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may 12 2014.

 

POLITICAL DEMON INVIGORATED BY RELIGION “BOKO HARAM”

At the tail end of OBASANJO’S regime, Nigeria witnessed widely publicised debate on whether power should go back to the north or otherwise.
We saw Governors : Peter Odili of Rivers State, Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom state, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu state, Adamu Muazu of Bauchi state, Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa state, Sani Yerima of Zamfara state, Ahmed Makarfi of Katsina state, Sani Yerima of Zamfara etc campaign vigorously to be PDP’s flag bearer . We also saw posters of Atiku Abubakar even when it was obvious that his frosty relationship with Obasanjo was going to play against him in the election.
A few billboards belonging to former President Ibrahim Babangida was also seen in major cities, but the truth was that IBB never campaigned vigorously to be President in 2007.
The question in every tongue then was; who was going to succeed OBASANJO?
Above comprehension of Nigerian Political analyst, observers and followers of the game Yar’adua emerged as the PDP standard bearer and beyond the consternation of Nigerian political on-lookers the name Jonathan popped up as his running mate leaving other aspirants bitter and dejected especially as most of them were not allowed to test their popularity in the contest.
The death of Yar’adua and the emergence of Jonathan saw the reinforcement of BOKO HARAM and the use of explosives in Nigeria. One may argue that there were Yusuf Mohammed lead group that were unleashing mayhem in the north eastern part of the country and beyond but we never saw Nigerian kids taking their own life in the name of religion, we never saw burning of churches, we never saw burning of mosques and we never decided not to go to churches on festive days for fear of bombing.
There has been wide debate on what the motive of boko haram is; we have read that their aim was to convert Nigeria to an Islamic nation etc. The truth is, BOKO HARAM is the handiwork of bitter politicians who lost out of power play, who felt their turn was usurped and who felt they are superior to others and should continually be in power.
Let me take you down memory lane; after the 2011 presidential election, Mayhem was unleashed by disgruntled youth of northern extraction who felt that their leaders should not loose election to JONATHAN and the result was that youth corps members were killed, maimed and many people were displaced, slaughtered and butchered beyond recognition and nobody coughed.
There has been heavy debate over whether BOKO HARAM is political or religious and I say BOKO HARAM is a political tool targeted towards destabilising, and discrediting the government of the day using religion as a tool.
Before you ponder on why some of the leaders of the affected areas are silent on the activities of the insurgents , first go through some the comments that invigorated and still engendering the activities and the operations of the demons.
LAWAL KAITA OCTOBER 2010: We shall make Nigeria ungovernable if the president did not come from the north.
LAWAL KAITA MARCH 2012: “ issued another threat to the effect that the only condition for Nigeria to be one is for the presidency to come to the North in 2015.”
MUHAMMAD BUHARI MAY 2012: If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of Allah, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,”
“MALLAM ELRUFAI AUGUST 2012: One man’s terrorist is another man’s Freedom fighter”

ATIKU ABUBAKAR 2010: at the PDP 2010 convention said those who make peaceful change impossible make violent changes inevitable’’
ASARI DOKUBO FEBRUARY 2015: Former Militant leader, Mujaheeden Asari-Dokubo said Nigeria will burn if President Goodluck Jonathan was not re-elected in 2015.
These statements are inflammatory and should have been taken seriously. A times, one wonders what Adamu Ciroma, Alimodu sheriff, Murtala Nyarko, Kashim Shettima, Bukar Ibrahim, Senator Zanna, Senator Ndume etc have in common, If you ask me, I will say they are politicians who has held or holding various political positions. Your thought may be different from mine and the good news is that Shettima has said that he has information of the whereabouts of the CHIBOK girls and maybe we should applaud the governor.
On the part of the presidency, we have witnessed absence of political will, lack of courage and indecision. I have never doubted that the presidency have very good plans and intention to fix the country but has consistently witnessed massive brick wall and his inability to tolerate small fries have degenerated into international demon that can no longer be taken care of without the help of international community.
The sole aim of the destruction that we have witnessed was to turn the people against the presidency and the presidency has smoothly allowed it to flourish almost beyond redemption. A time, we don’t know whether we should join the call for president to step aside for his inability to fish out and prosecute the main BOKO HARAMs, the killers and bombers of Nigerians. Like I always tell my friends, the fight against BOKO HARAM should not just be about SAMBISA forest because the main BOKO HARAM’s are residing in the comfort of their homes in ABUJA and beyond. If all the barbarians in the bush are annihilated, the financiers sure have the financial muscle to recruit another people. It is always easy to tell when a man beats the drum in the forest and come out ask the people what is happening. It is very easy for the men who kill Nigerians to rush to the media and be the first to commiserate after bombing Nigerians and trust gullible Nigerians to celebrate and eulogize them. Now we need solution, we are tired of statements like:’’ We are winning the war’’, ‘’we shall bring them to justice’’, it is a crime against humanity’’, the perpetrators are enemies of the people’’ etc. Who didn’t know?
The solution to winning the war against terror is not just about going to Sambisa forest but unmasking the faces behind the mask and making them pay dearly for killing Nigerians. Anything short may make Nigerians vote BOKO HARAM ahead of incapability’’ because it takes the living to witness good government.

Peter Peton Ibezim.