INTRODUCTION
The recent
surge of the menace of Boko Haram through serial bombings that have killed
several innocent Nigerian citizens is a serious breach and challenge to
national security. The bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja on
Friday 26th August, 2011 killing not less than 23 people and wounding scores of
others has further demonstrated not only the wickedness of the group but its
potency, determination and destructive capabilities. These bombings by the
Islamic fundamentalist group referred to as Boko Haram is a serious crime
against the Nigerian state, which has threatened its national security. This
has posed the greatest challenge to the grand strategy for national security
the primary objective of which is “… to strengthen the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
to advance her interest and objectives to contain instability, control crime,
eliminate corruption… improve the welfare and quality of life of every
citizen.”1 Clearly, the activities of Boko Haram have created a situation of
insecurity, instability, increase in crime and has worsened the welfare and
quality of life of Nigerians. This can be attested to by the mass movement of
residents from other states of the federation out of the North Eastern part of
the country, especially Maiduguri, which is the capital of Borno State. This
situation has made it impossible for the citizens in that part of Nigeria to
carry on their legitimate businesses.
Again, the activities of Boko Haram have affected
the postings of students of Southern extraction on national youth service to
the north. Parents are strongly resisting the posting of their children as coppers
to the north. This, in itself is a fatal blow to the noble objective of the
scheme as a unifying strategy. Indeed, the unity of Nigeria is seriously threatened
by Boko Haram. However, the reality of this threat is worsen and manifested in
the statements credited to some well placed northern Nigerians that no military
action should be taken against the group. Rather than condemn this crime of
Boko Haram against the Nigerian state and her people, these Northern Nigerians
of Islamic faith are demanding for dialogue and amnesty for this fundamentalist
sect. The question therefore is, is it right and proper to dialogue and grant
amnesty to criminals that have declared war against the Nigerian state and the
people? What purpose will dialogue and amnesty serve? What are the implications
if government succumbs to this demand? Will this measure strengthen our
national security? What impacts will dialogue and eventual amnesty have on
Nigeria?
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOKO HARAM
Boko Haram is
not the official name of the group. The official name of the sect is Jama’atu
Ahlis Sunna Lidda-awati Wal-Jihad. The translation of this in Arabic means
“people committed to the propagation of the prophet’s teachings and Jihad”.
However, Boko Haram is the local dubbing of the sect by residents of Maiduguri,
when it was formed in 2002. Boko Haram according to the local Hausa language
simply translates to “Western education is forbidden or is a sin.” The resident
gave the group this name because of its strong aversion to western education,
which it viewed as corrupting Muslims. The term “Boko Haram” is a derivative of
the Hausa word boko, which means “Animist, western or otherwise non-Islamic
education,” while Haram is a word with Arabic origin that figuratively
means “sin” but literally, “forbidden”.
Ideologically, Boko Haram opposes not only western
education, but western culture and modern science. This according to Wikipedia
is anchored on the 2009 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interview
granted by Yusuf, who is believed to be the leader of the group. In the said
interview, Yusuf declared that the belief that the world is spherical in shape
is a sharp contradiction to Islamic thought and therefore should be rejected
along with Darwinism and the theory that rain comes from water evaporated by
the sun. Historically, the group according to Wikipedia is said to have been in
existence right from the 1960s but only started to draw attention in 2002.
BOKO HARAM CRIME AND NATIONAL SECURITY
From our
analysis of the activities of Boko Haram, it is very glaring that these
constitute a crime against the state and also posed a serious threat to our
national security. Although it is difficult to provide a universal definition
of crime due largely to the issue of time and space, crime has been defined by
the United Nations Research Institute. According to the institute:
Crime, in the
sense of a breach of a legal prohibition is a universal concept, but what
actually constitutes a crime and how seriously it should be regarded, varies
enormously from one society to another. Perceptions of crime are not determined
by any objective indicator of the degree of injury or damage but by cultural
values and power relations.
In strict legal
terms, a crime is a violation of the criminal law, which is subsequently
followed by legal punishment. In criminal law, a crime is an act of omission
which attracts sanctions, such as fine, imprisonment, or even death. Crime,
legally consists of two fundamental elements namely, the actus reus and
the mens rea. The actus reus is the physical element or the
guilty act, and it requires proof where there is no actus reus, there is
no crime. It includes all the elements in the definition of the crime with the
exception of the mental element.
The
second element, which is mens rea, is the mental element or the guilty
mind. It is basically the intention and a man is said to intend doing something
if he foresaw and desired it. The desire for the consequences is the basic
factor of intention. Crime can be dichotomized into serious and minor; felony
and misdemeanor; Mala in se and Mala prohibition,crimes against
persons and crimes against property among others.From this, we can conveniently
situate the activities of Boko Haram as falling under the serious crimes and
felony.
From our
historical analysis and from media reports, it has been established that there
are foreigners from Niger Republic and Chad who are used in carrying out the
dastardly activities of bombing police stations, churches, public places, and
privates places where Nigerians are gathered in groups such as beer gardens. On
15th August, 2011, it was reported by channels
Television that there was an attempt by a suicide bomber to bomb the police
headquarters in Maiduguri where Nigerians were gathered for police recruitment.
The aim of the suicide bombers was to drive into the crowd and straight into
the headquarters’ building of the police. Facts available from authorities show
that there are no suicide bombers in Nigeria. The implication of this therefore
is that Boko Haram had instigated foreigner(s) to invade Nigeria with armed
force (bombs). This can be seen in the arrest of a Niger national in connection
with bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja among others.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION IN NIGERIA AND MILITANCY
The
platonic notion that society is man-writ-large is a truism that cannot be
debunked by any logical tool. Nigeria as a country is generally considered to
be corrupt. Indeed, the problem of corruption is endemic and regretably almost
all Nigerians are associated with in varying degrees. This has in various ways
retarded the development of the nation. This is reflected in the 2011 May Day
address by the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade
Abdulwahed Omar. He says;
The
problem of corruption which continues to hold back any meaningful development
in our nation needs to be addressed. As endowed as we are with human and
natural resources, these resources now appear to be a curse. A major reason is
corruption! Can we today in good conscience say how many barrels of oil are
actually pumped from our reserves? Many fear that a huge number of barrels are
unaccounted for or “privatized” daily. Huge allocations, running into billions
and trillions of naira, are made to power development, roads, agriculture, and
other sectors annually without measurable and meaningful corresponding.
Though we
agree with Temidayo’s diagnosis, it must be asserted that the political class
is playing the politics of poverty. Poverty here includes both material and
intellectual lack. It is this extreme state of poverty of this sect that made
them vulnerable. They lack the intellectual capacity to discern that they are
mere tools in the hands of their leaders and rich sponsors. The inability of
the northern state governments to ensure the education of their citizens is a
deliberate policy of subjugation, so as to suppress opposition. There is a high
degree of political backings and patronage of the sect. This is the reason
behind the unexplained extra-judicial killing of the leader of the group. The
security agency, especially the police have an explanation to make to the
Nigerian people. There is a high degree of security complicity and compromise.
Efforts made at
Combating Unemployment:
Agricultural sector, with emphasis on
self employment in agricultural
Production and marketing. The programme
is monitored by a team of Agricultural professionals in the Agricultural
department of the directorate. However, factors which include inadequate
funding and late release of funds from the One of the steps taken by the
Nigerian government to reduce the problem of unemployment in Nigeria Was the
establishment of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), which was
established in November 22, 1986. The objective of NDE was to promptly and
effectively fight unemployment by Designing and implementing innovative
programmers, which are directed towards the provision of? Training
opportunities through the guidance and management support services to graduate
farmers and
Small scale entrepreneurs. The objectives
of NDE spanned across the following programmers:
• Agricultural development programme
• Youth employment and vocational skills
development programme
• Special public works
• Small scale industries and graduate
employment programme
The aim of the agricultural programme is
to generate employment for graduates, non-graduates And school leavers in the federation
account among others have impaired the effectiveness of the NDE agricultural programmers
(Chinedum 2006) As stated earlier, this study seeks to recommend the informal
sector as a medium of reducing Unemployment in Nigeria, while outlining some of
the pointers needed in making the objectives Achievable.
CONCLUSION
The government should beam a search light on the
political class from the north. This is because the Boko Haram group was
obviously inspired, nurtured and financed by politicians at their take-off
points in Borno and Bauchi states. It is our view that the apologies demanded
and received by the group stemmed from their relationship with the political
elites from whom they demanded these apologies. The government and security
agencies should go all out to wipe out these criminals from our society. This
position is supported by Dele Agekameh of The Nations newspaper when he
wrote:
… Rather
than recourse to dialogue at this stage, as being suggested in certain
quarters, government should engage the sect in battle royals. Otherwise, other
groups may suddenly spring up like mushrooms and expect government to pamper
them. This is evident from the fact that some groups had openly commended the
sect after the bombing and had even promised to toe the same line if that will
give them the needed attention by the government…55 It is
clear from this that dialogue and amnesty will only worsen the insecurity
situation in the country. As earlier stated and reechoed here by Agekameh,
amnesty and dialogue will only produce more nefarious groups and dissidents.
The position of this paper is that amnesty though an executive tool is not to
be employed in the Boko Haram’s case. The sect should be smoke out of where
ever they are. It is only when government has shown its might and capacity to
keep the peace that Nigerians can lay claim to having a government that is
responsible. There cannot be development in a state of insecurity, so, the
government should use its might to swell this ravaging sect.
References
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