Date Published: 08/06/09
BOKO HARAM AND THE QUESTION OF TERRORISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY
By Oludare Ogunlana
There is no doubting the fact that organized terror has taken over Nigeria as a nation. The recent mass murder of over 1000 civilians on the order of President Yar’adua is worrisome. The number of people killed in the recent onslaught against the people of the Niger Delta in the ‘all-out war’ of the Nigerian Military against the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, (MEND) is uncountable. On its trail are sad memories of agony, death, fear, insecurity, extra-judicial killings, and the needless shedding of innocent blood. In sharp contravention of the Geneva Convention and all known international laws, the Boko Haram leader was recently captured alive by the military, handed over to the police for investigation and prosecution but rather the police murdered him in a barbaric manner that call for concern. The execution within 24 hours of over 1000 innocent people by the Yar Adua government was nothing but genocide and it behoves on the international community to investigate the mass murder and extra judicial killing of Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the Boko Haram uprising in Maiduguri, Borno State of Nigeria.
As a democrat, no one is naturally disposed to terrorism as an alternative to mass action. Terrorism is a political expression and alternative fight back adopted by groups or individuals, violent in methodology and sectarian in approach, against any government when all openings for democratic expression and legitimate agitation, and seeking redress are closed. Mass anger, popular disenchantment, social frustration, and depression can lead desperate individuals or groups to the path of gangsterism and organized terrorism as retaliatory form of political expression. T errorism is the ‘deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change’ – Hoffman. Those who want to contest power, for political or religious change, and governments that want to maintain power have used terror to instill fear in people. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) used it during the 2007 elections and recently in Ekiti.
Whichever way it comes, terrorism, either as political expression by opposition or a political blackmail by government always shifts the advantage to the government of the day as the innocent souls of oppressed people are lost in the process. We should also understand that Boko Haram is not the first and will not be the last. Terrorism is not new, and this phenomenon has a long history, longer than the modern nation-state . Terrorism has been used by the Jacobins in France to establish democracy; by Italian revolutionaries to motivate the masses into action; by the Bolsheviks in Russia to overthrow a monarchy; by nationalists in Ireland in the quest for self-rule, and now by religious fanatics in Nigeria to try to enforce Sharia throughout the country.
The only solution to terrorism, whether as sponsored political blackmail or political expression by opposition, is for government to be transparent, open to constructive criticism, encourage free participation, and respect the democratic wishes of people. We can only prevent radicalization in Nigeria by helping to deal with terrorist-spawning grievances such as corruption, election rigging, and failed leadership. Failing this, the incidence and intensity of violent revolution in NIgeria will only intensify and become more sophisticated, widespread, and difficult to resolve.
The most potent weapon against dictatorship or corrupt government is not terrorism but mass action through workers’ strikes, civil disobedience, rallies, and organized campaigns for democracy by the alliance of all genuine anti-dictatorship forces in the country.
While the actions of Boko Haram are highly condemnable, the western world should understand that the motives of this sect transcend the plain translation of “Boko Haram” as “western education is a sin”. Their grievance is against the system that has spawned the colossus that is Nigeria’s corrupt, wicked and undemocratic government; a system that makes our leaders the most corrupt leaders in the world and impoverishes its citizens with the clandestine/covert support of western governments like the United States. The most significant threat to our national security in Nigeria today is corruption and its perpetrators. Corruption is the terrorism we face and we all know who the terrorists are. Terrorism is crime, irrespective of the methodology, and there should be no safe haven for terrorists.
Never has any democratic government ordered the execution of over 1000 of its citizens within twenty four hours. The only President that did similar thing was Saddam Hussein who approved the killing of over five thousand people with poisonous gas in Iraq.
In the aftermath of the violence, the Director General of the Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) attested to/testified before the House of Representatives’ Committee on National Security and Police Affairs that prior to the crisis, the SSS gathered and submitted substantial intelligence reports to President Yar Adua that should have informed appropriate preventive measures/action. It would appear that the President deliberately ignored the warning. The same President refused to act proactively on these intelligence reports was, curiously, active enough to give executive orders to the military and police to commit genocide against Nigerians - just like he did recently in the Niger Delta.
In quelling the violence, Nigeria’s military and other security forces had the option to disarm the Boko Haram ‘militants’ in order to minimize the number of casualties. The Boko Haram members have no special military skills and there is no record/evidence that they have received guerilla training as have (comparable) groups like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hamas, and other known notorious terrorist organizations around the world. That the Nigerian Police Force adopted such crude methods in this peculiar situation is heartless and confirms its incapacity to display proficient professionalism.
The 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, which killed 168 American citizens remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the United States by an American citizen. Yet, President Clinton did not order the mass murder of all the right wing extremist groups that were linked to the bombing. Instead, the main actor, in the person of Timothy McVeigh, was arrested, investigated, prosecuted and sentenced to death through due judicial process. Where is the rule of law mantra of President Yar Adua’s government if the leader of Boko Haram was arrested and executed in a crude manner without any due judicial process?
It is on record that Nigeria’s ruling elite empowered Boko Haram financially for the sake of election rigging and the control of power. Christians and Muslims in Nigeria have coexisted peacefully for many years, but the same political elite has consistently manipulated religious sentiments in order to create political instability that they can exploit to their advantage. The same politicians purchased arms for militants all over Nigeria in a bid to rig elections in 2003 and 2007, respectively, thereby contributing to an unprecedented level of arms proliferation in the country. It is also on record that the same elite deliberately deprived young and old people in Northern Nigeria of adequate education, despite the fact that the region has produced more presidents than any other region of Nigeria. It is unfortunate that the ruling government has made militancy a lucrative industry for young people; a facile resort for unemployed citizens living in underdeveloped areas.
In conclusion, terrorism is a crime and another form of war and therefore condemnable. The spate of violent crisis in Nigeria deserves urgent attention and action by, the ruling government that goes beyond the mass murder of members of known violent groups. The government should evolve a counterterrorism approach that can help deal with the grievances of all dissident groups through sustained and intensive civic/popular education.
When confronting terrorism, democratic governments must recognize not only who they are fighting, but what they are fighting for. Consequently, there are general principles that should guide a democratic society's policy against terrorism. Primary among these is a commitment to the rule of law: When democracies do not adhere to their own laws, terrorists will use it as propaganda against the government. Actions to combat terrorism must be seen as legal by the public in order to attract public support. Finally, Governments and their citizenry must realize that terrorism has been around for centuries and will likely remain/persist in the foreseeable future. There is no ‘magic bullet’, there are no easy solutions, and there will never be a ‘clean’ victory; particularly for governments that obstinately/adamantly insist on setting and continue to set bad examples.
Oludare Ogunlana is the President of Global Agenda and writes from Baltimore, Maryland, United States
