I have never been as worried about the unity and survival of this country since the end of the Nigerian civil war, as I am today. Nigeria is drifting ominously to the precipice and if Boko Haram’s bomb blasts targeted at Christians and non-Muslims continue, then we should be prepared to bury the country soon because a split of the country into God knows how many pieces will become inevitable. God forbid.

Boko Haram’s statement asking all Northern Muslims in the south to return to the region and all southerners to go home is today the biggest threat to our unity and survival as a country. That statement has taken us closer to chaos and confusion that are bound to remind people of the sequence of the unfortunate events that eventually led to the Nigerian civil war. At first, it sounded like a joke until I noticed that people had actually begun to comply. Now, what we have on our hands is the exodus of people from parts of the country where they are unwanted. It is unfortunate.

In some cases, some ethnic groups have been targeted and killed, just to send that inauspicious message of death that is awaiting their kith and kin, in case they chose not to return to the parts of the country where they hail from. The killing of 16 persons of Igbo extraction in Mubi, Adamawa State, is particularly reprehensible. The result of all of these is tension on both sides of the unfortunate divide, the kind that could snowball into ethno-religious conflagration and war. We all must do everything possible to prevent the situation from degenerating further. The ugly feelings and mutual suspicion which the Nigerian civil war left behind haven’t completely gone away. We need not allow such feelings to become septic.

Boko Haram has remained a puzzling phenomenon. Their bomb and gun attacks which have become more frequent, ferocious and devastating always leave in their trail very perplexing questions. Why is Boko Haram inflicting such pain on the nation and its people? What does this Islamic sect want?  Do members of the group realise that they are gradually dragging the country down the unfortunate path that will inevitably lead to a civil war?

The recent Boko Haram siege on Kano has turned those questions into a bigger puzzle for the nation. About 200 persons perished in the serial attacks of that weekend alone. Why is the group inflicting these wounds on the country? What is its grouse against Nigeria and Nigerians? I know its members are unhappy about the killing of Mohammed Yusuf, their leader, while in police custody in Maiduguri sometime ago. I also know that they want states in the north to adopt strict Islamic laws in governing the states. Those are the issues they have often talked about openly as their grouse. But do they have to kill and maim indiscriminately as they are doing to drive home those points?

Members of the Boko Haram sect, like other Nigerians, have a right to hold and express opinions on issues of public interest and even canvass support for that position. What they have no right to do is to force people to accept such viewpoints or kill and maim in the process. The killing of Yusuf while he was in police custody was an unfortunate incident which the police have more than paid for with the lives of its members. Boko Haram members have killed not less than a hundred policemen in various parts of the North in their quest for revenge and they ought to be satisfied now, having exacted much more than their fair share of the pound of flesh.

Their demand for the application of Sharia laws in the predominantly Muslim north is not totally strange. It is a familiar agitation and predates the coming of Boko Haram. A few years ago, many states in the north yielded to this agitation by adopting Sharia laws in the conduct of official business. The rest of the country protested against that policy at that time because of its likely effect on the rights and privileges of non-Muslims in these states but the governors insisted on having their way and they actually did. I cannot remember if any of those states has since then taken any decision reversing its Sharia status. That means the policy is still in place. What, probably, has not happened is that the political authorities in these states have not been very strict in the administration of Sharia laws. In that case, all that is required is for them to be reminded of the right thing to do. And Boko Haram does not have to spill the blood of people, particularly, Christians and other Nigerians who played no role in slowing down the pace of the implementation, in order for its message to sink.

But is Boko Haram truly on a mission to purify Islam? Why is it necessary to send non-Muslims out of the north and recall Muslims in other parts of the country back home for this to happen? Whatever the Boko Haram’s motives may be, let these senseless killings stop.

 Their agitations are negotiable and should be negotiated. The federal government should encourage this to happen. As we say in Igala where I come from, you can’t tell if a man is deaf by merely looking at his face. You greet him loud enough and if he fails to respond, then you can draw a conclusion. Let government adopt this methodical approach in resolving the issue. It should talk with Boko Haram

 Boko Haram has become a dangerous thorn in the flesh of the nation. The thorn can be removed but it should be done with utmost care to ensure that not much collateral damage is done to the unity of the country. We should not allow Boko Haram to foist another civil war on this country. We, certainly can’t afford another civil war. Not again.

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