Shaken, Jonathan Shoes Up To Tackle Crises

By Timawus Mathias

President Goodluck Jonathan finally grew up to the reality that the nation was at war when in pronouncing so, he imposed martial law in the North East States of Borno, Bauchi, and Adamawa. It was no longer a monotonous lamentation in the born-with-no-shoes tone, but a firm and resolute reproach of detractors by an angry commander in chief, awake to the stern responsibility of recovering the country from its nosedive into anarchy and dismemberment. President Jonathan for once was Presidential in spirit and tone.

“The activities of insurgents and terrorists have been reprehensible, causing fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country, especially the North. We have taken robust steps to unravel and address the root causes of these crises, but it would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve,” the President said, before proceeding to announce the imposition of a State of Emergency in the North - Eastern States of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States.

Approval ratings rose sharply as media monitors agreed that the drastic step taken was apt, even overdue.  Even sworn bashers and conventional critics of the President over his handling of security had found reason to write positive notes. Evidently political divides are agreed on the tough stance of the President and have expressed this sentiment. The most recent has been the conference of Northern Governors who gave tacit support to the declared state of emergency after a sitting.

The armed forces have since risen to their calling in obedience to the commander in chief and assault on insurgency cells. In the past, they have earned praise and applause from the international community for their professionalism in handling peace-keeping operations abroad. Nigeria performed creditably in the Congo in the 60s and even more so in Angola Somalia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This domestic insurgency had been crushed in Kano and Adamawa in the 80s. The challenge before the Nigerian military now is to undertake a quick and thorough professional operation, if possible without collateral damage in and on innocent civilians.  There is the normal occurrence of insurgents using civilians as a human shield to fight against a conventional army, a situation civilians should pray not to fall under, but must do well also to avoid by quickly volunteering information early to authorities.

One week on today, there appear early instant successes, but it is foolhardy to think that it is going to be a quick touch-and-go toothache remedy and that we would have peace and quiet right away.

Far from it, the counter insurgency effort is going to be long drawn and could get unpleasant with more loss of lives and property. We need only to look at the experience of other countries in Africa battling with ideology based insurgence.

This is why the early victory should not be celebrated. It is normal for the insurgents to disappear into the community from which they came in the first place. Indeed, it hardly pays to pursue a military solution alone in dealing with ideology based guerrilla insurgents. There needs to be waged also, wars to win minds and thereby cut costs in human lives and material.

For the fight against extremists to succeed, the public owes it a duty to support the Government. Now is the time to rally round the flag, a time for politicians to bury the hatchet and to not attempt to make political capital from a national malady which did not begin just yesterday. The citizenry must show support for the measures being taken and cooperate with the security agencies by being law abiding, staying out of harm’s way and providing security with information on any unusual occurrences.

The Boko Haram insurgency metamorphosed into this horrible spectre due to the lack of political will to deal with crime, corruption and general lawlessness which included use of armed militia. In this regard, President Goodluck Jonathan must boldly confront those whose hands are bloodied by their involvement in the emergence of this insurgency. Many elite with insight into the challenge are hesitant in coming up with pointers to the root cause of the insurgency. It is yet not too late to institute a judicial enquiry into the extra-judicial killing of Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf, and the abuses made of security formations in Borno by politicians before the insurgency fired up.

The probable answers generated from this targeted inquiry will go a long way to demolish the evil tree from its root and not its stump. Indeed the world now has an eye fixed on Nigeria, watching to see how the country can deal with a situation that has grown increasingly akin to a gangrenous injury. Focusing directly on the precise location and delivering the required medication like President Goodluck  Ebele Jonathan has done recently tackles the first step towards the necessary actions. Now remains the follow through.

Law and order must be restored. Police vehicular checks are necessary. The Federal Road Safety Corps must resume its earlier zeal in traffic control and instant ticketing of erring road users. The state government’s vehicle inspection officers must check roadworthiness of vehicles now, more thoroughly. Even tax and immigration officials must resume work, let Nigeria return to the keeping of ignored laws and restore the order of the days of yore.

No one doubts it, Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States are beleaguered.

Communication, the education of children, business and the general normal life activities have been brought to a standstill. This certainly is not what our society desires, but so is the price to pay in order to get back our peace.

We are at a place and time in our political life as a nation where we no longer only sing “The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain, to serve with heart and might…” but actually stand up and defend it, and the flag in support of the armed forces.