"Only military force should be used against an enemy that has unacceptable demands and that believes divine salvation will be achieved through suicidal attacks on our innocent civilians.''.Christopher James McCoyWe live in insecure times and when the necessity for national survival and territorial protection beckons, it behooves on the leadership of a country to enforce its constitutional obligations to the people and protect both the citizens and territorial space by all means necessary. It would be foolhardy for a traveller to set forth his cart before his horse, same way it portends disaster when a nation combats a security situation as volatile as terrorism haphazardly, there must be a distinctive action plan which extricates the insalubrious knee-jerk reactions that come with the employment of stochastic approach as experienced in the Independence Day celebration fiasco. As it is with all progressive governments faced with the quandary of religious-based terrorism, military force must be the primary approach and negotiations a last resort.The ills that succeed bargaining with terrorists are far too many for the idea to be caressed at this stage when other options are yet to be deployed. When one decides to go into negotiation with terrorist organisations, such as Boko Haram, it gives recognition to the existence of the gang and opens a window of opportunities for them to escalate violence as a bargaining tool. Negotiations will put Nigeria on the back foot, as it would be inclined to act through democratic processes in its handling during and post-negotiations with the group, while the group, having no constitution to protect, would act irascibly. For a group that has shown no cohesion in its leadership structure, the odds of splinter groups rising after a deal might have been made are very high and their emergence would make null negotiations that had hitherto been made.Many pro-negotiation proponents would quickly point to the Niger-Delta crisis as basis for their resolution, but in their haste to look for excuses for weakness, miss the point. The creek-militants were largely selfish people looking for means to enrich themselves and therefore could easily be persuaded and coerced. They had motivation for material things and their price was in monetary terms, so they never found satisfaction in blowing up themselves for their cause. However, Boko Haram answers to a god we cannot bring to a roundtable. Their reward is embellished in another world in form of multiple naked virgins, and unless the Federal Government is prepared to offer this ethereal promise here on earth, negotiations are but a waste of time and resources. Even if negotiations were to occur, there is no assurance that the agreed terms would be adhered to by the group, and some Ustaz would not yet again become seized by a mystic revelation to clear out the infidels.When Al-Qaeda unleashed the infamous '911' attack on the United States, former President George Bush's response seemed overtly peremptory at the time, but the two-prone attack on Afghanistan and Iraq drastically limited the tentacles of Osama's group. It was effective and at the same time decisive in making known America's stance towards terrorism. Due to the amorphous nature of religious-based fanaticism mixed with the pseudo-secular nature of the Nigerian space, it is imperative for little tolerance to be placed on religiously-motivated terrorist groups. The duty of the Nigerian State is to protect the citizens from external and internal aggressors, and clearly, the Boko Haram sect represents the latter. Their series of bombing attacks capped by that of the United Nations' Building in Abuja represents a clear violation of the Nigerian territorial space and the world watches how the federal government responds, which in turn has a ripple effect on the level of FDI's and economic growth in the country.Nigeria cannot afford to send the wrong signals to the world on how we respond to terrorists. More importantly, the government must show its citizens to whom it is responsible that it does not condone terrorism. We must fully exploit all military options in tackling this scourge, we must expend all military paraphernalia in the defence of the fatherland. And only when Boko Haram has conquered the Nigerian Army should we resort to negotiations.'Sylvester wrote in from 12 Jida Road, Agbara, Ogun State. 08063461739
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