What is Boko Haram?

First, a confession. This headline’s copyright belongs to President Muhammadu Buhari and since he belongs to everybody and nobody, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. But when we remember his disdain, hopefully in the past, for journalists, this newspaper’s management is hereby put on notice.

The president asked this question on Saturday, February 7, at the Kano State governor’s office in Kano after the coronation of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano. A journalist from Channel 4, a British public-service television broadcaster, which began transmission on November 2, 1982, accosted him and asked questions about the then impending postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 14. Standing with him that day was the campaign chief, former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and Buhari, in response to a question on the government citing the Boko Haram menace as the reason for the postponement said that only 10 local governments in Borno, two in Yobe, and two in Adamawa were involved. He was visibly angry that only 14 local governments out of the 774 that we have in our country could force such an action.

Probably, he spoke in the heat of a bitter feud that the presidential campaign period was in Nigeria. He went further by saying, “Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria were fighting wars and they conducted elections, what is Boko Haram?” before walking away from the interviewer.  By the way, for the legion of Buhari’s supporters who might still doubt this, a recording of the interview is available on YouTube, and as they say now, Google is your friend. So, I ask the president after nearly five months in the saddle with the persistent attacks particularly in the last one-week, what is Boko Haram? After a hasty announcement of a December 31 deadline for our soldiers to annihilate the terrorists, movement of the operational headquarters of a brigade of the Nigerian Army, and the appointment of a chief of army staff and national security adviser from the area where the terrorists have been active, what exactly is Boko Haram?

Like a sore left to fester without care and attention, the menace has grown to gangrene and no matter the way we look at it, playing politics with the issue has taken us to where we are presently. No issue has attracted this column’s attention more than Boko Haram since it debuted over a year ago.  I wonder how supporters of the former president and the current one feel now when they look back and see some of the foolish comments they uttered about the terrorists. Stuff like President Jonathan is responsible for Boko Haram so that he can stay longer in office and Buhari knows those behind it as he doesn’t want our son to lead Nigeria have been exposed for what they are truly, much fury without sense. We have also seen how we bungled the war, a low intensity one, with the aid of that perennial human enemy, corruption. From obsolete equipment to low morale and lack of political will, we are now at the same level like the countries our president mentioned in the interview I referred to earlier.

Soldiers have been court martialled with some jailed and others dismissed while some were recalled, more equipment have been bought and we have even seen generals doing press up at war fronts, yet lives are increasingly being snuffed out by these terrorists. Are we winning the battles and the war? In discussions with security personnel after the latest series of Boko Haram attacks, quite many of those I spoke with thought we are winning the war, the smash and grab style of the terrorists notwithstanding. They pointed to the fact that no new territories have been taken with most towns under Boko Haram liberated from their clutches. They spoke of how Abuja had been a target, which resulted in the Nyanya attack. “They really wanted to take Abuja, before they were stopped,” one claimed. They were all united in one thing, however, and that is that the morale of soldiers has never been higher. They admitted that is the greatest achievement of this government since it assumed office.

For any human organisation, communication is a crucial aspect of leadership and this government has been found wanting along that line concerning Boko Haram. The Nigerian Army has embarrassed itself with the three nauseating ‘warnings’ asking terrorists to disappear or face the consequences of their actions. The warnings were all called ‘final’ yet they are still operating just as decreeing an end to them by December must now seem ludicrous based on what we are witnessing. Nigerians too must rise above partisanship as the government seeks an end to this war.