LISTENING to horror tales from a distance has a way of injecting a feeling of apathy and disconsolate nonchalance on the listener. But for an observer and a victim, the impact is real, profound and traumatising.The latest orgy of violence unleashed by the Boko Haram sect on Friday, November 4, 2011, is another traumatic disaster for the victims and the bereaved but for us, the traditional sympathisers, it is, unfortunately, business as usual. We have paid our condolence visits and made the usual diplomatic statements. "The perpetrators of this wicked act will soon be brought to book". "The sacrifice of our martyrs shall not be in vain", and so on and so forth. Such statements come so freely from those mourning the dead but for the bereaved, it is a tale of excruciating pain and eternal trauma. Losing a beloved one is a painful trauma nobody wants to live through.But the Boko Haram sect has neither compunction nor any iota of moral conscience as they have come to inflict pain and sorrow and shed blood everywhere. I had thought that my last article on the sect would be the one after the UN building bombing in August 2011 but alas, how wrong man could be. To be candid, the sect appears to have to come to stay with us. It announced its nauseating presence in 2002 as a religious cult/sect without any orchestrated philosophy. Some of its resolves then were among others to islamise all the Northern states (and of course, Nigeria later); to eradicate secular education and replace it with undiluted Islamic education; and to jettison any trace of western education or civilisation. Its determination to islamise the 19 Northern states will be an impossible feat as some states therein have as much as 85 per cent Christian population especially in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states. In Adamawa and Taraba states, Christian population is above 35 per cent. In states like Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Katsina, Yobe, Niger and Jigawa, the situation is not too different. Even in predominantly Muslim states like Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Borno, total islamisation will be an unfair deal for Nigerians from other cultural and religious backgrounds living in those states.Essentially, to islamise any part of Nigeria is to totally alienate non-Muslim Nigerians residing in such states. How can Nigerians obey Nigerias call when the nation is no longer bound in freedom' Nigerians must be free to practise their religions wherever they live. They must never be compelled by a violent religion that negates that cherished freedom which the constitution guarantees us.Boko Haram, we are told, means a genetic hatred for books (boko haram) and the products therefrom. Hence, its hatred for Western education and culture even though its founding leaders, Yusuf Mohammed and Buji Foi, were graduates not of Quranic School but from the education system which they abhor so much.And last week, the sect caused mayhem in Damaturu, Yobe State and reportedly bombed six churches and two police stations including the headquarters of the state police command. In this particular incident, at last 63 deaths were recorded while some independent sources claimed that about 100 people died in the eight targets in the state alone. In two other separate attacks, two women were killed inside a Catholic Church in the Zango Kataf area of Kaduna State. Another life was also lost in an attack in Maiduguri, Borno State.Most of these bombings are well advertised and the targets are well notified in advance. The Federal Government must muster the political will to tackle this breeding monster once and for all. The government has the means and might to wipe out this dreaded dragon in the making if it wants.Nigerians will recall that the Niger Delta Joint Task Force under the command of Brigadier Sarkin Bello discomfited the Niger Delta militants and disorganised and destroyed their bases killing over 100 militants in a government undeclared reprisal against the militants who were accused of killing 11 soldiers in May 2009. Bello brought the militants to their knees. Nigerians still remember how the Maitasine crisis was brought to an abrupt end when the government gave the order to flush out and crush the sect. And it took only two days for the military to crush Maitasine and his followers and till date, the sect has not resurrected.When it comes to such orders and operations, the military has no friends. The Boko Haram crisis has been lingering since 2002 and after nine years of uninterrupted operation, it has grown bolder, more daring and won local and international Islamic sympathy. It has also expanded the sophistication of its network and weaponry. If the Federal Government does not nip this cancerous growth in the stem, as it has passed the bud stage, the sect will become more problematic than the al-Shabaab in Somalia which today is causing mayhem not only in Somalia but also in Kenya, Uganda and other neighbouring countries. Today, al-Shabaab has grown so big that the United Nations, America and an African combined forces codenamed "AFRICOM" are all fighting to contain the group.Most of the strong rebel groups of the world today became so powerful because the governments of their countries did not adopt the right approach ab initio. The Aceh rebels of Indonesia, the FARC rebels of Columbia, the Yemeni al-qaeda, the Mungiki of Kenya, the Janjaweed of Sudan, and the Taliban of Afghanistan are just some of them. The origin of the term, Taliban, is as controversial in 1994 as it is today. Some Asian watchers believe that the young militants who rescued the first Pakistani trade convoy from the Afghan warlords in Kandahar in October 1994 are the progenitors of todays Talibans.The Moro rebels of southern Philippines are another pathetic case for the Philippines. They have tormented Philippines for over 20 years with over 160,000 people dead and two million others displaced. President Benigno Aquino who was elected in June 2010 has approved $150m for the purchase of helicopters and other weapons to overpower the rebels. The Philippine case is further worsened by the activities of other Islamic fundamentalist rebels and communist sympathisers.Indonesia today is enjoying some respite from the Aceh rebels who started laying down their arms in September 2005 till December 2005 when the last government soldiers left Aceh territory.Nigeria can avoid these worst case scenarios by baring its fangs to show that we have the capacity to contain this ugly menace in spite of heavy logistics and political support Boko Haram is getting from quarters. Nigeria will be exposed to global ridicule and shame if the Taliban situation is replicated in the country. Nigeria is too elastic to absorb such a shock and the inevitable result is for the now thread bare bond that holds us together, to snap.The Federal Government has to act fast to avoid the international community placing the "no-go-area" tag on Nigeria. If this happens, our already fragile economy will collapse as foreign investors will shun the country and seek investment opportunities elsewhere.Perhaps, the easiest way out of this impasse is to adopt the solution of Alhaji Bala Nallah, a member of the last House of Representatives, who suggested that the 20 million people who inhabit the restive Niger Delta be wiped off with a big bomb so that the Federal Government could have access to the regions crude oil. Even though Sarkin Bello did not drop the big bomb in the Niger Delta, he seemed to have responded to Nallahs promptings and routed the militants of the Niger Delta. The Federal Government needs to give the order as the Nigerian Army does not lack able officers to wipe out Boko Haram. Yes it is possible.Nanaghan wrote in from 27, Olaniyi Street, Bariga, Lagos via E-mail: bennanaghan@yahoo.com
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