Boko Haram and its implications
Hadiza Wada, DBA …August 6, 2011
In a quest to suppress the political influence, economic status, social as well
as religious will and values of the majority of Nigerian Population since 1999,
the nation has experienced various policies, schemes, designs, and actions that
have resulted in serious life threatening consequences. The irony is, such deliberately
enforced policies were not a consequence of military dictatorships of the past,
but were experienced under a system that many earlier thought was ideal for the
multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation i.e. democracy. The result today is that, many
intellectuals are rethinking the presidential type democracy as a viable
political system for Nigeria.
The Nigerian majority population continues to read at the very least
subjectivity, if not blind support from world powers who parade the world as the
upholders of democratic values, but yet neglected without any serious criticism,
the realities of what is happening in Nigeria.
That inability to enforce some form of legal deterrent, or swift action
in bringing culprits of ethnic and religious attacks on innocent citizens to
book, began during the tenure of Nigerian Former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It runs parallel and almost hand in
hand with the initiation of an anti-terrorism campaign that launched wars in
both Iraq and Afghanistan in concordance with the policies of the George Bush
Jr. Administration. The tenures of
the two administrations almost run together, Bush’s 2000-2008, while Obasanjo’s
was 1999-2007.
Today, the Nigerian nation seems to be
tied up by the repercussions of such serious breach of the ideals of democracy. The consequences included the rise
against the only sure way of building any bridge between Nigerians and its
Western mentors, most especially the United States, whose system of government
and constitutional ideals Nigeria aims to emulate. These actions if not checked, have
the capacity to throw the nation into irreversible chaos, i.e. one that has the
capacity to defy any solution.
Boko Haram is not the only challenge that seems to be the result of such
oppressive ‘democratic’ regime. The designs are all readily apparent to most
Nigerians, even those who could not point to the designs and policies with any
specificity. Before Boko Haram [what
many saw as a politically designed and manipulated group, gone haywire], we had
a decade of heinous ethnic cleansing episodes against people of similar
statistical background with the radicalized Yusefiyya members, emanating first
from southern Nigeria in Shagamu 1999, up North to Kaduna 2002, then to Plateau
State to settle almost permanently there among the most easily aroused,
vulnerable and politically unstable natives of the middle belt zone [in Plateau]
1999 – to date.
Background to the Yusefiyya Sect
Local accounts surrounding what the Yusefiyya [Boko Haram] is all about and what
it turned into today abounds. In a
recent interview reported by the weekend edition of Daily Trust
17 July, 2011, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume
who represents Borno South made some enlightening comments about the movement. The interview follows the deployment
of military personnel to Maiduguri under the command of General Jack Nwachukwu
to deal with the Boko Haram phenomenon.
According to the senator it started as a group in Yobe and later spread to
nearby states. Other sources however
stated that it actually emanated in Borno State.
Whatever the real place where it was formed, almost all sources agree
that it was formed sometime in 2002, three years into the Obasanjo
Administration. “They have been in
existence as a religious sect for the past eight years. They never attacked any civilian or
engaged in violence,” the Senator representing the area added. It was just like
every other religious sect. And there are sects in all the religions. But there
is no fight over that. That was how Boko Haram was. But the security
organizations thought that their ways of preaching is out of line and instead of
managing it, they tried to crush that sect and that created more problems than
solutions.”
The first reported incidence of violence by the group was the raid they carried
at a local Police Station in the City of Bauchi, after an incident with federal
Police agents. It was reported that
members of the group were stopped on their way to a funeral to bury one of
theirs who was killed a day earlier by police, and were manhandled a second time
by the police who harassed them, shooting into the air as a result of which the
dead body was dropped. A scuffle
occurred and some other members were killed a second time. Soon after burying their dead, they
raided a local police station. After
the news of that very event was spread, members of the sect in other cities
rioted and thus began their anti-police agenda.
The issue was still fresh and ongoing in several cities in July of 2009, when
the Late President Umaru Musa ‘Yar adua gave a shoot-on-sight order to the
security forces, shortly before leaving the country for an official visit to
Brazil. That order was carried out
in one of the most heinous manners yet meted on civilians by the Nigerian
security forces. The raid was swift
and resulted in the detention of the sect’s leader Muhammed Yusuf and his
topmost assistants. They were handed alive to the police, but were killed in
Police custody. An in-law of the
sect leader, whom the security agents visited his home while he was away, later
reported himself to the police upon his return, and was equally killed in police
custody. These series of incidents
all occurring in July of 2009, triggered the sect’s violence, which were since
then directed at members of the Police, other security forces, and top
politicians.
After subsequent attacks on their members in ways that violated both national
laws, and the universal human rights edicts, the general public appealed to both
the sect members and the security forces to work within confines of the law. At that time, the sect members
initially issued their demands for resolution of the scuffle. After the passage of what they
considered reasonable time for answering their demands, they started launching
attacks. According to Senator Ndume, parts of their demands were that
compensation be paid to the families of their members unlawfully killed and that
those involved in the extra judicial killing of their members be prosecuted.
That was not done.
When the federal government set up a panel of inquiry, the sect members
requested that the report should be published, that was not done, either. The
Senator further disclosed that the sect members initially trusted contacts with
agents of the Federal government in the intelligence community, thinking they
sincerely wanted a resolution. But
after what they deemed as insincere moves by the agents and further attempts to
set them up against each other, they became radicalized. “The SSS tried to de-radicalize some
of them, they try to set them up.” Soon
after, they went underground and started launching surprised attacks on
authorities. In most incidences, they seem to operate in a much more sensitive
fashion than their security agent counterparts, in avoiding innocent casualties.
How they gained notoriety and became radicalized
It was reported that the Boko Haram group has grown significantly since its
inception in 2002. Before going
underground, they had sizable followers in neighboring states of Bauchi, Gombe,
Taraba and Yobe. Because they hold public preaching events wherever they lived,
they were also known. They were
visible and people around them know them and their ideologies. No one who cares not for their kind
of thinking gave them much recognition.
They mainly advocate moving away from Western cultural values, including
its form of education.
Many intellectuals, including common opinion among radio call in shows
especially right after Boko Haram’s major attack in Abuja Police headquarters,
seems to suggest that the rise of resentment against western values could be
traced directly to Western campaigns in Iraq, and Afghanistan, which was
translated despite many denials by the invading forces, as a fight against
Muslims and Islam everywhere. Intelligence
in Nigeria is not an exclusive territory of the Presidency. Even in advanced countries,
intelligence does leak, because people gather such intelligence and distribute
it, and people are not machines. As
such Muslims do not have to be in government to be aware of the security
situation in the country, and what is being done by whom and for what reason,
most especially within the military, both retired and serving members. Not only were clear schemes
implemented by the previous administration to skew the membership of Muslim
Northern residents from the Forces, the same principle was applied to the
Nigerian Police Force and Military Police recruitment exercises. The result now is that, security
forces insensitive to the cultural values of the people they serve, and some
even outright antagonistic, are deployed to areas they detest with full
ammunition to quell crisis.
In his Annual Sermons for Ramadan, The Late Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam foresaw
what obtains today. The Sheikh expressed
disgust at some Northern Governor’s and others in elected positions that were
supposed to be representing their population, but do not speak out when such
gatekeeping schemes come to light.
The reports he was speaking about were printed in the media, i.e. that states
with a fraction of the population of some Northern States were getting about two
thousand recruits into the Nigerian Police Force, while much more populated
Northern States were getting 200 each.
For years, it appears that certain elements within the Nigerian Administration,
since 1999 when the current round of “democratic” government was launched were
seeking to force Nigeria into a country that would become the next guinea pig of
western Coalition forces. They saw
an opportunity to enrich themselves by selling out their brothers and sisters. They yearn for attracting funds to
crush a self-made and self-incited group.
Probably misjudging the way Western Nations operate, i.e. in crisis
situation Developed Nations do not release funds to people, they give “military
Assistance” which turn out to be in weaponry and warfare gear, which only ends
up killing more of one’s local people indiscriminately. Examples abound, like in the case of
Ahmed Chalabi and Iraq. Chalabi was
reported in the press to be one of the key natives of Iraq that persuaded
Western powers to invade his country.
Most Recent Incident with the Military
The recent reports of atrocities by the military are not the first of its kind. Though the police have primarily been
implicated earlier, it appears that the military have also joined in the
extrajudicial killing. Some even
call it revenge killing. This quote
form a regular columnist for Optimist Voice, Dr. Tilde from Nigeria says:
“In revenging the killing of some of its personnel during the Sunday shootout and
under the pretext of harboring Boko Haram members and refusing to divulge
intelligence, JTF men [the military deployed to Maiduguri, Borno State] cordoned
some sections of the town and set ablaze houses and cars, allegedly raped women
and killed all men they could find in the houses that they broke into. There had
been rumors making the rounds that the military has vowed to kill 50 civilians
for every soldier killed by Boko Haram members. According to a source, this is
exactly what they went about doing two days ago. The reports aired on foreign
media like the BBC, VOA, RDW, and RFI throughout yesterday, Monday 11 July 2011,
have corroborated these accounts.”
[Tilde]
The deployment of military personnel under the
command of one General Jack Nwachukwu to fish out and crush the sect was widely
criticized by many as a wrong move, based on earlier events as stated above.
Senator Ndume asserted the position of Borno Elders Forum. “Force is not the best option,” he
added. Nigeria could take cue from
similar world events where force failed, and dialogue was the final victor. “In the United Kingdom, they had the
issue of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), in Spain, you have the issue of ETA,
in Russia there is the Chechen rebels and in several other places. Even in
Afghanistan, the United States and its allies have been fighting the Talibans
for over ten years without much success, now they have to go back to the
negotiation table with the moderates in the Taliban. That is why we are saying
that the federal government should engage in dialogue and intensify intelligence
instead of using force.”
One issue that is uncontestable is the presence
among the Borno Elders Forum, of not only credible and honorable elders of
repute, but also retired members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Among the signatories of the
correspondence from the elders to the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, are
such names as Brigadier General Abba Kyari (Rtd) a Former Military
Administrator, and Air Vice Marshal Al-Amin Daggash (Rtd), who are local
residents and natives of the area.
Government sources however continued to advocate
other means, saying dialogue will not work, while others among them say the Boko
Haram have rejected local gestures for dialogue.
The Senator however argues that since primarily the Yusefiyya members
operate underground, many victims of military deployment are the visible
civilians. Community members have been displaced and the situation has gotten to
a level of a humanitarian crisis.
Though many may have expressed the situation as
political game scoring, the Senator blamed the previous state administration for
the bad management of the situation that has now degenerated. Senator Ndume, who did not accuse the
Former state governor of any hand in establishing the group, however blamed him
for mismanagement of the situation.
“Most honest advice given was not heeded by the previous administration of Ali
Modu Sheriff.”
From the interview with Senator Ndume, it appears the door to reaching
members, even while underground, are still open.
But trust has broken.
Presently, it appear security agents and the radicalized sect members are
playing a game of the hunter and the hunted, with the security forces trying to
impress onlookers with impressive casualties, which local residents describe as
innocent citizens. The Senator
confirmed what many have been saying, that the radicalized sect members have
consistently gone after the authorities they claim have yet to fully compensate
them, and those that betrayed them etc. “They
had a list and they even send letters to their targets telling them why they
were coming after them. There are several people today who know they wronged the
Boko Haram sect and cannot venture into Maiduguri today including Ali Sheriff
himself.”
Federal Level Policy Problem
In his paper written at the turn of the century [September, 2000], for
example, Professor of History from Bayero University Kano, Dahiru Yahya
expressed eloquently the growing systemic problem, along with its inevitable
results of producing unnecessary destruction and conflicts because it is
“unsustainable” and “humanly unattainable.”
According to him, the introduction of Shari’a was partially borne out of
the apparent insensitive perception and stance of the first democratic
government run under the much publicized ‘born again Christian President’ [a
trend he described elsewhere as the prevailing ‘political Christianity’].
Writing about the extreme reaction to Shari’a laws introduced by the majority
Muslim states of Northern Nigeria during the early years of the return to
democracy, Dr. Yahya states:
“The zealous Christian crusader makes sure, by hook or crook and in line
with colonial principles, that the Nigerian military, para-military, civil and
security services and educational institutions are overwhelmingly manned by
Christians. It does not matter to him that non-Christians too have a right to a
fair share in the governance of the country. It does not matter whether or not
his action creates tension or instability in the body politic of the country. In
his colonially inspired mentality, he believes that man can be suppressed
permanently by use of coercive apparatus of state. He is always frustrated
because he has placed himself on a course, the principle of which is unethical
and the goal of which is unattainable.”
As a Professor of History, he quoted concrete episodes local and far to
drive home his conviction. The
success of the oppressed and the corresponding humiliating defeat of coercive
powers experienced by recent history, he says, should be a lesson for those
Nigerians bent on destructive policies.
Examples abound, such as the passive resistance led by an unarmed
physically weak Ghandi, the failure of the Soviet power machines in the face of
resistance by disparate mujahidin in Afghanistan and the collapse of apartheid
in South Africa in the face of poorly equipped African resistance inspired by an
imprisoned Mandela, to mention the most recent examples, all proved the futility
of the suppression of man by use of economic, political or military power.
Nigerian political Christianity pushers, he concludes, should be aware that
“they drink from the same philosophical pond’ with the British colonialist, the
Russian aggressors, and the apartheid enforcing white South Africans.
Another opinion he presented is shared by The Optimist Voice in most of
its write-ups, the contribution of a subjective press to Nigerian insecurity.
Professor Yahya also concluded that the manipulation of information nationwide
feeds the instability monster. Information is a crucial source of exposure and
consciousness. “The official government media in Nigeria suppresses information
and the powerful private and mainly Christian controlled media falsify it and do
immeasurable harm to their Christian readers and listeners whose perception it
mutilates with incorrect and sensational reporting, thus constituting for them
obstacles to national understanding.” [Yahya, 2000]
This analysis helped place an enigmatic group in perspective, i.e. the
apologist Northern resident, who readily accepts all the inhumane violations of
his basic human rights as a deserving punishment for his leadership in the past,
without the accompanying data that places into perspective an accurate and
objective occurrences within and between the various stakeholders. The apologist Northerner was
described by professor Yahya as the ‘secularist’ educated Nigerian. Viewing such people from their
educational conditioning, he has categorized them away from those educated under
the missionary designed colonial education that gave birth to the typical
Southern crusading lot. The
secularist conditioned Nigerian presents a neutral albeit non conscious
personality devoid of critical reasoning.
The crusading lot, however, are by far the greater proportion of the two
groups, he disclosed.
The Effects of Global Neoliberalism
Another factor that might have played a part in encouraging the corrupt
Nigerian regimes to generate policies that incubated the present security
challenges, one after the other is termed neoliberalism. These policies blend very well with
the destructive policies applied across the country since the inception of its
most recent democratic experimentation.
Neoliberalism: A term recently coined:
“Refers to the policies and processes whereby a relative handful of
private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of social life in
order to maximize their personal profit,” according to Professor Noam Chomsky. First associated with the Ronald
Reagan and Margaret Thatcher Administrations of the United States and Britain
respectively, it has “for the past two decades remains the dominant global
economic trend adopted by political parties of the center,” he explains. It proves however, socially
devastating.
In its online edition, Wikipedia however defined neoliberalism as “a label
for the market-driven[1] approach to economic and social policy based on
neoclassical theories of economics that stresses the efficiency of private
enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks
to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the political and
economic priorities of the state. The term, it says, is almost always used
by opponents of the policy. One
prominent element of that policy is the bulldozing or sheer neglect of public
opinion and interests of the governed.
It assumes and postulates that only the government and policymakers know
what is good for the country.
It is befitting to ask how Nigeria, a typical third world economy tie into
this largely developed economy kind of social gaming. The answer may not be
farfetched. Nigeria has for long suffered from its own home grown vices, such as
tribalism. In addition religion has
also become a dichotomy, though not as prominent as it is today. So with the current aggressive global
policies of ‘manufacturing consent,’ massive propaganda, and in addition the
neoliberal mentality, it fanned such tendencies to uncontrollable levels. In addition, various colonial control
freaks and greed driven leaders have for years run the country seemingly craving
for approval of former colonial masters and more.
The mimicking of foreign cultures, combined with the sheer lack of
patriotism and respect for the basic survival interests of the millions of their
own population, turns any country into a surrogate state, playing risky games
and gradually trekking towards uncontrolled chaos.
Generally agreed, neoliberalism “shifts risk from governments and
corporations onto individuals and to extend this kind of market logic into the
realm of social arena.” In short the
people and their interest are neglected and abused. In Nigeria, once again, the
main group at the receiving end of that oppression is the global victim of
massive propaganda, their Muslim brothers and sisters. Regardless of the lessons of History,
as rightfully expressed above by Professor Yahya, not many of the leaders or the
intellectuals within their circles, could warn them honestly.
Ref.
1.
Chomsky, N. (1999). Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and the Global Order. New
York: Seven Stories Press.
2.
Interview with Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Daily Trust, 17 July 2011.
3.
Tilde, A. “Boko Haram and the Military: A Dialogue of Bombs and Bullets.”
Friday Discourse, (July 12, 20011)
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/07/discourse-321-boko-haram-and-military.html
4.
Yahya, D. “The Shari'ah and the Future of Nigeria” (7 September, 2000), Public
Lecture at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs.
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