Reverend Edet E. Umo, warns against politicising war against Boko Haram
Why Governments Should not Play Politics With War Against Insurgency
By Rev. Edet E. Umo
It is sad to note that insurgents have continued to wreak havoc in Nigeria, particularly in the Northern parts and it seems as if our political leaders are not in touch with this reality. Observers put the figure of deaths caused by Boko Haram from 2009 to date at 12, 000. But on each passing day, we are made to celebrate purported victory over Boko Haram while in the actual sense, the war is far from being over.
It sounds, and unfortunately so, as if some ill-hearted people are playing dubious politics with insurgency. And Nigerians are the ones paying dearly for it. Responsible and responsive government should find an end to insurgency in Nigeria and take the credit for that instead of this blame-game we are experiencing every day.
“Never sing songs of victory until the head of your enemy is in your hand” has been an old adage. This is the mistake our country is making. We claim that Boko Haram has been defeated yet this satanic group is still wreaking havoc in the North East, killing citizens, destroying communities and abducting many.
Boko Haram is a terrorist group and the government should know that terrorism is never defeated anywhere in the world. The more you destroy them, the more they become strong. We must be at alert always and not living anything for chances.
The truth is that most Nigerians will always say evil about those who will counter the false claim of the government at every time and will be called “wailers”. However, we must always call a spade a spade.
When the Information Minister, Lai Muhammad as well as the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government were talking about TECHNICAL DEFEAT of Boko Haram, observant people noted that it was not so true, many used so many wrong nomenclatures on us, but today, the story is worst on every passing day.
The government should understand that it is the lives of innocent people that are being wasted. Government should not be talking about ‘technical defeat’ because it is a known fact that more people are dying. It seems to me that ‘technical defeat is the biggest fraud, insult and deceit the APC led government is using on some citizens of this country. This itself is corruption and must be fought by all.
Has the government of the day not yet been shown the market where arms are sold? Or is it that the government is yet to budget for that, while more Nigerians continue to die and former administration continues to take the blame? The problem is that, out present government is a government of propaganda, what a pity?
Even if they have defeated the Boko Haram as proclaimed by the government, why can’t we be quiet and continue the defeat. When a government is proud of itself at the detriment of sincerity, they will kill one and report that they have killed 50. They will also claim all is well, even when the terrorists are on the military.
Its indeed becoming worse than it was in the previous years. Boko haram is becoming more daring and emboldened by the day. Despite the quick claim that they have been defeated. Now we turn around to claim that they attack soft spots. Is military barracks they are over running soft spots? We should minimize those newspapers propaganda and face the challenges squarely.
The nephew to Boko Haram, the herdsmen are worse than their uncle. They go about openly into communities, destroy crops and farmlands, source of waters, women/female in their host communities and even engaged the communities in an open combat with sophisticated weapons and ammunitions.
The approach to governance is different from playing opposition. Whereas, the former deals with impacting the life of the citizens through a sincere and record proven drive, the latter deals with attack and condemnation of the activities of the led. Whereas the former calls for deliberate responsive and prompt action/ pro-activism of the led, the latter calls for continual suggestions on what is expected of the government which they have not done. It therefore becomes worrisome that the government is rather playing the opposition rule while they are in the ones in government.
Reverend Edet E. Umo, an Abuja based minster of God, sent in this piece from Abuja, Nigeria.