Boko Haram. A
Possible Solution?
Written by Nura
Alkali

I hail from
Adamawa State,
but I spent 13
years of my life
pursuing a medical
degree and a
postgraduate
qualification in
Maiduguri, Borno
State. Maiduguri is
then my second
home, and the
current tragedy of
that city disturbs
me as much as
anyone.

During his recent
visit to Maiduguri,
President
Jonathan denied
allegations that
soldiers of the
Joint Security Task
Force (JTF) are
committing
atrocities against
innocent people.
He also declined to
offer amnesty to
Boko Haram
members, which
the Sultan of
Sokoto and many
other Nigerians
had called for.
My message is
apolitical. I neither
seek to apportion
blame on the
causes of the
insurgency, nor
seek to argue the
merits and
demerits of a
presidential
pardon for
terrorists. Instead,
I am offering
another strategy
that could help
bring an end to our
collective
suffering.
In Borno State
today, the list of
fatal victims of
Boko Haram reads
like a book of Who
is Who, and
includes
octogenarian war
hero Gen.
Muhammad Shuwa,
Borno State ANPP
Chairman Anwana
Ngala, ANPP
gubernatorial
candidate Modu
Fannami Gubio, and
Goni Modu Sheriff,
businessman and
elder brother of
Ex-Governor Ali
Sheriff. Others
include the
Chairman of
Kukawa local
government
Lawan Yarayi,
Chairman of Jere
local government
Mustapha Baale,
House of Assembly
Member Modu
Bintube, and the
state PDP Vice-
Chairman Ibrahim
Gula.

In Kano recently,
Boko Haram
attacked a motor
park and killed 22
travellers. Before
that, they had
ambushed the
motorcade of Emir
Ado Bayero, who
narrowly escaped
death but lost
some of his
bodyguards.
Suicide bombers
had also targeted
the Shehu of
Borno and the Emir
of Fika during
Mosque prayers,
where they missed
their targets but
killed other people.
Hundreds of
others have died in
attacks on
churches and
military personnel,
in addition to
targeted
assassinations of
policemen, prison
warders and
village heads.
However, each
terrorist act is
followed by the
usual flurry of
condemnations
and blame-making,
and then the world
goes on as if
nothing happened.
Despite the
tremendous loss of
human lives, we
live in fear and
bicker among
ourselves, instead
of confronting the
enemy. Some
people say Boko
Haram members
are ghosts, but
others say no,
they have flesh
and blood. Some
say they are aliens
from Niger
Republic, and
others insist they
are bona-fide
Nigerians. I find
this kind of
discourse
exasperating. It is
like a fire is
consuming a row of
houses, but
instead of
residents fetching
water to douse the
flames, they all
gather on the
street arguing
whether fire is one
of the four
elements of nature
in Greek
philosophy.

Predictably, the
resultant
confusion serves
the interests of
Boko Haram very
well.
In fact, Boko
Haram members
seek to kill us all, in
their efforts to
forcefully establish
a pseudo-Islamic
state in northern
Nigeria governed
by them. The
Taliban of
Afghanistan and
Al-Shabab of
Somalia have both
attempted a
similar venture, but
what were the
results? They took
their societies back
to the Stone Age
before they were
removed from
power by
multinational
forces. Even if
those regimes
were to exist
today, no sane
Muslim would wish
to live under their
brutal doctrines.
According to
Taliban ideology,
girls and women
should not attend
schools, and men
without beards are
flogged on the
streets. The game
of football is
prohibited and
UNESCO heritage
sites are
destroyed with
dynamites,
because they
venerate idol
worship. Our own
extremists have
gone a step
further and
declared western
education as sinful.
Thus, left to Boko
Haram, I should not
have been a
medical doctor.
We must fight back
Boko Haram, if only
to defend our lives
and our freedom.
But in a fight, the
surest way to
defeat is to be
unarmed, and to
lack intelligence on
the enemy.

Therefore, we
must be armed and
equipped with
good intelligence,
and then take the
war right onto
Boko Haram’s
door-steps.

Fortunately, the
same Emirs and
village heads
targeted by them
can be our assets
in this endeavour.
In the former
Northern Region,
the Native
Authority hierarchy
began with the
ward head and
ascended to the
village head, the
district head, and
the Emir, who
chaired the Emirate
Council. This exists
even today, albeit
with limited
authority. Yet,
traditional
institutions are still
well-respected in
our parts, being
much closer to the
people than state
and local
governments.