Of ceasefire and dashed expectations

As soon as the news was abroad, a long lost friend called to confirm what he had heard and thereafter told me he was going out to jollification, as he put it, on account of the good tidings. Now this fellow normally does not drink, at least not the hard stuff, a teetotaller if ever […]

As soon as the news was abroad, a long lost friend called to confirm what he had heard and thereafter told me he was going out to jollification, as he put it, on account of the good tidings. Now this fellow normally does not drink, at least not the hard stuff, a teetotaller if ever there was one, if you catch my drift. Taken aback, I could only assume that he must have been elated beyond words by the peace announcement.
Not long after, he called again to ask whether I had heard the latest and that BH had been on rampage in parts of northern Borno State. It took some time before it dawned on me that his BH was the short form of Boko Haram.  He sounded deflated and told me he was going back home to sleep instead. I thought that was a better option in the uncertain circumstances of the botched peace agreement and the shooting war in the north east. Many days later the situation has even grown murkier as the BH, or is it an outgrowth of it, in blatant disavowal of whatever agreement it may have signed, has continued to intensify its hellish campaigns against the people.
Just a week ago, Nigerians were made to understand that the purported ceasefire agreement would not only stop the protagonists from shooting at each other but that it would also culminate in the release of the long suffering Chibok girls, now well into their 6th month in captivity. All that expectations have turned to ashes, it is like being anxious to taste a vintage dish only to find out it was something else. Worse however was that not only have BH cadres continued to bomb, rape and kill as they please, they have indeed seized some 64 more women, this time from Adamawa State and so further worsening the pain in the already fragile and delicate parts of our bodies.
Government publicists and apologists as well as other people including their detractors, do-gooders, self seeking civil society groups out to profit from the situation would continue to split hairs as to what actually happened to make government put out that unfortunate news that a ceasefire had been reached. Yet the important and salient unmistakeable message is that government has allowed itself to be conned by some political 419ners and taken on a jolly ride to nowhere, and by so doing toyed with the collective emotions of the Chibok community, Borno State and the entire nation. No government has a right to do that, to so fling its bungling incompetence on our faces thereby trifle with our already near to breaking point emotions. By now government should have realised that BH is simply a generic name for all manner of disaffected, disgruntled, and disoriented gun totting groups who have found an ignoble purpose for themselves and it is to unleash violence. So, for all we know there could be a multiplicity of groups purporting to be under the aegis of BH, but in actual fact operating outside its authority, so to say. In other words, it can be assumed that BH has now spawned all sorts of vicious groups brandishing lethal weapons and roaming the north-east forests unleashing mayhem and disorder. This underscores the fact that BH is no longer one but several groups acting in its name but against its dictates. Thus, making overtures and talking to one group and reaching an agreement with it, apparently amounts to nothing because such a pact does not bind the others.  That is the bald but sad reality the government is up against which it must find solution to in this protracted face off with BH.
So, like my teetotaller friend who has suspended his jollification and returned to his gloom, we are all waiting, hoping and praying that the ceasefire,  agreement, pact, call it what you will—with BH would indeed materialise, so that we can all wake up from our collective nightmares.

Readers write back
Re: Malam Yusuf
Your closing lines in Malam Yusuf Usman (28/09/2014) took me to my locality which I left some 27 years ago, except when I go to visit. I recall with love and amazement as a child how our farmers used to combine their work on the farm with selling their produce. They work on the farm and at the same time display their produce by the side of the foot path used by the farmers and other people and the price tag is placed on the produce. A prospective buyer would come along, collects the produce and puts the amount the farmer had asked for the produce at the same place where the produce had been without the two of them setting eyes on each other. The transaction of buying and selling had taken place on trust.
What happened between the two -the farmer and the buyer at that time was a demonstration of truth and honesty in their dealings, devoid of one taking advantage of the other. Sadly this sort of social dealing no longer exists, and makes your advice that we should revert to our age old values most valuable as they would do us some good. Aminu    Dahiru, 08033498125

Sir, Your piece entitled Malam Yusuf Usman (28/09/2014) showered praise on your subject which may be interpreted to mean that Malam Yusuf had acted appropriately. My view however is that Malam Yusuf was just being the human being he was created to be, as opposed to being something else. Apart from the religious and societal injunctions that frown at coveting other people’s possessions, one loses his status as a human being once you let greed and crookedness take the better of you.
Malam Yusuf was therefore just behaving as he should; he had not done anything extra-ordinary. He does not have to be praised for it. Would you praise him for feeding his wife and children? Of course not, because that is a duty he is expected to perform. Aminu   Sa’ad, Kano, 08039674147

Re:-As Ebola rages on
Sir, I just read your piece-As Ebola rages on (19/10/2014) that some West Africa countries, particularly Nigeria have not made contributions and cannot but wonder if I was  misinformed on hearing and reading that the Nigerian  Government made a one  million dollars donation to combat the spread of Ebola in  West Africa. 07032863444

Reply:- Thank you for your reminder that Nigeria made a one million dollar donation to the Ebola eradication crusade. But at what point was the donation made? Two weeks ago, if I remember correctly, long after Patrick Sawyer had died taking a number of Nigerians with him. The fact remains that the donation was belated. The virus broke out in March in Guinea, and had spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia causing the catastrophe going on now.
This prompted the international community to begin to act—and they include the US, United Kingdom, Cuba and other countries, after having seen the threat posed to global health by the outbreak of the virus. It was after the intervention of the international community had commenced that countries in West Africa whose proximity to the affected countries make them most vulnerable to the disease, started doing something. The truth is their action was late in coming.
I thought that was a better option in the uncertain circumstances of the botched peace agreement and the shooting war in the north east. Many days later the situation has even grown murkier as the BH, or is  it an outgrowth of  it, in blatant disavowal of whatever agreement it may have  signed, has continued  to intensify its hellish campaigns against the  people.