By Honourable Saka
Nigeria,
officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional
republic comprising 36 states. According to the CIA World Fact Book,
Nigeria is slightly more than twice the size of California. The country is
located in West Africa and shares land borders with the
Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies
on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The above
description paints a picture of how exposed Nigerian borders could be at any
time.
The three largest and most influential ethnic
groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split into
halves between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South. However, a
very small minority practice traditional religion, as often portrayed in
Nigerian/African movies.
Recently,
the incidences of bombings which create general insecurity in Nigeria have
become frequent and much more dangerous. During the 50th
independence anniversary celebrations, a powerful bomb exploded at the Eagle
Square, killing at least 12 people and maiming others. A similar bomb exploded
at a military cantonment in Abuja killing several people, leaving many others
wounded. This was suddenly followed by a terrific multiple bomb blasts that
left at least 143
people dead, 100 bodies were taken to a morgue at Murtala Muhammed Specialist
Hospital in the city centre.
In
another instance, a powerful bomb detonated at the Nigeria’s Police
Headquarters killing about a dozen and injuring many. Then there was the United
Nations’ headquarters in Abuja where 22 people were killed and several others
wounded following a suicide bomb attack.
Just a few weeks later, another suicide bomb attack happened in a church
killing 43 and injuring 72 of Christian worshipers. This month (8th
April 2012), during the Easter ceremony, officials say at least 38 people died
in a car bomb somewhere in the northern city of Kaduna. A few hours later,
another bomb detonated in the central city of Jos, living tens of people
wounded. The list goes on and on...
Boko Haram’s attack in Kano killed about hundred people |
Fear and Panic spread
across Nigeria
Nowadays,
the possibility that a bomb may explode in Nigeria, at any public gathering
such as Independence Day celebrations, Christmas, Easter, and traditional festivals,
cannot be in doubt. The US Embassy in Nigeria
therefore warned its citizens on April 17 2012, that “Boko Haram” may be
planning more attacks in the Nigerian capital, including hotels.
“Boko
Haram has been blamed for most attacks in Nigeria, but the dimension and scope
of the current bomb attacks have shifted the attention of experts to the
possibility of external influence.
The bomb attacks according to experts have become bigger and more sophisticated.
The targets also have become more diversified
and include both Muslims and Christians, mosques and churches: a clear
departure from its original focus”, reports Danjuma Abdullahi.
But
what was the “original focus” of Boko Haram? Have their initial agenda been
hijacked and by whom? There is a strong belief among many Nigerians that some
politicians in the country secretly fund this radical group. Others also point
to the possibility of external influence. After all it is an established fact
that even rebel leaders like Charles
Taylor was secretly funded by certain western countries.
In
a recent TV interview
conducted with Dr Abdulrahman Hamisu, an expert from the University of Abuja,
made shocking observation:
"Let
us take ourselves back to the predictions of America that by the year 2015,
Nigeria is going to break into different entities. And if you look at what is
happening today, it tallies with the steps and the methodology that has to be
used in order to attain that aim. It was reported that many CIA, FBI and
Mossad agents were allowed access to Abuja in order to ‘assist our security
agencies’. From what is happening in the Middle East and other places
where CIA and Mossad have been to, (it has) shown clearly that the same pattern
that is been used (in the Middle East) is currently been replayed here in
Nigeria; only that there is a slight modification because of the difference in
the actors in Nigeria".
In Nigeria, the terrorists are not fighting against
(anybody), but are fighting for a foreign enemy.
In
a related interview, Mr Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, a Civil Society Legislative
Advocacy Coordinator (Nigeria), had this to say:
"There
is no way a fellow Nigerian will kill another Nigerian, and you could see that
this crisis is coming from different perspective; some people from the outside,
are determined to bring down this country".
Boko Haram, Who are they? What were their demands?
Since 2002, there have been many reported
clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces
and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists whom we’re currently
only told ‘seek to establish sharia law’. The group was founded in 2002 by Ustaz
Mohammed Yusuf. Yusuf is hostile to ‘democracy’ and the secular education
system. He vowed that “this war that is yet to start would continue for long”
if the “political” and “educational” system were not changed. (www.naijan.com).
First of all, it must be understood that the political system
in Nigeria, is characterized by massive corruption and of course corruption in
Nigeria is the worst on the African continent. This is a fact that nobody can
dispute.
Reportedly, Boko Haram started as a small
non-violent group who were often seen in the markets and the communities,
preaching their anti-western ideologies. Their initial and real demands were as
follows:
·
Nigerian politicians and government officials
must abolish their flamboyant lifestyles which are often inspired by foreign
(western) culture. This desire of politicians to live like western celebrities,
driving expensive cars, living in posh houses, buying properties abroad,
travelling on expensive shopping spree, sending their families to study in expensive
overseas universities, have resulted in mass corruption and the stealing of
state funds at a time when most Nigerians are living below the poverty line.
·
The group also demanded the abolishment of
western (colonial) educational system in Nigeria. They believed that the
current educational system in Nigeria is a colonial tool that has distorted
African history and has cast a dark shadow over the African culture. The colonial
educational system has produced bad and corrupt leaders. Therefore they called
western education “a sin”. This is not new because even Kwame Nkrumah in his
book “Consciencism” (pg.62) proved
that: “The history of Africa, as presented by European scholars, has been encumbered
with malicious myths”. He also said “there
are certain feudal-minded elements (public officials) who became imbued with
European ideals either through direct European education or through hobnobbing
with the local colonial administrative system” (pg.69).
·
They also advocated for the establishment of a
sharia law.
Unfortunately, their third demand is the only
thing which the mainstream media seem to talk about, while deliberately
ignoring the two most important demands. Is it because the other two demands
are a threat to the imperial powers and their puppet corrupt politicians? But
this is clearly understandable because the corporate media today is serving an
agenda: to defend the interest of the global elites who want to enslave
humanity using puppet and corrupt politicians as their pawns.
Gradually, Boko Haram strengthened their sphere
of influence and became a radical political party determined to take their
anti-corruption and anti-western culture to the highest level. This posed an
immediate danger to the existing political establishment who did not welcome
the anti-corruption campaign and also the
imperial powers who saw an imminent danger to the colonial educational system
they have successfully imposed on the Nigerian people.
Then one day in 2009, the then President Yar’Adua
ordered the persecution and aggressive crack-downs by the Nigerian security
service. This brought about a violent revenge from Boko Haram. The crackdown
was brutal and resulted in the death of around 700 innocent people. Many of the
victims were publicly executed on suspicions that they were members of Boko
Haram even without any clear proof and without a fair trial.
But who could have advised the president on such a course?
Well,
according to information available, and from Dr Abdulrahman
Hamisu, of the University of Abuja It was reported that many CIA, FBI and Mossad
agents were invited to Abuja in order to ‘assist the Nigerian security
agencies’ and to advise them on how to deal with Boko Haram. Therefore it is reasonable to beleive that the leaders
were following directives from these foreign "advisers".
Were their Demands Legitimate?
Oil firms are the main corrupting force in Nigeria |
According
to Garba Sani, an analyst at Pan-Africanist
International
"From the perspective
of Northern Nigerians, since the days of colonialism, Western style education
and Christianity have been imposed upon them as a package from the south. The
response to this has been a resistance to Western education and the Western way
of life. However, this is not simply a cultural sentiment. The civil servants and politicians produced by this system are seen
conspicuously wasting money. Poor Nigerians see their politicians flying
abroad, shopping in Dubai, and sending their children to expensive Western
schools. Consequently people feel that the leadership is devoid of justice, and
when they call for the abolishment of western educational system, fighting
corruption and the establishment of Sharia law it is not about religious piety
but reflects a desire for a more just system.
The resentment
fostered among the youth of Northern Nigeria is where Boko Haram has its
beginnings".
It
must be understood that Boko Haram originally started as a revolution which
declared a war on the corrupt lifestyle of many Nigerian politicians. The
leaders of this group clearly understood that corruption in government,
embezzlement of public funds by politicians is part of the gentleman’s way of
stealing. To the politicians, once they can “balance the books” at the end of
the day, it means they can steal as much as they want. Many politicians often
embark on foreign trips and spend as much state funds as they wish at the
expense of the taxpayer. Such exorbitant lifestyles of public officials in
Africa only came about as a result of the public officials’ desire to live like
western celebrities. However, this lifestyle is not a true African culture. Traditionally,
it is a “taboo” (sin) for any an African to steal. In
some communities, a thief can be banished (exiled) for stealing.
Therefore how come African leaders (politicians) are looting and stealing from
the national coffers without any guilt? It is basically because they do not
appreciate the African culture.
It
is said that if anyone wants to influence a people, first it is important to
influence/destroy their culture, their educational system, their thought and
their beliefs.
Kwame
Nkrumah in his book “Neo-Colonialism”
(pg.35) held that, the West used the old colonialist methods of religious,
educational and cultural infiltration to influence the African mentality and
our current way of life.
This
is why many people, Boko Haram included have every reason to believe that there
is the need for a radical educational reforms to be implemented: an educational
system that will harness African norms and values. There
is also the need to fight corruption in Africa that is inspired by the western
fashionable lifestyle.
Poverty
in Nigeria, a Political Tool
Despite its oil wealth many Nigerians remain poor |
“I’d
Rather Bomb ASO ROCK Than Have My Children As Slaves (A warning to leaders marked
by the beast)” the author reveals the
frustration of the ordinary Nigerian which is as a result of the bad economic
policies and the corrupt attitude of the ruling elites. In strong-worded
statements the author writes:
“I’ll rather have all the senators, the house
of assembly members, and even the Aso Rock (the presidential palace) -all those
who squander more than 25 percent of the national budget bombed and wiped out
than have my children continue in slavery to this hell called Nigeria and its
politicians. It does not matter who amongst these evil leaders are reading this
and planning on how to stretch their “human looting” to me, you will perish in
your thoughts! I’ll rather have all PDP ( Peoples Democratic Party) chieftains
and all they have stolen in decades wiped off the earth than let my children
feel the helpless pain I was born into and have lived with because of Nigeria.
I would rather start every form of evil with those leaders who, from every
angle, compel Nigerians into all forms of evil as means for survival. I would
rather be a friend of Osama Bin Laden, though dead, than shake hands with these
black monsters who call themselves “honourables” in Nigeria. And my life is not
more precious to me than uprooting every tree of evil in my land and destroying
those soulless leaders and restoring to those who live within Nigeria the
freedom that is rightfully theirs as citizens of life. “These are the silent
and helpless cries in every Nigerian youth’s soul, the cries of people who,
with me, abhor the evil foundation of Nigeria and its leadership. (Ikechukwu Enyiagu)
Therefore
the Boko Haram revolution determined that the only way to end this cycle and to
give a true meaning to the political system is to abolish the western-inspired
lifestyles of the politicians, and to go back to our African lifestyle. This
they believed could be achieved by implementing new educational reforms that
clearly reflects the African values. A parallel line was therefore drawn
between the current educational system, (a system that projects wealth, riches
and exorbitant lifestyle as the only symptoms of a successful life) and the
corruption in government. Incidentally, today’s educational system has become a
privilege, rather than a right. Today, it is only the rich that can acquire
knowledge (degrees), since the cost of high school and tertiary education are
too expensive that most people can never afford it; or they may spend their
entire life struggling to offset the debt that come with it.
Unfortunately,
the powers that be, have in one way or the other managed to hijack a true
revolution and turned it to a violent bombing campaign, discrediting their
genuine intentions and demands.
Rebel
groups in Africa, how are they funded?
Over
the years, many militants and rebel groups have propped up across Africa: the Al-Shabbab,
the Tuareg Rebels (Mali), the Lord’s Resistance Army (Uganda), the National
Liberation Forces (Burundi), The West Side Boys (Sierra Leon), Forces for the Liberation of
Rwanda (FLR), the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (DR Congo) the
Somali Pirates, Boko Haram (Nigeria), The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Nigeria) and many more.
Shockingly, many of them have often been spotted carrying very sophisticated
weapons RPG-7, ZPU, and many weapons that can take down planes (anti-aircraft
missiles). These are not weapons that could be manufactured in Nigeria, Somalia
nor Uganda. Therefore how do these militants receive the weapons? Some of the
answers are not far-fetched.
Al-Shabaab rebels with large quantities of RPG missiles |
During
NATO’s war in Libya (2011), France and Qatar under the UN’s watch delivered
weapons in large quantities to the rebels whom the Western press often referred
to as “activists” and “revolutionaries”. In addition to the weapons, the rebels
also received communication equipment which facilitated and coordinated their movements
across the continent smoothly. Since many of the rebels consider themselves to
be allies, who are working for a common purpose, it wasn’t difficult for some
of the weapons that were delivered to rebels in Libya to be quickly mobilized
and smuggled to other rebel groups in the West African region. It was recently
reported that large amount of weapons from Libya have
been found in Nigeria.
Some kidnappers in Nigeria sometimes mistakenly called Boko Haram, armed with RPGs |
In
fact, the nature of weapons that are currently in the rebel’s hands are too
sophisticated and expensive that the cost may run into hundreds of millions of
US dollars. But how could the rebel fighters, often wanted for prosecution get
the ability to buy those expensive weapons in such large quantities? No matter
how rich the rebel leaders might be their continues ability to afford the
weapons in large quantities for such a very long period of time would be
impossible to imagine, if they have no form of sponsorship and the corporation
of a few puppet politicians. According to Finian Cunningham, the Nigerian Tribune has reported that Boko Haram receives funding from different groups from Saudi Arabia and the UK, specifically from the Al-Muntada Trust Fund, headquartered in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia’s Islamic World Society..
Recently,
a Nigerian military task force
stormed a militant hideout in the city and recovered six assembled bombs and
another one under construction, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told reporters.
The bombs were made with drink cans
and a drum of around 50 litres. This is an indication that the terrorists in
Nigeria currently have experts who know how to assemble bombs. The fact that
the militants can now manufacture bombs right in Nigeria is a very dangerous
development. But the question still remains: who is behind these militants?
It is undeniable fact that many of the rebel
groups in Africa today, especially in Central Africa (Al-Sahabaab) are real
terrorists who have been destabilizing the peace and security across the region.
However, it must also be understood that there were many other groups like the
Niyabinghi warriors, who fought against the corrupting power of the Elders and
paganism. There was also the Nelson Mandela’s Armed Anti-apartheid Rebellion which
used armed struggle as a last resort to free his people from a racist apartheid
government.
In this regard, it must be exposed that the case
of Boko Haram is one of a hijacked revolution. For all we know, the real Boko Haram
group may not be the ones in the news today. It is a revolution whose main
mission posed a direct threat to the Neo-colonialists and their puppet corrupt
politicians. But thanks to a few terrorists groups and the corporate mainstream
media, the hijack of such a true revolution appears to have succeeded. Whereas
the original campaign to fight corruption in Nigeria and to modify the colonial
educational system has become a fantasy.
Notes:
1) Kwame Nkrumah (1964) “Consciencism”. Panaf Books: London
2) Kwame Nkrumah (1965) “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism”. Panaf Books: London
By Honourable Saka
The
author is a regular writer and a political analyst on African affairs, and a
well-known social commentator in Africa. He is the editor of “The Doctor’s Report”, your most reliable source of critical analysis
on African affairs. He is a strong Pan-Africanist, a youth activist and the
founder of the “Leaders of Tomorrow”, a transformational and inspirational
group of possible future leaders. Please visit his blog at:www.honourablesaka.blogspot.co.uk and reach him by Email at:honourablesaka@yahoo.co.uk