Naija Political Blog

Over two weeks after more than 200 teenage girls students of the government secondary school in Chibok, Bornu State were kidnapped from their boarding school by Boko Haram, the Nigerian government has remained silent in the face of this very urgent and tragic incident.  For president GEJ not to have come out and make a nationwide broadcast to the country to at least try to reassure the parents of these children, citizens of Nigeria at home and abroad and the international community who are aggrieved and in agony over the abduction has brought monumental shame and embarrassment to Nigeria. This is perhaps the worst example of presidential incompetence that Nigerians have ever witnessed.  How could any leader not respond to the international outcry and agony over this abduction? Politicians in other parts of the world are known to routinely suspend their election campaigning, albeit temporarily in the face of any national tragedy as it would be politically suicidal not to do so. This unfortunately does not apply to Nigeria where anything goes and politicians are only accountable to their god fathers and sponsors.

Following the news of the abduction of these students last week on BBC, CNN and various local and international new media, one was just consumed with rage about the lack of response on the part of the Nigerian government. What kind of country is this? Listening to BBC on the radio last week, reporter Nkem Ifejika spoke to two women from Chibok who had travelled to Abuja to take part in the demonstration calling on the Nigerian government to act on the unfolding tragedy. One of the ladies made an insightful statement saying “people say the north is backward in education especially for the girl child, this incident will create more fear and more girls will not go to school” as a result of this abduction and government inaction. Watching the demonstration in Abuja on BBC, one of the demonstrators interviewed said “this is a big example that this government does not represent us” referring to government’s inaction and silence in this matter. Another commentator on American media stated while discussing this tragedy that “a government that cannot protect its’ most vulnerable population, the children, has lost its’ legitimacy to rule that country. These are palpable sentiments over the government’s inaction to mobilize the security forces to rescue these girls. Watching the demonstration in Abuja on television and seeing the faces of the crying mothers, parents and women in general was just heart breaking. How can a government not be moved by these agonizing images? Where is the National Assembly, the country’s legislature in all of this? Like American politicians will say, this is a do nothing legislature.

This raises the question, how did we get here? How did we end up with GEJ as president of Nigeria?  Well, we can lay the blame at the door step of former President OBJ. He was reported to have hand- picked GEJ to join the late President Umaru Yar’Adua  as his running mate during the 2006/2007 presidential campaign after he was soundly defeated by the National Assembly in his bid to run for a third term. He did not hand-pick GEJ for his intellect, political acumen and ability to make a difference. He hand-picked this man in order to further his selfish and mischievous aims. While western politicians like the late Senator Edward Kennedy make sacrifices to groom potential future leaders like Barack Obama for the good of their country, the opposite is true for Nigerian leaders. This is how we ended up with the status quo.

Where is the search and rescue effort on the part of the Nigerian armed forces? There are reports that it’s’ the local hunters and men in the Chibok area that have volunteered to go in the bushes to search for the girls. The other issue is that the Nigerian armed forces are no match for Boko Haram. It is no secret that Boko Haram is receiving support from a segment of the northern elite and from Al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb. They are armed to the teeth with very sophisticated weapons similar to those one might find American soldiers using. It’s like taking a dagger to a fight when your opponent has an AK-47. It’s a “no brainer” who is going to win this fight. This is the sad fate of the Nigerian soldiers. These soldiers do not want to die for a country that does not value their lives. Who can blame them? Going by the Nigerian culture where men tend to be the bread winner in families, the death of a soldier could potentially leave the wife and children destitute due to lack of adequate compensation to the family of the fallen soldier by the Nigerian government.  In a country where the elderly and senior citizens who gave their sweats, tears and blood working for the government are living in abject poverty, deprived of their pensions due to corruption, who can expect anything better from the government?

It has become apparent that the Nigerian government is unable to defeat Boko Haram. This terrorist group appears to be getting stronger. The Nigerian government must immediately seek foreign assistance from countries that have more experience in dealing with local insurgencies and terrorist groups like the British, Spain, Israel, Ireland and the US amongst others. When you are dealing with an opponent whose foot soldiers are not afraid to die, you must change your strategy and tactics. The more you kill, the more they grow. This is the only way to defeat Boko Haram. The current strategy has been a huge failure. In American cultural parlance it is often said that a sign of insanity is to keep applying the same failed solution to a problem and expecting a different outcome. The Nigerian government must swallow it’s pride and seek foreign assistance immediately.