GUEST COLUMNIST By Dimeji Daniels
I doubt if Nigeria will ever find a solution to the Boko Haram problem until the other more visible Boko Haram lay down its arms and stop waging war against the Nigerian State. This other Boko Haram had positioned itself well before independence and has since eaten deep into the skin of the nation, so much so that the nation's internal organs, which are also presently being infected, now lay bare.
If this other Boko Haram is not curtailed from its present assault on the nation, by the time it wholly infects all the nation's internal organs, not even transplant would save Nigeria. Whenever I look at the killings that have been done by this other Boko Haram, I shudder because it makes the number of killings ascribed to the Islamic sect we all know as Boko Haram look like child's play.
To recruit their members, this other Boko Haram does not consider religion, tribe or even intelligence. Their recruits need not be brainwashed; there are simply a lot of carrots dangled before them to make them fall in line. Unlike the Islamic sect which probably convinces its members of the reward of paradise for martyrdom, the other Boko Haram cares not about paradise as their reward is here on earth. And just so you know, most of its members are scared of death so don't even mention martyrdom to them. This world is too sweet for them to lay down their lives for one stupid cause!
The Islamic sect seems to have restricted itself so far to the North. This other Boko Haram is everywhere in the country and nobody dares arrest or molest them as they have informants and loyalists in all the security agencies. In fact, the security agencies rely on them for their budgets. Who then can arrest them? Far more lethal and dangerous than the Islamic sect we know as Boko Haram that it is even said that it gave rise to the Islamic sect.
This Boko Haram has membership in all families in the country, both mine and yours. Some of us even have them as friends. They are the greedy politicians and the conniving civil servants who have dirtied the landscape of this country since independence. Don't get me wrong! I am not saying all politicians fall into this category, but more than ninety percent of them are members of the political Boko Haram. Until we find a solution to their attacks, we may not solve the problem of the Islamic sect because their actions gave rise to some of the underlying factors responsible for the birth of the Islamic sect you and I know as Boko Haram.
You may be wondering how they have been able to kill more Nigerians than the Islamic sect. A report by the United Nations and the World Bank says 144 women die in Nigeria daily from pregnancy and childbirth complications and that there are 840 deaths per 100,000 live births in Nigeria. Nigeria accounts for 11 percent of infant mortality worldwide. In 2010 alone there were 88 deaths per 1,000 live births and 138 deaths per 1,000 live births in under-5 mortality in 2009. Let us not mention kids that die daily from Mother-To-Child-Transmission (MTCT) of HIV/AIDS. All these deaths because of the lack of quality medicare occasioned by lack of equipment and brain-drain in the health sector! Our leaders failed to put all these equipments in place and they run overseas to take care of even an ordinary head-ache. Where does the common man run to? God? When you put the figures of all these deaths together, tell me if the Islamic sect has killed that many.
According to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) at a forum in 2010, of the over one million reported cases of road accidents in the country since independence, 314, 016 deaths have been recorded. Most of these accidents were caused by our poor road network which the political Boko Haram has failed to put in good shape despite the country's vast resources. A lot of bright stars have been cut down by road accidents. Popular comedian MC Loph Osondi Owendi died in an auto crash in September 2011. Nollywood actor J.T Tom West, whom I had always wanted to be like while I was very young, lost his life in another auto-crash in September 2006. The one still very fresh in my memory was that of the eighteen corps members who were going from Imo State to the NYSC orientation camp in Taraba State. All eighteen died. Some may argue that some of these accidents were due to driver's recklessness, maybe they are right, but many more were caused by the poor condition of the roads. It is only in Nigeria that roads newly constructed wash off within one year. Do you blame the contractors? No! Blame the political Boko Haram whose palms must be greased from every contract money (the one currently making the rounds is the church allegedly donated to Mr President by a construction company). Like hawks, they have thrown caution to the winds, preying daily on lives which would have brought glory to this country.
I read recently about the students of the Holy Rosary College, Enugu who were raped in Ogun State on their way to Lagos, I cannot but imagine the psychological damage that has been meted out to these kids. Oh! You can say robberies happen everywhere, but how quickly do our policemen respond to robberies. How effective and equipped are they? The children of the political Boko Haram have enough security around them, so they are safe and couldn't care less about effective policing of the high-ways. Do their children even travel by roads with all the planes around and fleet of helicopters owned by their dads?
Heaven knows the number of pensioners who have died while awaiting their dues and yet some people allegedly downed over 14 billion naira police pension fund as if we are in a banana republic. I couldn't but be amazed when one of the accused said she made 544 thousand dollars found in her account from the sales of pure water. Who knew pure water business could be that lucrative!
I do not say the actions of the Islamic sect known as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad is justified. No! Even Allah condemns in totality their actions as attested to by the Quran and the Bible. But we would be deceiving ourselves if we think there is any solution in sight without first curtailing the political Boko Haram and the
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