The knot unravels

Also published in Daily Trust

One interesting thing about a knot, be it literal or metaphorical e.g. a conspiracy is that, no matter how it is intricately knitted, once it begins to unravel, especially in an abrupt manner, it can hardly if at all be stopped, as it will simply continue to unravel until it exposes whatever hidden in it.

This is exactly what is gradually unfolding in Nigeria, which is also exposing the treacherous elements among the Nigerian ruling elites and their cohorts who are hell-bent on prolonging the current Boko Haram crisis for their personal interests.

By the way, while commenting on my last Friday’s article, THE PLOT THICKENS, a reader who obviously and wrongly assumed that my constant dismissal of conspiracy theories as being solely behind the Boko Haram crisis is tantamount to the denial of any conspiracy behind it altogether, hinted (in the form of a question) at what he wrongly regarded as an inconsistency in my stand. Whereas, the reality is that, as opposed to the conspiracy theorists, I have always maintained that, the existence of a conspiracy behind the crisis does not negate the fact that there are indeed some misled Muslims who started and are still actively engaged in the acts of terrorism purportedly in the name of Islam.

Anyway, it is now increasingly becoming clear that this bloodshed persists largely because it has been turned been into a big and lucrative money-making venture of a sort where some powerful but heartless vested interests in the corridors of power with its executive, judicial and legislative arms at all levels of government, the military,  other security establishments and even the clergy chose to slough off their conscience (if they had it at all) to pursue their selfish worldly gains at the expense of the lives of the people they supposedly represent who are already suffering from an excruciating and degrading poverty and misery imposed on them by the same ruling elite and their predecessors over the decades.

Despite their scandalous notoriety and the enormous wealth they have amassed through their nonstop looting of public treasuries at all levels and branches of government, one wonders how much ill-gotten wealth do such inhuman elites want to accumulate that motivates them to abandon, expose and/or actually subject the people to this unprecedented suffering? One also wonders how many people should be massacred, how much tears should be shed and how much pain should be unleashed to arouse the compassion (if any) of these cold-hearted elites?

Though there are many countries around the world that are equally engulfed in security crises, yet there is hardly if at all any country apart from Nigeria where the leaders are being unremorsefully indifferent and in many cases even complicit in its security crisis for selfish worldly gains.

This is the reason why despite the worsening severity of the violence, which results in the increase in human fatalities, displacement of communities and indeed the existential threat it poses on Nigerian state and the entire West African sub-region at large, there has been no serious commitment by the international community to intervene. Besides, any reform that would impose transparency particularly in the process of fund spending for the procurement of military hardware, soldiers’ welfare and other related expenditures will certainly be vehemently resisted by the vested interests benefiting from the crisis.

For instance, shortly after his appointment as the Minister of Defence, General Aliyu Gusau (Rtd) attempted to reform the opaque and corruption-ridden process of contract awards for military hardware procurements through which the top military brass and their civilian counterparts in the corridors of power illegally make huge fortunes, the top military commanders contemptuously resisted and eventually frustrated his attempt and got away with it.

This is why during a meeting with President Jonathan in Abuja, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle raised the issue of monumental corruption among the military top commanders, which undermines the country’s already largely disappointing performance in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents. The Ambassador cited the sudden affluence of the former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika and urged the federal government to probe him for apparently diverting huge amounts of funds meant for the procurement of arms and other military tools.

Obviously General Ihejirika and indeed all other prime suspects behind the persistence of the Boko Haram crisis would not be probed. Also Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) whose involvement in the recently exposed attempt of arms smuggling and money laundering is increasingly becoming too obvious to deny would not be probed either. The Nigerian Senate’s purported probe into his scandal will soon end the same way the previous similar probes ended and the culture of impunity will always continue to not only shield the criminals but glorify them also.

After all, many members of the House of Representatives including its Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha who presided over its proceedings last Tuesday rejected and blocked a motion demanding an investigation into Pastor Oritsejafor’s scandal, under the pretext that it is a security issue, while it appeared that they had been allegedly bribed with tens of thousands of US dollars each in order to block the motion, which, despite their denial, was a credible allegation considering their notoriety for bribe taking.

In any case, this is the right time for patriotic lawyers of conscience and sincere human right activists in the country to embark on vigorous efforts to properly document evidences against not only the suspected sponsors of the violence under the disguise of Boko Haram but also against those whose inactions and/or failure to live up to their respective responsibilities contribute in one way or another to the persistence of the crisis. This will definitely enable the lawyers make a case successfully before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the issuance of international arrest warrants against the suspects for war crimes.