When I read about the twin bomb blast that happened in Abuja on Saturday, I had to stop what I was doing at that time to write these few points of mine concerning this evil befalling our dear Nation, Nigeria. I am not pessimistic about this fight, I am optimistic about it. We can win it. We will win it, but not until we tell ourselves the truth and face the facts the way they are. This write up is a bit long but kindly bear with me. I need to pour out this from my heart. I can’t stand it anymore. Nigerians are dying almost every day.
I am one of those who were against the idea of using Boko Haram as an electioneering tool. I foresaw that that was a great mistake from the then opposition party. It was never the best idea. I really frowned at it. A hydra headed problem such as terrorism is not something any sane person should play with. It was no doubt that the last Administration wasn’t proactive and decisive in the fight against this evil. That’s not withstanding, we needed to have a common front, one strong, indivisible voice against this evil called Boko-Haram. Instead we choose to play politics with it. Now here we are.

Without much ado, below are my six reasons why Boko Haram fight cannot be won on or before December deadline.
1- Lack of National Database: How can a country as large as Nigeria exist without a National database or a functional National Identity card? Can you imagine the enormous danger this is posing? Any entity without a record of “Who-does-what-where-and-when” is doomed. We have been politicizing our census system all these years. No region is ready to reveal the true number of people who are living in a particular region. The government has no clue of how many foreigners reside within her territory. No track of anybody. The so called National Identity card I have, which I believe some of you do have too, is as useless as a dead rat on a concrete floor when it comes to using to fight terrorism. To fight terrorism without National Database is like probing in the dark.

2- Porous Borders: If you travel the way I do, you will agree with me that our immigration system is dead in service but alive in “money making”. The agencies of government that suppose to man our National borders only do so to enrich themselves. I mean, it is very easy for any Tom, Dick and Harry to pass through our borders. These foreigners do not need to have any Nigerian Passport, so they come in here, learn our language(s), mimic our culture, and become Nigerians. After all, the bone fide citizens don’t have identity. So what is the big deal? The system is rotten. Aside the known borders, we have other National borders that no government agency is monitoring. They are in thousands.

3- Lack of National preparedness: The worst thing that can happen to anybody is to start preparing for battle in the battle field. To win any war one must prepare ahead of it. We never prepared to fight this war, even though it was consciously instigated. To make matter worst, we are yet to prepare for the war up till now. You may say we are preparing. Unfortunately I cannot see any sign of preparedness. If you know the kind of war we are fighting, you will know that the war is not a conventional war. This war is about ideology. You don’t fight idea with guns and road blocks. You fight it with a well planned and rooted intelligent gathering and information intelligence. You fight this war through widespread infrastructural development; you fight this war by empowering the youth; you fight this war through solid educational sector; you fight this war by eliminating poverty. If the government has achieved any of these things I mentioned, then we can win this war on or before December. But if the answer is “NO”, then the government should start making these above necessities come to fruition. How can we win this war when the level of Illiteracy is very high, poverty at its peak and frustration and stress almost on every face you see on the streets. People are ready to do anything for money including taking up explosive devices. The most pathetic of all is that the State Government rarely understands what the meaning of State is. Local Government has no clue of what its duties are. Everybody is fighting for titles and positions. No single sense of duty.

4- Deadline is political: One of the reasons APC took over the leadership mantle from the previous Administration-PDP, was because Nigerians were tired of the lip services paid by the previous Administration on security issues. To fill that yearning, PMB decided to lift the hope of Nigerians by drawing a deadline for the end of Boko Haram. He refused to accept the fact that terrorism is a global trend. He refused to accept the fact that to eliminate terrorism one must consistently develop plans and actions that will make terrorism uninteresting. This requires time. I believe the deadline was made in respect of ending the trends of Boko Haram taking over some part of Nigeria. That can be stopped within a short period of time if strong will is applied.

5- General Misunderstanding of the Term Security: Hmm, this is the last resort. Do you want to know the true meaning of the word “SECURITY” to an average Nigerian? It means “Gate-man”; the meaning of a Police officer is N20, while the Army officer means ‘’Dread”. The local vigilante means “Lawlessness and Militant”. Where do we go from here? It cuts across every facet of our society. We won’t make heads way with this mentality. We need massive national reorientation on the issues of security. Every stakeholder in this fight must be armed with the correct weapon information wise. We must come together as a one people, with one mind and one voice to fight this menace. We can win! We will win. Be hopeful. But not until our Government takes governance serious. Read this scripture (1 Corinthians 1:10). Our Muslim brothers should find equivalent topic in Koran and read.

Thanks for your time.

hm

Everyone is only waiting for buhari
Buhari hoping on Nigerian army
Nigerian army hoping on their guns
So what do you expect a shakabula to do against bomb

Pls fellow Nairalanders, this is a serious issues. Let make valid and helpful contributions. Imagine one of those who lost their lives due to this insurgency is from your family. Let be helpful. Thanks.

winetapper:
Everyone is only waiting for buhari
Buhari hoping on Nigerian army
Nigerian army hoping on their guns
So what do you expect a shakabula to do against bomb

That is why I expect civil society, the NLC, #BringBackOurGirls group, etc. to come up with solutions. We must stop this waiting game. We must ARISE and take responsibility. Let us not wait no more. You never know who is next on the line to end his or her life.

Good one

Bondesniger:
Good one

Thanks. Share this. Let us all awake from this conscious unconsciousness.

Kudos to the OP, Moderators please help push this to the front page. You see I always post it here online and say it offline that once terrorism is resident in a country, it can never go away just like that. Let's tell ourselves the truth, years and years of Government at all levels neglect in their duties, traditional and religious leaders wrong teachings of hate has caused us to be this way. Look at all the countries with Terrorism even the ones the US took the fight there and have won the war, you still hear bits of bombings here and there. The ideology must be killed. The bulk of work is in the hands of the religious,traditional leaders and the Government.

bakynes:
Kudos to the OP, Moderators please help push this to the front page. You see I always post it here online and say it offline that once terrorism is resident in a country, it can never go away just like that. Let's tell ourselves the truth, years and years of Government at all levels neglect in their duties, traditional and religious leaders wrong teachings of hate has caused us to be this way. Look at all the countries with Terrorism even the ones the US took the fight there and have won the war, you still hear bits of bombings here and there. The ideology must be killed. The bulk of work is in the hands of the religious,traditional leaders and the Government.

I thank you for this solid point you raised, Bakynes and your call for the page Moderator to push this write up to front page. We need to say the truth the way it is else, this will be a cycle we will never brake out of.

Kudos Op ...cc...Lalasticlala

Whynotthetruth:
Kudos Op ...cc...Lalasticlala

Thanks. Lets rise up. This is a call. Our Educational Sector must be looked into as urgent as possible. We are sitting on a gun powder.

I will keep ringing this bell until change comes.

https://www.nairaland.com/2658603/know-hideouts-surrender-now-army

It seems our Military is talking too much:

https://www.nairaland.com/2658574/boko-haram-returns-chibok-kills

https://www.nairaland.com/2654893/russias-new-mega-missile-stuns-globe

Russians talk less but do more