NORTH EAST: WHITHER THE END-GAME?

Though all lives are equal, and the massacres in Baga, Bama, Konduga and Izghe have made us all to be in daily and constant mourning for the failure of the so-called Federal Might to protect poor, hapless citizens, the Buni-Yadi school incident is just beyond belief, beyond comprehension, beyond description, even beyond mourning, beyond…(allow me […]

Though all lives are equal, and the massacres in Baga, Bama, Konduga and Izghe have made us all to be in daily and constant mourning for the failure of the so-called Federal Might to protect poor, hapless citizens, the Buni-Yadi school incident is just beyond belief, beyond comprehension, beyond description, even beyond mourning, beyond…(allow me wipe a tear). If we can’t protect the ‘leaders of tomorrow’, then we have no tomorrow.
“Twenty billion US Dollars are missing; why would anyone target someone who has not got even Twenty Nigerian Naira? Why is the cabal of politicians and looters and dollars-in-caps and petrol and kerosene subsidy-enjoyers spared and innocent masses are not?” (A comment from Cyberspace)
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), in a statement quoting its President-General and the Sultan of Sokoto, said it will not be deterred in condemning the repeated wicked acts of terror being unleashed daily in the North East. It added that Federal Government needs to really wake up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property of Nigerians, especially in the North East, and put a stop to these massacres. Human lives, says JNI, are sacred and must be treated so!
The JNI asked: It is said that there was a military checkpoint around FGC Buni-Yadi, but it was moved just a day before the attack on these innocent, future-looking children. If this is so, we ask: can the military high command probe this heinous allegation? Who gave the order? Why was the order given? Why were ALL soldiers relocated and not even a few were left on the ground? What is the relationship between the withdrawal of these soldiers and the attack? Nigerians need quick but sincere answers to these questions, and all those implicated should be punished, summarily!
The JNI further lamented that, despite the State of Emergency currently in place in these states and the visible security check-points at every nook and cranny of the states, it is unbelievable that such dastardly acts could still occur almost on a daily basis. As the unprecedented havoc being unleashed against innocent citizens is becoming too much to bear, the JNI says it fears the consequences that may befall the nation for this repeated spilling of blood. These callous acts call for concerted introspection, as they again and again point to the fact that there is the urgent need for proactive and effective ways of addressing these massacres.
The Sultan then called on all Imams in their respective mosques to immediately commence Al-Qunut (a special supplication during the five daily prayers for ease and relief from human or natural calamities) and that the generality of Muslims should also fervently pray for the restoration of peace and security in Nigeria.
“With almost a Trillion Naira budget for security in this country, money which will never be audited or queried or investigated, when all in the security industry have a cut, do you really think this matter will matter will end? To write off a Trillion Naira? In Nigeria?” (Another comment from Cyberspace)
A regular commentator on this page also wrote to this column saying: “How the President manages to go to sleep every night in the middle of this mayhem continues to baffle me; what kind of a man is he? I actually thought he is just clueless, but for him to casually say this is ‘our portion of international terrorism’ shows he is also heartless. He even belittles our suffering! He and his people are just carried away by 2015. The masses are not helping the situation either. We have allowed the politicians to turn us against each other using religion and ethnicity. Kai! We are in trouble wallahi! We need someone who actually cares and gives a damn. God will not change our situation unless we change it ourselves.”
The Senate order for the military high command to move to Maiduguri is in order. Reports say the Senate aligned itself with the position of the House of Representatives and directed the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah to deploy more troops and relocate temporarily to the 7th Infantry Division, Maiduguri, Borno State. In effect, the National Assembly is asking Minimah to do the ‘maximah’ by relocating to Maiduguri and not staying put in Abuja. But in addition, this column also expects the President to as a matter of urgency visit those areas.
We understand the complexity of all this. After all, US President Barack Obama has just formally ordered his Defence Ministry, the Pentagon, to make plans for a full pull-out of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, pointing to a way out of the conflict that is reminiscent of his end to the Iraq campaign – that is, many years on ground without achieving any tangible purpose. The Taliban have not been defeated in almost thirteen years of American occupation, nor has the Al Qa’ida in Iraq. If anything, the Americans only ‘succeeded’ in muddling the waters in both Afghanistan and Iraq, with an almost daily shedding of blood. In essence, the Americans are ‘surrendering’ Afghanistan, as they did Iraq a few years ago.
Way out? On cyberspace, an American-type ‘surrender’ is even being contemplated, mulled and discussed by many. But the situations are not the same. A member of the Presidential Amnesty Committee told the sister publication of this newspaper last week that had the Federal Government implemented their recommendations, things would not have escalated and deteriorated to the level it is today. All Nigerians should now ask: what are those recommendations? Government should come out with them. We must try everything. We just cannot give up.
While at it, we should here repeat the JNI questions about the movement of that Buni-Yadi military checkpoint: can the military high command probe this allegation? Who gave the order? Why was the order given? Why were ALL soldiers relocated and not even a few were left on the ground? What is the relationship between the withdrawal of these soldiers and the attack?
Nobody should now tell parents to keep their children in these schools – that their children are safe, because they are not. Nobody should now tell villagers to stay in their villages – that they are safe, because they are not. Glaringly and realistically today, the safest place for these children – for the time being at least – is their parents’ homes. The safest place for all the villagers around Maiduguri and Damaturu and Potiskum and other North Eastern cities is within the military-fortified cities themselves. And that is the truth. Evidence does not show otherwise.
Thankfully, the girls of the Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, were spared during this massacre. They were said to have been advised to ‘repent’ and eschew ‘Western education’ and return home and ‘get married’. Well said. However, one may quickly ask, which boys are they going to marry, when all the future eligibles are now dead and buried?