The killing of more than 178
people by Islamic militants in
a series of attacks on state
buildings in the northern
Nigerian city of Kano,
underlines how one of Africa’s
most corrupt nations is
reaping the rewards of
decades of misrule with a
sudden and deep descent into
violent chaos. A series of
explosions ripped through
police stations and other
government offices in Kano
on Friday though full details
of the attacks – and the toll of
dead – only started to emerge
a day later. Some reports put
the number of victims at
more than 200. Hospitals are
said to be struggling to cope
with hundreds of injured.
A spokesman for northern
Nigeria’s Islamist rebels said
they carried out the attacks
because the authorities failed
to release captured militants
as they had demanded.
Hence one attack on a Kano
police station in which 50
jailed fighters were able to
escape. Nigeria’s interior
minister described the Kano
assaults as a declaration of
war. President Goodluck
Jonathan said the militants
would “face the full wrath of
the law.” “As a responsible
government, we will not fold
our hands and watch enemies
of democracy, for that is what
these mindless killers are,
perpetrate unprecedented
evil in our land.” But since, in
the past few months, the
attacks have escalated to
become an almost daily
occurrence, ever more
Nigerians are complaining
that is precisely what is
happening.
The Islamists call themselves
Jamaatu Ahlisunnah Lidawati
wal Jihad, Arabic for “People
Committed to the Propagation
of the Prophet’s Teachings
and Jihad.” They are better
known as Boko Haram,
meaning “Western education
is sacrilege,” which was one
of the main contentions of
their former leader, a
preacher called Mohamed
Yusuf who was murdered by
Nigeria’s police in custody in
2009. Yusuf would also rail
about how the government,
under Western influence,
displayed breath-taking
incompetence and self-
serving venality. Last
November in Maiduguri,
where Yusuf founded the
group around a decade ago,
local elders told TIME that
while they did not approve of
Boko Haram’s methods, it
was nevertheless built on
well-founded and widely
shared grievances against an
uncaring, criminal and
predatory state. Though
Nigeria has the largest oil
reserves in Africa, and
abundant land and seas, little
of that wealth has found its
way to the parched, Muslim
north, where levels of
poverty, health and education
are among the worst in the
world. Meanwhile politicians,
bureaucrats, policemen and
soldiers showily enrich
themselves. Last April’s
election of Jonathan, a
southern Christian, only
increased the north’s sense of
marginalization. The
government’s response –
unleashing its army on the
north, where they quickly
became known for a heavy-
handed and indiscriminate
violence against the general
population – has only poured
yet more fuel on the fire.
Today there are several
loosely connected branches
of Boko Haram and at least
one of these has developed
international ambitions. In
August a Boko Haram group
drove a 150kg car bomb into
the ground floor of the U.N.
headquarters in the capital
Abuja and detonated it, killing
24 people and injuring 115.
Boko Haram is also taking
advice and training from
other like-minded groups. The
U.S. says Boko Haram has
well established connections
with another African Islamist
group, al-Qaeda in the
Maghreb (AQIM), which
kidnaps and kills foreigners to
the north in Mali, Mauritania,
Niger and Algeria. Nigeria’s
top security official, General
Andrew Owoeye Azazi, has
also told TIME of links
between Boko Haram and al-
Shabab, the al-Qaeda
franchise to the east in
Somalia.
Jonathan, less than a year
into his presidency, finds
himself embattled in another
front too. Only a week ago he
was battling nationwide
protests after he eliminated
subsidies on petroleum,
causing its price to more than
double overnight. Jonathan
eventually restored part of
the subsidy but the
demonstrations are
continuing. Ironically, though
Jonathan’s axing of the
subsidy had an immediately
impoverishing effect on all
Nigerians, it was actually
intended to address one of
the main founts of corruption
that so infuriates them. Last
year, around a total of $8
billion was paid in fuel
subsidies, most of it going to
members of the country’s
elite who are well enough
politically connected to have
a license to import fuel. At
least in that case, Jonathan
can claim to be on the right
track.


globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/22/nigerias-rulers-reap-rewards-of-corruption-with-sudden-descent-into-chaos/