President Muhammadu Buhari himself has accepted that military action cannot be the only option in the fight against the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Before now, there were efforts towards the de-radicalisation of youths who form the main recruiting ground for these merchants of evil. The frontline states in the fight, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, have adopted their own methods towards making the vulnerable youths less accessible to the terrorists. These are in addition to the ongoing military campaign which appears to have put the terrorists under pressure.
But as agreed on at the just concluded United Nations (UN) General Assembly, terrorism is an ideology, largely emotive because it has to do with the mind. Force has never been known to combat, in a precise and decisive manner, any issue that has to do with the mind.
What the UN is saying is that other methods of running the terrorists out of business must be explored and urgently too. This is true of what is happening in Nigeria where the successes so far achieved by the military are being rubbished by the terrorists who have devised other means of inflicting injury and death on the populace. All that is needed for one to be a victim of Boko Haram bombers is to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
In the prevailing circumstance, we dare to ask, is there anything like the right place? Such is the thinking of the general population worried stiff by the apparent successes of the terror group that has changed tactics by targeting the nation’s under belly.
To some, in our view, it may be comforting to dismiss them as cowards and their suicide bombings as the last throes of a dying animal. Similarly, it is unhelpful to suggest that they are on the run. May be. But the cold truth is that they are causing mayhem as they flee. The sad aspect of the whole misfortune is that these destructions to life and property are perpetrated by teenagers already brainwashed to believe that a juicy reward awaits them in Heaven.
From experience in this war against terror, we have noticed that tough talk on the part of government and its agencies has only helped in aggravating the bad situation. If only they can do more and talk less, a lot more positive result will be achieved.
Also, it is becoming obvious that the security agencies are not getting enough intelligence or they are not making good use of the little they get. We also think that it is not enough for the authorities to chant that security is everybody’s business. That is true up to a point.
In our opinion, for the citizens to be involved, they must be sufficiently educated on what is expected of them with appropriate guarantees regarding their own personal safety especially assurances that they will not be betrayed thereby putting them in real harm’s way.
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That is precisely so. There is little that can be achieved in terms of physical confrontation against a foe whose ultimate hope in his battle is to kill and to also get killed. The mind is the seat of all human decision and sadly all errors. The government can only help to fight the insurgency in sublime investment in youth reorientation principally by creating jobs and encouraging empowerment.