₦airaland Forum

LETTER TO THE EDITOR



AFP’S SUPPORT FOR BOKO HARAM
By Karen Goulding


The Nigerian military is in a bind. It makes progress in its war on Boko Haram insurgents in the country’s northeast, only to see the progress relatively rolled back by forces that appear to have defied all efforts directed at making them relent and allow Nigeria to have peace. The effect of the sabotage by these forces is best reflected by the reported ambushes and surprise attacks on military convoys and outposts by Boko Haram terrorists, attacks that have all the markings of being plotted in territories outside the boundaries of Nigeria and organized by interests that increasingly show sophistication available only to state actors.

What makes the situation tough for the military is the mistake being collectively made by Nigerians, who have been conditioned to see everything about the insurgency from the prism of high politics. Certainly politics is involved, but not the local variant that citizens have in mind, the type being highlighted by armchair critics that are half informed about the true nature and import of what is truly happening in their country and to their people.

A more circumspect assessment of what is going on should have these critics take second looks at the scenario where Agence France-Presse (AFP) is always first with the news about the terrorists making gains against the military – and the fact that the high casualty figures it usually report on the military side are subsequently successfully disputed by authorities. AFP has also come to be the official outlet that Boko Haram uses to distribute its videos and audio recordings, which has conferred some measure of legitimacy on the group, a situation that has created the impression that Nigerian troops are fighting a rival country and not a bunch of bloodthirsty terrorists.

These AFP’s report often cite “military sources” to publish reports that can best be described as intended to terrorize the wider population. It is of note that AFP has never treated reporting of terrorism in this manner when dealing with western nations. When dealing with these countries, AFP tends to stick with positions that have been verified by persons authorized to speak on the matter – even where it used unanimous sources, it makes the efforts to get a corresponding official position and not a conflicting official position.

Knowing its French origin and nationality, it is no surprise that AFP has this belligerent approach towards Nigeria. After all, the hand of France in the Boko Haram scourge is well known and documented. The northeast of Nigeria and the swathe stretching from Northern Mali through Algeria to the Mediterranean Sea, looping back through Niger, Chad, Cameroun and Central Africa is a region for which France sees itself as being the imperial owner. Since Nigeria is not a francophone outpost, the French approach has been to support any form of insurrection in the northeast to allow the creation of a micro nation, possibly ruled by a despot, that will be a colony of France. It tried to pull such a trick with the failed bid to prop up Azawad as an independent country in Northern Mali – with disastrous consequences, of course.

Any enclave created by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria and answering to France automatically gives the French access to the oil reserve in the Lake Chad Basin. While the reserve is not proven, advancement in mining technology, like fracking, makes it an attractive prospect, tempting enough for France to risk regional instability in Western Africa to secure. The possibility of mining Uranium in the region is icing on the cake at a time when alternative energy sources are an in thing. Hence the inordinate ambition of France to win a new country from Nigeria’s northeast to which AFP is pledged.

It is important not to lose sight of the reality that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have on several occasions reported seeing aircrafts of French origin airdropping supplies to Boko Haram terrorists during wee hours. Curiously, with the resources it has devoted to reporting that part of Nigeria, AFP has never deemed it fit to report on this unusual sightings in a way that will bring closure and reassure all as to the real mission of these aircrafts.

AFP, and France as the hands inside the glove, have never thought to interrogate the terrorists’ strategy of launching attacks into Nigeria from inside the trio of Niger, Chad and Cameroun, only to flee back into these same countries once Nigerians troops are hot on their trail. It seem crimes against humanity are okay so long as they are being committed against Nigeria and by entities loyal to France and its perverted interest in Nigeria.

It is interesting that AFP is not singing from a new hymn book. It is regurgitating a tired script, one written by France and the other sick entities in its unholy alliance. In the coming weeks, the “international NGOs” components will be drafted into the fray and they will allege that troops committed war crimes when they were chasing down the Boko Haram terrorists sent to snuff the life out of them. AFP will then latch onto the reports issued by these NGOs to chorus the refrains about crimes against humanity, a crime that Boko Haram terrorists are never capable of committing in the estimate of French AFP, and all the other voices that will join the charade.

The Nigerian military has to wake up to the reality that this is the war it is fighting. Boko Haram is merely a component, a facet of a monster that has too many tentacles. Even when troops roundly defeat terrorists in a particular battle, AFP can go ahead to tell the world otherwise and its account is the one to be believed by the public. Where the military is able to prove that it decimated insurgents, it is not unusual for the body count to be declared civilian casualty, “evidence of crimes against humanity”.

What is then needed is for the Nigerian military to expand the war beyond the physical battleground and clash with these entities on its own terms. It can begin by letting Nigerians and world know the magnitude of evil it is battling, which would then let people know how these vampires have recruited foreign fighters, some from the Islamic State (ISIS), to wage war against Nigeria. These are the people that AFP is fronting for and supporting with questionable, and sometimes outright false reporting.

okay

You are a dreamer. [color=#990000][/color]

Too bad.

#4 !!

He seeks cheap publicity..

Tune Bakare is a big fool!!!!!

I see the beginning of the downfall of p square.

They were great men. May their souls RIP.

for f**ks sake

@op is from a broken HOME.

thank you[quote author=Juliana-Ghana]i weep for naija
in Gh we no have this problem
our blak people look like blak people not bleached out munky
naija people very nyce sumtimez but ladies wear too much fake hair n bleach
ugly people [/quote]

whenever i hear drink I believe it is ALCOHOL we are talking about.

the phone is not even her own, na borrow pose. see her own phone on her lap.

This fool is not ready to get married I pity the young girl. Because he did not even tell us when he intend to go back home and start the procedure. Instead he is here fighting with the women that are even helping him by advising him. Anu mpam kowai.

d man is already dead so he does not care @all.

PAININASS:
Hmmm, Very greedy ASUU! even in south africa,the highest paid proffesor collect about 20.000R per month which is about  #150.000 in NG,What people don't understand about ASUU is that,ASUU is not fighting for quality of education in nigeria or the welfare of their staffs, "ASUU IS FIGHTING BECAUSE OF MONEY".

pls for ur info I am currently in South Afica n R20,000 is about #400,000. pls check ur exchange rate. like I said I am in Mzansi(SA) currently.

This case is dead, they are only showing d mvmnt by dragging it till evry is tired of it. We knw how it works, it is jst not worth d stress.

[color=#990000][/color] merry easta to all d gagas n gogos in d house.

thank God english is simple.

my Love U can't cook period

thank God english is simple.

my Love U can't cook period

I tot this tread was lost, almost didn't blive it wen I saw pple hia

ara g'agba ndi ara. ara gba gi dia.

All these Slaves in America u pple will not respect urselves n keep quiet so u can come home in peace if u start like dis who will u run to wen u finally make up ur mind to come back. I will not collect u o!!! so all of u just shrap dia!!!

Daddy x:
Once beaten, they say,twice shy. The Eagles by now must have learn the realities in modern football. No more minnows. Again, with the recent appointment of a seeming round peg in the sport's round hole,They'll qualify.

It will soon turn to twice beaten , How many times shy will it be pls someone help me do d calculate.

we can qualify but will we?

Suck his dick n while u r doing that just take a bite so nxt tym, u knw now!!!

Okwacha is beta dan Ronnie.

nuzo:
Sounds like a gay cadet to me.

if it really sounds gay y not present ur anus lets see if I am really gay.

megadeath:
@bastrin
oga sir, no disrespect meant,but can i at least know ur course?

52RC

@ ALL
You don't have to be a saint to be use as a tool for salvation. It is not all pastors dat are good but still God use dem for his work. In fact God uses sinners to punish sinners. So even if Ribadu was bad he served a good purpose. so let be happy with wot he did for once cos if we have more bad pple dat can bring down many more bad pple dem we r on d rit path. I am PRO Ribadu.

Noah69:
My people, it's not as easy as A-B-C!

If you go round a lot of "experienced" married couples, you'll hear many stories of the wife supporting the family for 7-10 years. It's not uncommon at all. So please, unless we know for sure that the husband is a "lazy, ne'er-do-well", let us keep our mouths quiet about his ability to feed his family.

Also, long-distance relationships are not the best; in fact, they usually lead to rather serious issues, which may not easily be resolved. So it's very easy to see how a difficult situation can be magnified by distance to become an impossible situation. I always believe that couples should stay together as much as possible. It allows them to bond very well, and they learn to tackle issues together. After all, that is the point of marriage.

Please, let us not confuse wedding with marriage. This couple is married. That means that they have a life-long commitment and covenant to each other which cannot be dissolved with any levity. Furthermore, I believe that when any situation, good or bad, is placed above the health of the marriage, the results for the couple can be disastrous.

I think that the couple need to decide, "where do we go from here?". They cannot continue this long-distance marriage indefinitely. They must, at some point, either come back to live under the same roof, or go their separte ways. Perhaps that time has come. They need to decide what their committment to each other means.

One last thing, many people are stuck abroad as "breadwinners", but they aren't winning anything. They're losing quite a lot actually - broke all the time, discriminated against, a lot of people living illegally, Who knows what would have happened if they were back home? Yet, I'm not advocating her return to Nigeria. Perhaps, her husband needs a little more patience (maybe a lot more). But if she's having trouble coming up with the ticket money, she may not really be making that much money over there either.

[quote author=Jide_ams link=topic=122451.msg3140838#msg3140838 date=1227705034]Hi all,

Just stumbled onto this chat room and felt i should contribute to this as it applies to me for me male perspective.  I reside in Holland for about 4year " work related" and my family of  4 " wife and two kids" had to move to Nigeria after the first year.  Now, things are at a point where my wife wants me back home which i quite understand, but this need to be ironed out quite such that our standard of living is not compromised.

In this situation, i work full time and my wife still finding her feet financially.  This is an issue that need to be well managed because if  i we eventually  have to come back to UK due to financial contraint, i do not see this happening again in another 10years to come.  By then i will be in my mid - late 40s.

One of the main issue at had is possibility of me cheating on my wife or the other way round.  This is always the primary issue, and should be addressed critically.  Personally, it is harder for a lady to remain in UK alone without a companion, contrary to Lagos where there are family friends to assist in day to day activities.  The fact that you are the bread winner in this case makes it a bit difficult for the man as he his likely to mis-interpreter some of your moves which he would have overlooked in normal situation.  This does not necessarily mean that you are clean, as it can be difficult '' trust me i have been there" but if you are, then you will have to go home and see him and both agree on a strategy on coming back home or joining you in the UK.

In My case, i will be leaving for Nigeria in 1st of DEC for one month, during which i need to iron out the strategy for the following year.  Work out what she need to do so that i could leave my job or the saving target we need to reach in order to sustain our living for about 6monhts to one year without a steady income.


Now. This is my suggestion

If you have the opportunity to travel home, then you need to put some questions to him

* You two need to set up a clear plan of what need to be done to effect the move. As he his alone without the kids, he should be able to move easily without contraints i.e if his hands are not tied by the ladies in the bank " i know what they are like "

* Agree to set up something he could work on for the next year. poultry of fish farming will be a good idea, if he has not knowledge of how it works, tell him to read the punch news paper and check our the advert for fish farming. It only cost 3000 naira and locatediing Abeokuta. With as little as 100k Naira, he could start somthing. I did it a year ago and ran a pilot for 6 months.

* Have this written down and let everyone commit to having this done with deadlines and benchmarks in place. Alternatively tell him to come up with somthing reasonalbe withing your budget.

* If you both gradually work on this, then your transistion program would be smooth.

* Do not jump and move to Nigeria without a reasonable source of income, i could tell you that i am well paid here, and still feel the presure when i am in lagos as expenses are in the thousands.

In short, if your papers are right, go down and see him in person so as to iron this out. This should not be without a visible commitment from his side. Idealy he should be the bread winner but we understand that times are changing. Let us leave pride our of this and set the record straight.[/quote]

Y is it that some pple think dey must rit 10 pages b4 dey make sense?

megadeath:
@bastrin,
u an officer or a cadet?

I can warm ur pot n heave on ur ball.
Did I xplain my status?

All dese bagas!!!

Corosive y r u guys wasting ur tym with dese mumus ehn,

especially dat clown tochukwu. well I just breezed in.

d case ie already ended. pls come feb I will like all dese gazgas talking to pls return to dis Forum.

for not I am a jst watching n digging for some more info.