By Adegbenro Adebanjo
The horrendous and barbaric killing of over 40 innocent students of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State by the Boko Haram Sect is proof positive that Nigeria is in clear and present danger. That killing has further diminished us as a people. It tells the rest of the World that the worst form of bestiality still takes place in Nigeria of 2014. It is sickening not just because of the number of children killed but also because of the sheer mindlessness and crude manner those kids were summarily executed. There is no justification whatsoever for the murder of those innocent souls. It is pure savagery. Those who planned and carried the crime out are mindless butchers and anyone who supports them one way or the other or who provides any justification for the gruesome act or tries to reap political capital out of this evil is vicariously liable and stands condemned too.
It should be clear to all of us that our country is dancing on the precipice. This heinous act should shock us to action. It should never be seen as just another killing by the Boko Haram Sect. Of course they have done it again and again and it gets worse every time. No we cannot and should not accept it as something we can live with. There should not be any feeling of de javu. If we do, then we all become accessories to some of the worst crimes in history. We will lose our humanity and we will become little better than animals because life in our society will then become ‘nasty, brutish and short’. Indeed some will argue that the Nigerian state based on its many failings and the sheer murderous brutality of Boko Haram has returned to the Hobbesian State of Nature. They may be right.
This is also not the time to play politics. Indeed all political activities should be suspended while our leaders work together with the people to drive away this festering evil out our land. There should be all round condemnation in the harshest terms possible. From the palace of the seat of the Caliphate through the Sultan of Sokoto to that of Emir of Kano and Sheu of Borno, from the palace of Ooni of Ife, Alafin of Oyo, Oba of Lagos, and Obi of Onitsha, from Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdusalam Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari, the National and State Assemblies to the leadership of the APC, PDP and other political parties, various unions, religious leaders of all faiths, organisations and all men and women of goodwill who believe in the survival of Nigeria there should be unanimous condemnation of this carnage. Our sense of outrage on this collective assault on our nation must be clearly expressed. The message to Boko Haram, their patrons, supporters and sympathisers like the late Yitzhak Rabin told Baruch Goldstein who committed a similar crime in the Middle East several years ago should be that of isolation. We should tell the murderous gangs that they are no longer part of the congregation of Nigeria, Rational Nigerians spit them out. Those who massacre our Country’s children would not know peace either here or in the hereafter.
The outrage and condemnation should be followed with practical actions and steps to forestall a re -occurrence. The military should reassess its strategy, beef up security and seek for help in the right places. Time has come for the military leadership to talk less and do more. Boko Haram will not be defeated via press conferences and giving of deadlines. The intelligence units of the various military and paramilitary forces should be alive to their responsibilities. It is curious that the leaders of the insurgency carry out attacks without prior detection of their plans by the many security agencies in the land. The political authority should work out a plan to make the military better able to fight the insurgency. The plans should not be for public consumption. You don’t disclose your battle plan where your enemy can see them. Nigerians are tired of promises; the time to act is now.
We have mismanaged this festering sore and it has become a terminal illness. Before our very eyes our country is becoming another Somalia and Afghanistan. Our Country is bleeding, our tomorrow is being decimated and we are carrying on as if nothing is wrong. Everything is wrong! We must rise up to halt this descent into the abyss.
Therefore steps must be taken to arrest the situation and urgently too. Time is running out
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