Goodbye to all that
The JTF spoke too soon. The perpetrators of the Kano act did not waste any time to reply the JTF that they are very much in business in all its lurid ramifications. So far over 200 dead bodies of civilians have been identified including that of a journalist going about his reportorial duties. Casualties were […]
The JTF spoke too soon. The perpetrators of the Kano act did not waste any time to reply the JTF that they are very much in business in all its lurid ramifications. So far over 200 dead bodies of civilians have been identified including that of a journalist going about his reportorial duties. Casualties were also recorded among the police and others. The organized manner the police stations were attacked showed that a lot of time must have been devoted to the planning of the whole unsavory event and further showed to the contrary the claims that the government and security agencies are on top of the quest to root out the deadly preoccupation of a group that has sworn to right, whatever wrong has been done to it, by mindless violence.
The extent of the utter lack of security preparedness on the part of the Nigeria Police in Kano boggles the mind. As we now learn, it did not show any attempt to repel the attack in any concerted way. One would have thought that in the climate of heightened insecurity prevailing in the country not only is the police force expected to be constantly on the watch out for untoward occurrences, it is also, in fact, expected to squelch the attacks before they were carried out. After the Kano incident – a huge security breach if ever there was one- it was a forgone conclusion that something had to be done to the unpardonable lethargy in the security outfits, particularly the police force.
And so the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim had to be made to vacate his post. A post that had long become untenable when the insurgency group tailed him to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, seeking to kill him for a comment he had made. The Abuja Force Headquarters attack was tantamount to a display of cold, brazen and calculated thumbing of the nose to the NPF which should have served as a wake up call about what it was up against. The IGP’s position was not helped one bit by the dramatic escape of one Kabiru Sokoto, believed to be a sect member, who had been apprehended in Abuja but allowed to enact a brazen disappearing act in Abaji, some 150 kilometres from Abuja, much like the fabled Houdini was wont to do. Kabiru Sokoto, having not been caught must be relishing his freedom wherever he is now.
President Goodluck Jonathan, a few weeks ago had noted that there were people at every level of his government who are not only sympathizers of Boko Haram but also actively aiding and abetting the sect in its war. He was roundly excoriated in editorial columns in the usually feisty Nigerian newspapers for talking too much and doing little. If he knew that some people in government were bent on undoing his administration he should act decisively against them and not wring his hands in self –pitying impotence. The disappearance of Kabiru Sokoto right under the noses of policemen would lend more than a passing credence to the president’s assertion. But are we about to witness a ruthless wielding of the long knife to, as they say, clean the Augean stable of black legs in government? It is not entirely inconceivable that with the free ride Boko Haram has had in its campaign suspicions and bad blood would ensue in high places in government as it seeks to grapple with the insurgency conundrum
Yet, this not the time when people should be made to watch their backs or continually cast a glance over their shoulders on the look out for those out to do them in. The weight of the insurgency that has over ran the land should be big enough reason to cause every person to play the patriot and work for an early resolution of the challenge, and this should not be bogged down by idle and fruitless hunt for those deemed not to be working in the interest of the larger interest of the nation. The killings and mayhem, such as witnessed in Kano are indefensible. But the moment their precursors in the Niger Delta region took up arms against the nation not very long ago, we should have realized that an infectious malevolent and invidious genie had been let out of bottle.
The Niger Delta militants have been pacified by granting them amnesty and subsequently empowered through concrete socio-economic policies; the violence they spawned however has taken roots elsewhere with ferocious and terrible consequences. Putting the genie back into the bottle, so to say, would demand not only fresh and new thinking but also a realization that so much that preoccupy us these days—politics, democracy etc that have gained currency but have had little beneficial impact on the generality of the people would have to be re-evaluated to halt this seeming inexorable slide into anarchy and chaos in a grand scale. Otherwise, it will be goodbye to everything as we know it.
From scenes like these
Protest makes progress, so says an aphorism. A recent illustration of it was the outcome of the Arab spring that ushered in popular rule in many of the Arab countries. The protest against subsidy withdrawal achieved a measure of success in the reduction of the pump price to 97 naira from 144 naira. The biggest achievement of the protest however was in galvanising Nigerians from all walks of life towards a concerted purpose of seeking to make the government rescind its policy.
Never before had there been a critical mass of the old and young, the poor and the rich, priests and lay men, erstwhile ministers and governors as well as the well -to -do and the arrant nobodies, that trooped out as one for one sole aim of seeking change in a particular government policy. For me, the image that struck a more deeper cord was that of Christians mounting sentry and guarding over their Muslim compatriots while the latter were praying during the protest—a powerful display of what most discernible Nigerians have always known, which is that despite attempt at sowing division among them by self –seeking bigots, Nigerians are indeed capable of watching over one another. It is from scenes like these that the nation should draw strength.