As many as a million people, joined by 40 world leaders, filled the streets of Paris on Sunday in solidarity after two separate terrorist attacks claimed 17 innocent lives last week. The day before, more than 3,000 miles to the south, a girl believed to be around 10 approached the entrance to a crowded market in Maiduguri, a city of some 1 million in Nigeria's Borno State. As a security guard inspected her, the girl detonated explosives strapped to her body, killing herself and at least 19 others. Dozens more were injured.

Saturday's suicide bombing elicited little coverage compared to the events in Paris, which have dominated headlines since last Wednesday's attack on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper. Why the slaughter of 17 innocents in France receives more attention than the death of roughly the same number of Nigerians is the kind of question that can result in accusations of indifference, racism, and media bias. But the contrast between the attacks in Paris and the suicide bombing in Maiduguri actually reveals something far more sinister: the ravages of state failure.
The main difference between France and Nigeria isn't that the public and the media care about one and not the other. It is, rather, that one country has an effective government and the other does not.
Boko Haram is waging a ruthless war throughout northeast Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. On Wednesday, Boko Haram militants laid siege to Baga, a city that has resisted them, setting fire to buildings and killing residents indiscriminately. Hundreds of people fled into Lake Chad and attempted to swim to a nearby island. Many drowned along the way. Those who didn't are now marooned without food and shelter and have no defense against the island's swarm of malarial mosquitos. The death toll in Baga reportedly exceeds 2,000. Some 20,000 others are now displaced.

The New York Times story on this deadly siege appeared on page A6 of Saturday's print edition, while the paper's story of the suicide bombing landed on page A8.

How did the attacks in France so thoroughly bury the atrocities in Nigeria?

One explanation is the difficulty of covering dangerous, remote parts of the world, such as Nigeria's northeastern Borno State, where Boko Haram holds sway over much of the territory. A similar dynamic exists in Syria, where a civil war has claimed nearly 200,000 lives since erupting in 2011, and where relatively few journalists are there to witness it. In addition, it's likely that the Paris attack's focus on a publication touched a nerve with members of the media worldwide.

But it's not that the media doesn't cover Nigeria, or that Westerners don't care about Africans. After all, when Boko Haram fighters kidnapped nearly 200 girls from a school in Chibok in April of last year, a public campaign to bring them back attracted widespread publicity, with even First Lady Michelle Obama contributing a photograph. Two years before that, a video from the now-defunct NGO Invisible Children that highlighted Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord who leads the Lord's Resistance Army, was viewed over 100 million times in its first six days. These campaigns, whatever their shortcomings, did at least show that people in the West aren't totally indifferent to African suffering.

The main difference between France and Nigeria isn't that the public and the media care about one and not the other. It is, rather, that one country has an effective government and the other does not. The French may not be too fond of President Francois Hollande—his approval ratings last November had plunged to 12 percent—but he responded to his country's twin terror attacks with decisiveness. Not so Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan. Since assuming the presidency in 2010, Jonathan has done little to contain Boko Haram. The group emerged in 2002 and has consolidated control over an area larger than West Virginia. And it's gaining ground. Perversely, the seemingly routine nature of Nigeria's violence may have diminished the perception of its newsworthiness.

Jonathan's failure to confront Boko Haram, of course, is nothing new. Nigeria has long been cursed with a corrupt, ineffective government, one perennially unable to translate the country's vast oil wealth into broad-based prosperity. During his campaign for re-election—Nigerians go to the polls on February 14—Jonathan has vowed to tackle his country's problem with graft. At a campaign rally on Thursday, the president exhorted his followers to support him.

"You must vote for your liberation, you must vote for your development, you must vote to take Nigeria to the moon," he said.

"You cannot vote to take Nigeria backward."

Boko Haram wasn't mentioned once


This article was originally published at http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/boko-harams-quiet-destruction-of-northeast-nigeria/384416/

No amount of packaging or media blockade will prevent the west from knowing jonaTAN is a badluck to nigeria

post by concern foreigner on the situation in Nigeria.




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0users disliked this comment Paa Nart • 5 hours ago Report Abuse
Tell the Nigerian President, Bad luck Jonathan, to stop campaigning for re-election because he does not deserve to be re-elected but he rather need to focus on campaigning against Boko Haram. They need to show the whole world that they're doing something about the insanity in their country so others can logistically support them. The whole police and military force of FRANCE were out looking for the terrorist, and that's why they gained world recognition. We have not seen that in Nigeria. They don't seem to care about the other part of their country and that's exactly what's happening

another foreigner's view




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0users disliked this comment Gary • 3 hours ago Report Abuse

Problem as I see it , what happen in France is something that just doesn't happen. The government and people don't want to show they are afraid their show their stand up people and are not taking this laying down. Nigeria on the other hand have been putting up with this kind of stuff for many years it's happening every week if not most days. The government doesn't care to get involved their too busy hiding their money and not buying weapons for their army. The people are not strong nor do they have guns or training on how to us them. This will continue until some other government steps in and gets involved. It's sad to say but I think the Nigeria government is doing population control why else would they let so many people die.

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comment by marychicagoland • 10 minutes ago Report Abuse

Sadly the reason the attacks in Nigeria are eclipsed by the attacks in France is that Nigerian attacks happen on such a frequent basis while this type of attack occurs infrequently in a European country. An article dated 1/10/15 from the Christian Science Monitor states that 10,000 people were killed by Boko Haram in 2014.

Also look at the difference in the way French authorities acted after the attack. They tracked down and eliminated the murderers, unlike the ineffective and lax approach the Nigerian government has taken to dealing with Boko Haram.

Utter disgrace

same people.

Some of you are just smart dumbass .

The problem with this country is not Gej but the National Assembly. If fact David mark and Tambuwal are a disgrace.

The National Assembly can terminate any presidents tenor without much a do, but we have a pardy pardy govt and the calmest of the rogues is taking the abuse that is due all . The senate president and the speaker are both Hausa so their wrongs can be over looked . Quit understandable

aguiyi:
Some of you are just smart dumbass .

The problem with this country is not Gej but the National Assembly. If fact David mark and Tambuwal are a disgrace.

The National Assembly can terminate any presidents tenor without much a do, but we have a pardy pardy govt and the calmest of the rogues is taking the abuse that is due all . The senate president and the speaker are both Hausa so their wrongs can be over looked . Quit understandable

I guess you forgot your brain switch when you wrote this.

So it is David Mark and Tambuwal that are the problem of the country?

please which o the two is the Commander -in-Chief since the buck must end on a table.

Al-Qaeda launched attack on the US in 2001, George Bush folds his own and Americans says the problem is not George Bush but the Speaker and the Senate Leader.

Do you people have brains at all? did you not see the reaction of the French President and the French Military in the last few days even if you were still a toddler in 2001

pendy79:


I guess you forgot your brain switch when you wrote this.

So it is David Mark and Tambuwal that are the problem of the country?

please which o the two is the Commander -in-Chief since the buck must end on a table.

Al-Qaeda launched attack on the US in 2001, George Bush folds his own and Americans says the problem is not George Bush but the Speaker and the Senate Leader.

Do you people have brains at all? did you not see the reaction of the French President and the French Military in the last few days even if you were still a toddler in 2001

Okoro , if he was docile like yours, they would have impeached him. The National Assembly is were Nigeria's problem is.

There oversight function alone is enough to checkmate GEJ and his appointees . Mind you, only 2 people went on rampage in France, in Nigeria,they have been killed in hundreds yet their end in not in sight yet. Incomparable situations if you ask me

Stop been insulting because you want to engage in your blame game cos that's all you are good in. I wonder wether you even know your local govt chairman and how he spends the council funds. You will rather blame Gej for everything including your inability to perform your civic duties

aguiyi:


Okoro , if he was docile like yours, they would have impeached him. The National Assembly is were Nigeria's problem is.

There oversight function alone is enough to checkmate GEJ and his appointees . Mind you, only 2 people went on rampage in France, in Nigeria,they have been killed in hundreds yet their end in not in sight yet. Incomparable situations if you ask me

Stop been insulting because you want to engage in your blame game cos that's all you are good in. I wonder wether you even know your local govt chairman and how he spends the council funds. You will rather blame Gej for everything including your inability to perform your civic duties

When Boko Haram started it was only a few people too but Jonathan folded his arms thinking it was a plot by his political enemies. He decided to let them kill themselves after all it's northerners killing northerners. Now the thing has blown up out of all proportions and you want to blame someone else apart from the C in C? It won't work o. GEJ must go, he has failed.

comment by tata • 5 hours ago Report Abuse

I still do not understand how or why Jonathan became Nigeria leader. I guess it is a job like any other and it has better pay! Let Nigerians get rid of this man and they will be earn peace and life. Watch out for these bureaucrats who apply for a job which they have not the least ability or inclination.

the contribution above by tata was the highlight for me from the news article.

aguiyi:


Okoro , if he was docile like yours, they would have impeached him. The National Assembly is were Nigeria's problem is.

There oversight function alone is enough to checkmate GEJ and his appointees . Mind you, only 2 people went on rampage in France, in Nigeria,they have been killed in hundreds yet their end in not in sight yet. Incomparable situations if you ask me

Stop been insulting because you want to engage in your blame game cos that's all you are good in. I wonder wether you even know your local govt chairman and how he spends the council funds. You will rather blame Gej for everything including your inability to perform your civic duties

If you were enlightened and well educated, you will know Internal Security and external aggression is under the purview of the President, will David Mark and Tambuwal just pronounce his Impeachment after they hold a joint meeting in their hotel room.

If you lack the common sense to know procedure for impeaching a President in the world, why not just keep quiet rather than talk without meaningful sense

pendy79:


If you were enlightened and well educated, you will know Internal Security and external aggression is under the purview of the President, will David Mark and Tambuwal just pronounce his Impeachment after they hold a joint meeting in their hotel room.

If you lack the common sense to know procedure for impeaching a President in the world, why not just keep quiet rather than talk without meaningful sense

Ewu, put blames in the right place next time

babadee1:


When Boko Haram started it was only a few people too but Jonathan folded his arms thinking it was a plot by his political enemies. He decided to let them kill themselves after all it's northerners killing northerners. Now the thing has blown up out of all proportions and you want to blame someone else apart from the C in C? It won't work o. GEJ must go, he has failed.

When Yaradua was ordering the killing of Yusuf , what was he thinking.

When Buhari was nominated to come find a solution to the problem caused by his katsina brother and he turned it down, what was he thinking

aguiyi:
Some of you are just smart dumbass .

The problem with this country is not Gej but the National Assembly. If fact David mark and Tambuwal are a disgrace.

The National Assembly can terminate any presidents tenor without much a do, but we have a pardy pardy govt and the calmest of the rogues is taking the abuse that is due all . The senate president and the speaker are both Hausa so their wrongs can be over looked . Quit understandable

so david mark is a hausa man? Wen idoma pple turn to hausa

aguiyi:


Ewu, put blames in the right place next time

agutan, Use your brains at times, too much hibernation cause brain fatigue.

Blaming Mark and Tambuwal for military failure is stupidity of the highest order.

pendy79:
If you were enlightened and well educated, you will know Internal Security and external aggression is under the purview of the President, will David Mark and Tambuwal just pronounce his Impeachment after they hold a joint meeting in their hotel room.

If you lack the common sense to know procedure for impeaching a President in the world, why not just keep quiet rather than talk without meaningful sense

You are a real dunce, surely. Moreover you must imagine that all NLers are in the same Dundee United team like you
Below to refresh your memory =>

House of Representatives approves extension of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa
May 15, 2014


More from: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/160813-house-representatives-approves-extension-emergency-rule-borno-yobe-adamawa.html

BTW, is Tambuwal not the Association of Pretending Crooks, APC's governorship candidate in Sokoto state

pendy79:


agutan, Use your brains at times, too much hibernation cause brain fatigue.

Blaming Mark and Tambuwal for military failure is stupidity of the highest order.

That's why you are dumb.

Are they not the one approving the objects

Are they not the one performing oversight functions

Use your head or borrow one

aguiyi:


When Yaradua was ordering the killing of Yusuf , what was he thinking.

When Buhari was nominated to come find a solution to the problem caused by his katsina brother and he turned it down, what was he thinking

When Jonathan was busy pardoning MEND and ignoring BH what was he thinking? Please don't drag Buhari into this he is not yet commander in chief and just because he is a northerner doesn't mean he is responsible. Only ignorant people and tribalists see things that way.

anonimi:


You are a real dunce, surely. Moreover you must imagine that all NLers are in the same Dundee United team like you
Below to refresh your memory =>




BTW, is Tambuwal not the Association of Pretending Crooks, APC's governorship candidate in Sokoto state

Your stupidity and foolishness is legendary and NL will soon organize award for most foolish people on the forum, I have no doubt you will be neck and neck with the eventual winner if not the WINNER self.

If the report you quoted meant anything to you or you understand the message therein, you would have been educated and enlightened enough to note that it is a mere notification and the PRESIDENT is the SOLE AUTHORITY to declare and the HOUSE can either agree or refuse it on the strength of vote of members

last I know the PDP have majority in both houses and they will always approve along party line and interest.

what has HOUSE OF REP approval got to do with failure of military actions?

is your brain too in sleep mode?

babadee1:


When Jonathan was busy pardoning MEND and ignoring BH what was he thinking? Please don't drag Buhari into this he is not yet commander in chief and just because he is a northerner doesn't mean he is responsible. Only ignorant people and tribalists see things that way.

A man who turned down his nation in time of need not minding the number of women and children killed is not more than a misfit

aguiyi:


A man who turned down his nation in time of need not minding the number of women and children killed is not more than a misfit

A man who is the president of the largest black nation on earth and cannot fight decisively against all the enemies of the nation is nothing more than a mistake. That mistake must now be corrected.

aguiyi:


That's why you are dumb.

Are they not the one approving the objects

Are they not the one performing oversight functions

Use your head or borrow one

approving which object?

is madness part of your problem?

What do you know about oversights functions?

you assumes oversight function include the posting and appointment of military commanders, appointment of the military chiefs and defence head, or the effectiveness of the DSS and the appointment of the NSA and the ability to map out counter-insurgency actions and defence tactics?

Are you guys just hereditarily daft or it comes with the cold weather that have killed all the useful cells in your brains if not warm and charged?

pendy79:


Your stupidity and foolishness is legendary and NL will soon organize award for most foolish people on the forum, I have you doubt you will be neck and neck with the eventual winner if not the WINNER self.

If the report you quoted meant anything to you or you understand the message therein, you would have been educated and enlightened enough to note that it is a mere notification and the PRESIDENT is the SOLE AUTHORITY to declare and the HOUSE can either agree or refuse it on the strength of vote of members

What is the significance of the vote by the HoR

last I know the PDP have majority in both houses and they will always approve along party line and interest.

Yet the majority party's wish to have the Speaker from the south west was scuttled by Tinubu's APC?
And Tambuwal is from that majority party in the house today, not so

pendy79:


approving which object?

is madness part of your problem?

What do you know about oversights functions?

you assumes oversight function include the posting and appointment of military commanders, appointment of the military chiefs and defence head, or the effectiveness of the DSS and the appointment of the NSA and the ability to map out counter-insurgency actions and defence tactics?

Are you guys just hereditarily daft or it comes with the cold weather that have killed all the useful cells in your brains if not warm and charged?

Hahahahahahahahajajajajajajaaj, the most stupid comment of the year .

The problem we are told is the lack of sufficient equipment and not personnel .

Isn't that were the National Assembly come in. You are obviously blind at heart

anonimi:


What is the significance of the vote by the HoR

so it is the vote of members that will determine the counter-insurgency moves or will determine the kind of arms and ammunitions that should be procured in the fight against BH?

is it the vote of HORs that determines the actions and inactions of the military commanders on the field?

go get educated and exhibiting foolishness here, the approval of state of emergency have nothing to do with the real action on the warfront, that is just bureaucracy and mere act of regards by the president

babadee1:


A man who is the president of the largest black nation on earth and cannot fight decisively against all the enemies of the nation is nothing more than a mistake. That mistake must now be corrected.

You need brain service.

The president will not be in the forefront with guns.

If the National Assembly approve fund for something, they have a duty to see that it's purchased . Where they fail to do so, anybody blaming the presidency is just been daft.

aguiyi:



Hahahahahahahahajajajajajajaaj, the most stupid comment of the year .

The problem we are told is the lack of sufficient equipment and not personnel .

Isn't that were the National Assembly come in. You are obviously blind at heart

guess you were in the hospital when the budget of over N1.3trillon was passed for defence out of N4trillion for 2014, you were undergoing treatment also when the House and senate approved a loan of $1billion for same defence.

you people are daft, stupid and uninformed

pendy79:


so it is the vote of members that will determine the counter-insurgency moves or will determine the kind of arms and ammunitions that should be procured in the fight against BH?

is it the vote of HORs that determines the actions and inactions of the military commanders on the field?

go get educated and exhibiting foolishness here, the approval of state of emergency have nothing to do with the real action on the warfront, that is just bureaucracy and mere act of regards by the president

You no just try at all

pendy79:


guess you were in the hospital when the budget of over N1.3trillon was passed for defence out of N4trillion for 2014, you were undergoing treatment also when the House and senate approved a loan of $1billion for same defence.

you people are daft, stupid and uninformed

See how you are fooling yourself.

They approved fund for arms and ammunition and also have the powers to question the purchases were they fall short of expectation but would rather watch things get out of hand since they will not be blamed

aguiyi:



You need brain service.

The president will not be in the forefront with guns.

If the National Assembly approve fund for something, they have a duty to see that it's purchased . Where they fail to do so, anybody blaming the presidency is just been daft.

Na wa o. Look who is insulting someone about brain. What do you think the role of the executive is? Who is responsible for executing the projects approved by the National Assembly? In a democracy who does the buck stop with? Who is the commander in chief and overall head of the armed forces in Nigeria?