Apathy vs. audacity

Also published in Daily Trust

Contrary to the assumption that Boko Haram security crisis is the result of a grand conspiracy plotted against Nigeria, the north or Muslims, I believe and have always argued that there is indeed Boko Haram as a group and as a deviant ideological phenomenon also.   

Nevertheless, in view of how these desperate AK-47-clutching terrorists continue to exhaust and indeed overwhelm the presumably better-trained, better equipped, and supposedly motivated Nigerian army and other security agents, I began to look for a plausible explanation of the mystery behind the recurrent escalation of terror activities and the persistent failure of the military to tackle it.

This however does not necessarily mean ruling out the possibility of a conspiracy altogether behind the crisis. After all, some moves, actions and inactions do indeed raise serious doubt about government’s sincerity to end this crisis. For instance there have been several credible reports about the withdrawal of military units from some locations only to be followed by devastating terror attacks in the same vicinity, as it recently happened in Federal Government College in Buni Yadi town in Yobe state where Boko Haram militants massacred dozens of students. As a matter of fact, almost every incidence of Boko Haram terror attack is preceded by either a blatant tactical blunder and/or an inexcusable security vacuum.

In any case, even though conspiracy is real, I have always maintained that, Nigeria is not that kind of country that should be conspired against in the first place. Conspirators target only serious, ambitious and progressive-minded countries which have the required amount of determination and zeal to excel. Lacking all these qualities, Nigeria is unfortunately too insignificant to be targeted by external conspirators, for its leaders and, to a large extent, the citizens alike have already spared potential conspirators the stress of having to conspire against it.

Besides, even if there is a conspiracy against a particular ethno-religious group or part of the country, it must be an internal conspiracy within the context of power struggle among the country’s various ethno-religious groups.

Therefore the setback increasingly suffered by Nigerian army personnel and other security agents at the hands of Boko Haram terrorists is not actually due to power imbalance in favour of the militants, as alleged by some people. After all, despite the much-talked-about frightening guerrilla combat manoeuvre skills of Boko Haram militants and the fact that government troops fighting them are neither sufficiently armed nor efficiently trained as they are supposed to be, they (i.e. government troops) are superior to Boko Haram rebels anyway.

However, the apparent apathy and indecisiveness that characterize government’s handling of the crisis and which, by implication, affect the combat readiness of its troops remain the biggest challenge undermining the troops’ ability to crush the rebels. Without necessarily exonerating the poor military and other security personnel on the war fronts, their fast diminishing morale is the inevitable consequence of government’s apathy and lack of political will to find a lasting solution to the crisis.

While the rebels’ apparent sense of indomitability remains their main source of motivation, which also provides them with the ability to strike such a huge fear in the hearts of the already unmotivated Nigerian troops and security agents who have, according to several credible reports, taken to their heels on several occasions upon encounter with the rebels, or simply failed to be proactive enough to pre-empt terrorist attacks in various locations.

Therefore in a nutshell, it is actually the audacity of Boko Haram militants that continuously frustrates government security agents’ “efforts” to restore and maintain security in the region.

Meanwhile, in addition to the foregoing, the attitude of the general public towards the crisis is not helping matters either. It is very unfortunate that while Boko Haram rebels continue to massacre innocent people, maim many more, destroy the already decrepit public infrastructure, compound the misery already imposed on the people by the successive federal, state and local governments over the decades, yet so many people still deny the existence of Boko Haram altogether and instead blame government, some local or international government entities or countries of being behind all the attacks.

An increasing number of people in the region and beyond who suffer the most ironically live in denial to the extent that going against this trend by arguing and insisting that there is indeed Boko Haram terrorists hell-bent on killing as many innocent people as they can and causing as much destruction as they can, subjects one to ridicule, to say the least.

The high rate at which people in the region unnecessarily and unconsciously become conspiracy theorists with respect to Boko Haram crisis is quite alarming despite the sheer illogicality of the pretexts circulated in order to justify looking at it that way.

It is clear that, just as government’s apathy remains responsible for the continuation of this crisis, the general public is increasingly becoming equally guilty for not being objective enough to come to terms with the reality that Boko Haram militants are from the same major ethno-religious groups in the region who have been brainwashed, radicalized and misled into terrorism purportedly in the name of Islam whereas Islam has nothing to do with their activities.

This therefore underscores the urgent need for concerted and coordinated efforts involving all segments of the society in order to formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle this crisis. And obviously this can only be achieved if both the government and the governed live up to their individual and collective responsibilities.