HOW TO END THE ACTS OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA....ATTAH

HOW TO END THE ACTS OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA

By Attah DarthVader Essien
Sequel to the mindless carnage in Kano I think it is necessary to profer a solution to this problem of terrorism in Nigeria with a view to forwarding same to the Government so that posterity will judge us not by our inactions but by our actions.
Government's knee jerk response to acts of terror by the group who we call Boko Haram is always
1: Curfew
2: Mass deployment of troops
3: State of emergency
These 3 measures can never beat an insurgency. Boko Haram is no more a rag-tag force of indisiciplined youths. They are now a well coordinated insurgency whether the Government of Nigeria wants to admit it or not, it is a fact.
And to beat an insurgency is not a 1day thing. It takes months, years and at times decades to beat them e.g ETA a terrorist group that has been battling the Spanish Government for 30yrs, or the IRA that fought the British for 60yrs+.
So till the government especially the President refrain from using words like "Boko Haram will fizzle out" we are getting no where.
Boko Haram will not fizzle out till the standard 3 step strategy to tackle an insurrgency is employed. It is time to prepare Nigerians for this and stop hiding the truth from us. WE ARE NOT KIDS. Even kids know something is wrong with Nigeria thus it is better to say WE ARE NOT MENTALLY RETARDED!
The faster we realise that this is not a flash in the pan but the real deal the quicker we can get on the long road to defeating these terrorists.
STEP 1: GOVERNMENT WILL:
Does the Government really have the will to tackle terrorism in Nigeria? I seriously doubt it cos their body language is so depressing that we might as well surrender to the terrorists and declare a new State for them.
A major attack against one of the largest cities in Nigeria and it takes 24hrs for the President to issue a bland statement thru his media aide who probably wrote it on his behalf, is not the best. Meanwhile the state media houses(NTA, FRCN,VON) are trudging on as if nothing is going on instead of getting Government officials to reassure the populace and calm frayed nerves. This is not the best. The only two prominent Nigerians who were promptly on tv were Ernest Shonekan and Yakubu Gowon. How pathetic that it is two ex-Heads of Government that ruled >15yrs ago that are trying to do the job of the sitting president.
And it is such behavior that gives ready ammunition to the conspiracy theorists who say
"Jonathan is behind Boko Haram and is sending them to destabilise the North for not voting for him"
"CIA and the Mossad are sponsoring Boko Haram to destroy the North and make Goodluck President for life"
"It is the Igbo and Niger Delta friends of Goodluck that are claiming to be Boko Haram"
"It is PDP thugs that are calling themselves Boko haram" etc.........
Government will. This Government's will to fight terrorism is blunted thus the majority of Nigerians are losing faith or have totally lost faith in them.
So how can they win back our trust.
GOODLUCK SHOULD START TO ACT PRESIDENTIAL and sack the following
1: Police Service Commission Chairman: for approving the recall and promotion of a dismissed police officer, CP Zakiru Biu. He must fall on his sword for turning a blind eye to this disregard for procedure
2: Hafiz Ringim must go NOW. He has failed the nation in all ramifications and waiting till next month for him to retire is too long.
3: All Police men from Commissioner of Police to Deputy Inspector General should be retired immediately. The police has no discipline, is corrupt and is obviously infiltrated by the terrorists. These officers must swallow the blame and be eased out to promote the younger ones with a caveat to end corruption, reward performance and punish severely cowardice, ineptitude and collusion.
The Government must proclaim that there must be no sacred cows. No matter how high up the chain of command this goes, the investigation must pursue it. Only then can Government will, kick start the battle to win this war.
STEP 2:INTELLIGENCE:
This is the unseen part of the war but it is the most vital part. Curfews, troop deployments and state of emergencies are totally useless after the terrorists have struck. These guys have moved on and already planning their next attack somewhere else. Has Boko Haram ever hit the same place twice in quick succession? The answer is NO!
It is developing both human and electronic intelligence that is the key.
Human intelligence: Deep cover agents to infiltrate the group to discover their terror cells and determine their targets before they strike is crucial
Electronic intelligence: there are so many devices available to SSS to monitor calls thus targeted wire taps can monitor terrorist chatter prior to an attack; this is vital to win this war on terror.
STEP 3: HEARTS AND MINDS
This is the most important and most difficult step but it is a must to win this war on terror.
The Government must win back the people so that we can joyful aid them to fight this war.
DENY THE TERRORIST LEADERSHIP OF RECRUITS: our borders are too porous, plug the leaks. End the Almarjiri lifestyle/educational system in the north and replace it with a viable sound educational system that will inculcate both Koranic and Western Education. Effect a development plan for the north with a view to resucitating all the old collapsed industries(through private-public partnership) so as to provide jobs for these yóuths when they finish school. Very few people who are educated and gainfully employed will still choose to be a suicide bomber on the orders of some warped minded crazy leader.
Winning hearts and minds also involves getting the people to trust the police once again. No Nigerian in his right mind can presently report a terrorist living in their area to the police. The Police's method of investigations is so crude that you that is reporting will either be arrested for interrogation"if you know that guy is a terrorist, then you must be one as well" or they will arrest the terrorists collect bribe from them before directing them to the informant to kill him or her.
This is the painful truth we all know and this is why restructuring the police is so so so important.
Once this is done a steady chain of informants will develop. Traditional rulers, leaders of thought and religious leaders have a prominent part to play as well
In conclusion THE STATE AT THIS STAGE SHOULD NOT EVEN THINK OF NEGOTIATING WITH THESE TERRORIST FOR NOW.
You only negotiate with Ýour enemy from a position of strength and right now the Government is still reeling from the Kano attacks.
Only after scoring some major victories can such entreties be made. It is really sickening to hear Government sending envoys to "beg" Boko Haram, when it is supposed to be the other way round.
Finally, if we don't pressurise. The Government to start taking decisive action to end these terror attacks, these attacks will escalate and spread to even the south (which has been some what free for now) and then with the ethno-religious tensions that hangs over Nigeria, the consequences will be disastrous.
Nigeria is our country, let's us strive to stop these forces that are trying to tear us apart.
NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE OUR OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND THOUGH TONGUE AND TRIBE MAY DIFFER IN BROTHERHOOD WE STAND.....