{"id":26327,"date":"2014-05-07T20:29:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T19:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=26327"},"modified":"2014-05-07T20:29:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T19:29:33","slug":"jonathan-chibok-girls-and-the-rest-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/jonathan-chibok-girls-and-the-rest-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan, Chibok Girls and the Rest of Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\" align=\"center\">By John Ainofenokhai<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">These are uncomfortable times for President Goodluck Jonathan. Recently the terrorist group Boko Haram resurfaced in the vicinity of Abuja, detonating two deadly bombs in Nyanya while also abducting an unclear number of girls from Chibok in Borno State. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the ultimate responsibility of securing the life of every Nigerian rests with Jonathan. So it is safe to assume that under the present circumstances he is not having the best of times.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">While it is true that the ultimate responsibility of securing every Nigerian life rests with Jonathan, it is not as if the rest of us have no role to play. As citizens, every Nigerian must realise that the nation\u2019s security is a matter that cannot be left in the hands of the government alone. For this reason, the safe return of the Chibok girls must be seen as a collective duty.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">To be clear, the role of ordinary citizens in enhancing the security of the country may not be as pronounced as that of Mr President and the security agencies but it is still an important one. We all cannot take up arms and march to Borno to confront Boko Haram in their supposed stronghold, the infamous Sambisa Forest. We all can\u2019t even take part in <i>#BringBackOurGirls<\/i> protest marches taking place across the country. But one thing we can do is give moral support to our military and other security agencies.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is important to reiterate this point because the misguided notion that the military and security agencies have failed has led some people to make utterances that can, at best, be described as inappropriate and, at worst, treasonable. \u00a0If any Nigerian ever doubted it, Senate President, David Mark, has made it clear that Nigeria is in a state of war with Boko Haram. \u00a0And a nation at war cannot be divided when facing the enemy.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Mark, \u201cThe print and electronic media are daily inundated with criticisms so destructive that, at times, one is left to wonder whether the insurgents are now the heroes while those fighting them are the villains. \u00a0The times do not warrant this kind of devious and divisive politicking. \u00a0The impression must not be given that anybody who gives his life fighting insurgency has died in vain.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">As a retired general, Mark knows well the implication of having the populace criticise the security services. \u00a0If, indeed, the security services have failed, as some unpatriotic elements are so hell-bent on insisting, is it the murderous Boko Haram that would now come and secure our lives?<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Moreover, it seems many Nigerians are unaware that national security services like the Nigerian Army are not permitted by international law to engage Boko Haram as it would the army of an enemy country. \u00a0As President Jonathan made clear in his recent Media Chat, soldiers are prevented by international law from using certain calibre of arms against insurgents. \u00a0The dilemma is that terrorists like Boko Haram know this well enough and exploit these constraining rules of engagement to their advantage.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Additionally, it is pertinent to remind ourselves that insurgents like Boko Haram often mingle with the local populace. \u00a0As such, even when an area has been identified as a hotbed of insurgent activity, as President Jonathan said, \u201cYou don\u2019t expect the Nigerian Air Force to go and blast everywhere and wipe out everybody.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">At a time when Boko Haram is intensifying pressure just to strike fear into the hearts of Nigerians, it is important to support our President the way Americans traditionally support their presidents during wartime. Under President Jonathan\u2019s watch, the simple truth is that the security services have stopped many attacks. \u00a0But matters of security have always been in the \u2018damned-if-you-do\u2019, \u2018damned-if-you-don\u2019t,\u2019 category, or what is commonly known as a Catch-22 situation. \u00a0The security agencies rarely come out to celebrate their success in preventing terror attacks as such celebrations may compromise their ability to stop future attacks.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is one point that makes the abduction of the Chibok girls so unfortunate.\u00a0 We have no way of ever knowing how many such abduction attempts may have been foiled by the security agencies. \u00a0But even if only one Nigerian girl was taken by Boko Haram, let alone over two hundred, it is still a matter that should concern every single Nigerian. And the way to show our concern is not by pouring vituperations on the person of the President and our security forces.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">President Jonathan is a parent and would certainly never wish for any daughter of his to be abducted by a sect like Boko Haram. \u00a0As such, he certainly has an idea how the parents of the Chibok girls are feeling at this time. That is why he has given clear assurances that the government is doing everything it can to ensure the safe return of the Chibok girls. \u00a0The very least the rest of us can do in these trying times is to support him and the security services through our prayers and words of encouragement.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>\n<div><b>Ainofenokhai sent this piece from Benin City, Edo State.<\/b><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Ainofenokhai These are uncomfortable times for President Goodluck Jonathan. Recently the terrorist group Boko Haram resurfaced in the vicinity of Abuja, detonating two deadly bombs in Nyanya while&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jonathan, Chibok Girls and the Rest of Us - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/jonathan-chibok-girls-and-the-rest-of-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jonathan, Chibok Girls and the Rest of Us - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By John Ainofenokhai These are uncomfortable times for President Goodluck Jonathan. 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