Boko Haram Threatening Nigeria: A Word For Mr. President

Nigeria is a creation of Britain, the colonial masters. Some argued that the name Nigeria was given by the girlfriend of Sir Lord Lugard, the Governor General at the time, who was not legally married to him at the time. So invariably for the religious minded they were leaving in fornication.

Consequently, the name she coined out from the word Niger is a product of immorality. That to such group of persons is the foundation of the nation’s problem. But that is only an opinion. I believe strongly that no child is a bastard, so long as he/she is the product of an intercourse between a man and a woman. Man precedes any custom and tradition, and so the extent that the provision of any text, whatsoever, be it the Constitution of a Country or its body of jurisprudence, or be it a religious Holy book, defining and redefining the position of a bastard is null and void. Man precedes tradition, custom and religion. So is Nigeria.

Boko Haram, which is gradually becoming an English word, is a Hausa word, which simply translated as Western Education is an evil or forbidden. “Haram” as a Hausa word though am not sure if it’s Hausa or Arabic, but “haram” is anything that is forbidden, considered wrong or evil, as defined by the Holy Quran or the Hadiths of the Prophet. “Boko” on the other hand refers to western education.

Muhammed Yusuf was said to be “……., like any other cleric of any religious sect, had a mosque and a following.  He held weekly public sermons.  He was exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right of assembly and worship.  At no time was there a breach of the peace.  His followers were young, able bodied, unemployed with no prospect of hope in the horizon.  They had Western Education!, and therefore literate and aware of the prevailing social conditions.  Increasingly, their sermons were taking the form of liberation theology, commenting on the ills, injustice and inequities, prevalent in their immediate environment.  As a result, there was no love lost between them and the State Government”

A group of residents and indigents of Borno State writing to the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had those words to say on the person of the Late Muhammed Yusuf. The group traces the origin of violence in Borno state “The first trigger for violence was when Mohammed Yusuf’s followers in a funeral procession, on their motorbikes were fired on by members of Operation Flush – a combined force of the Army and the Police – ostensibly for not wearing crash helmets.  About 19 of them were fatally wounded.  This force was said to be under the Operational control of the then State Governor.  The incident led to the group taking the law into their hands, attacked and killed security personnel and burnt police stations. ”

One issue that also in my candid opinion fuel initial seeds leading up to the crisis was the killing in cold blood of the Leader of the group, Muhammed Yusuf by the police. They were thinking that it will weaken the resolve of the members. But they were not familiar with historical facts and antecedents of such founders of religious groups, Perhaps in the future we may attempt a broader analysis and comparisons on a different topic, but here we are considering the needed remedial measures to stem the tide of violence.

The current insurgency by the members of the sect, though reminiscent of their antecedents in the early days of the initial crisis may have some political under tones. What right has another man in the 21^st Century to determine for another man, certain privileges that bothers solely on morality, and some restrictions imposed by the provision of a book considered Holy by some group of persons. The best you can do is to attempt to preach to such an individual warning him/her of the dangers of his lifestyle and the repercussions in the hereafter. If truly we are servants of Gods and are worshipping God for a reward in the hereafter or paradise or heaven, we should allow each person to determine where he will like to spent his eternity if there is any such place at all. Why subject a whole population to a state of uncertainty in the name of helping such persons to see the truth of the word of God. The Insurrection by the early Christians is akin to the Jihad, both were deliberate attempts by the father figure of the time to garner people into the fold, with force. Many Christians of today knows little or nothing of such deadly historical records of the Church fathers, those who know will rather have it buried as something that happens in the era of ignorance. Yesterday however only keep re-occurring in new garb.

Nigeria is a secular state, what that means is that, though individual are at liberty to practice any form of religion, there will be no state religion. Shariah is dying a “natural death” as prophesied by former President Obasanjo, but the seeds planted are part of the harvest of bombs we are witnessing. Allowing Shariah in Zanfara was a mistake, if Yerima truly believes in Shariah, then he should submit his hand for amputation, because he cannot deny that he never siphoned a single kobo from the coffers of Zanfara State in his eight years of stay as Governor. Even if he claims so, what about his Commissioners, Chairmen of Agencies and Local Government Chairman, how many of them had their hands amputated, or they were all “good practicing Muslims”, I guess they are all as innocent as the Yerima Bakura.

There is need for proactive measure to be taken to stem the tide of the state of uncertainty, which has the seed of the disintegration of this country if treated with levity. Many are seeing it as something happening in the North, mostly in Borno, but it goes beyond that. The President must know that he is President today, because there is a Nigeria.

The United States wrote an intelligent report on Nigeria, saying that Nigeria may disintegrate in some few years to come, am not sure when the Prophesy will be falsified, but happenings are getting me afraid. It is a grimed situation we are passing through.

Nigeria is at a cross road, the moments of our glory are here, but it’s equally the moment of our doom, though avoidable. The Communist system may not be as welcome as the Capitalist system, but if asks to answer: whether the United States of America wanted the fall of the soviet union for the fact that they considered Communism cum socialism practice by the Soviet Union as devilish, or they wanted the fall of the Soviet Union so as to consolidate their gains and thus unchallengeably becomes the World Super power as they are today? I am sure you know the latter is the answer. There is strength in numbers.

Our continuous stay as a nation, the largest black nation on the face of the Earth should be a thing of pride to every one of us; we should not exchange that for anything.

If Nigeria were to disintegrate today, nobody will remember that Obasanjo contributed by allowing Shariah to be implemented on the misconstrue notion of “natural death”. Nobody will remember that SAS, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff former Governor of Borno, played a role, in which he has Publicly apologies, nobody will remember the Police against Geneva convention of Prisoners of War, killed Muhammed Yusuf in cold blood, and such other ancillary killings allege to have committed in cold blood, like the case of the father in-law of the Late Muhamed Yusuf, Buji Foi. Nobody will remember that stake holders were giving various confusing advice on the way forward. One man that will be remembered prominently is Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the President of Nigeria at the time of disintegration.

I may not agree with religious people who claims that “it is God that gives power,” yet fail to accept a person who emerge as a leader in an election, saying the “process was rigged”. If truly we believe in such assertion, there would have been no, petition challenging any elected official. But I certainly share in the believes that when someone is vested with power, there is an aura of leadership that is circulating around him, to give him guidance on the way forward, all that is required of such individual is to be in tune with nature so as to tapped from such infinite reservoir of higher intelligence. Such reservoir are available to Mr President right now, as the father of Nigeria.

The President should look for a man among the Police, whichever rank, between DIG and Assistant Commissioners, anyone of them who can come with a comprehensive plan on the way forward in strengthening/revolutionising the Police, should takeover immediately as the New IGP, Ringim has failed and should bow out. The State Security Service which is saddle with responsibility of underground investigation, and sniffing of information, that will lead to stopping and nibbling in the bud of criminal activities has equally failed, there is need for a new boss, with a comprehensive plan to take over, the measure should be proactive and unprecedented and not driven by some civil service rule seniority mantra, debacle.

We voted for you Mr President, so many people voted for you, many of our friends, called us “religious bigots”, others saw us as “misguided and ill informed.” Your government has not help matters either, as it seems to be lacking in policy direction. However, it is noteworthy that you have gone out and source for good materials that the country has outside, like the Okonjo Iweala’s, and Barth Nnaji’s. We are very hopeful, we will finally have cause hopefully in the near future to look straight into the face of our friends and tell them “we were better informed”, and that we made the “right choice.”

Mr President, you celebrated 50^th Anniversary of Nigeria as a sovereign nation last year, though with a very bad anniversary gift or in your very words “the worse kind of anniversary gift”. You reminded us then, in the build up to the celebrations that in 2014, we will be celebrating the nation’s centenary.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Azikiwe, permit me sir, with all due respect to address you as such, if you fail in all things, please keep Nigeria, as Nigeria, 2014 and beyond, no matter what it will take, no matter what it will take. Spare nothing, nobody is too important to spare at the expense of the nation’s disintegration.

Spare not Mr President; remember you are the President of Nigeria and not anybody’s boy or stooge. Let the Nigerian President grow in you and overtake any limitations and personal shortcoming or inhibitions, allow the Nigerian spirit to flow like rivers.

Nigeria, your time of glory has come.

© Jacob Longpring _OCFR

Reference

Do We Still Have The Same IGP And DG Of SSS?