to have deserved his ‘commander in chief’ title until he has taken the country to war. This is why American presidents are known for their penchant for war. Could it be that President Jonathan shares this American philosophy? It is common knowledge that he was dragged to the amnesty ‘consideration club’ kicking and screaming, so to speak. But to end the peace overtures even before they started is more than stabbing the peace alternative in the back.
The Baga and Bama incidents had seemed like threats to the amnesty initiative. But what aborted it entirely was the president’s ill-advised re-militarisation of the North-East. The governor’s forum and other well-meaning voices had rejected the idea of emergency rule at this point in time but they did not seem to succeed in dissuading a president who was determined to have his pound of flesh. So, emergency rule is now in place in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. To aid its execution are fighter jets and 8,000 troops, in addition to the ones already on the ground in these states.
In the president’s own words, they are charged with taking ‘all necessary action within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to put an end to the impunity of terrorists and insurgents…. This will include the authority to arrest and detain suspects, the taking of possession and control of any building or structure used for terrorist purposes, the lock-down of any area of terrorist operation, the conduct of searches and the apprehension of persons in illegal possession of weapons.’ All of this is not new to the ordinary people of Borno and Yobe states, majority of who have borne the brunt of similar JTF activities in the name of the search for insurgents. For these unfortunate civilians, it is just a doubling of their woes because renewed emergency rule can only bring more of the same.
When several months ago I wrote my piece, ‘Cry, my beloved North-East’, I had tried to capture the travails of the ordinary Borno and Yobe civilian who had been caught between the wrath of the insurgents and the excesses of the JTF troops. Many have seen family members killed in cold blood and innocent young boys arrested and detained for months, indeed many have gone for days without food whenever JTF operation includes a lock-down of any given area. It is sad that they can only see more of that because this president has to have his war.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the indefatigable scribe of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, had captured the scenario well when he wrote ‘There is nothing new in the president’s action. It is more of the same deployment of troops to the affected states and the use of tougher scorched-earth tactics against the insurgents…. which amounts to asymmetric use of force in an environment where the insurgents operate within a civilian population. Hence it will ultimately be counter-productive as the death toll will continue to mount while the civilian population – who will be caught in the crossfire – will be alienated.’    
And the civilians are already paying. The latest is that GSM services have been cut, so the poor souls can’t even be reached nor can they reach others even if they tried. There is a house to house search going on, which comes with all the humiliation of an occupation army and in Adamawa a dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed. Goodluck Jonathan has ended his speech with ‘No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.’ We know how all those who had made similar declarations before him had fared. They did not win even against the monsters they created. Can the magic in his first name see him through this war? While we wait to see, the civilians in the North-East will continue to bleed in many ways.