Boko Haram’s war on the nation renders government helpless and unable to guarantee safety of lives and property in some parts, of the country

When President Goodlock Jonathan was sworn into office on May 29, 2011, he made a firm promise that in line with his administration’s Transformation Agenda, he would endeavour to address challenges of security, law and order confronting the nation. He also promised to create a conducive environment to promote investment in the Nigerian economy. “The critical policy thrust of governance will be to maximise the benefits the citizenry derive from governance through more effective and efficient use of public resources, proper financial management and fiscal prudence. This entails adequate emphasis on the attainment of law and order, protection of lives and property and the provision of an environment in which people find happiness and fulfillment,” Jonathan said.   

However, after one year in office as the nation’s number one citizen, his administration has been finding it increasingly difficult to guarantee the security of the lives and properties of Nigerians due to the insurgency of Boko Haram, the fundamentalist Islamic sect which has become a virulent thorn in the flesh of the nation. The insurgency by the sect has led to the senseless killing of hundreds of innocent people. The sect’s suicide bombers have unleashed mayhem on citizens, first in Borno and Yobe states and later Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, Kano and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The activities of the sect have impacted negatively on governance and the economy. The mission of Boko Haram and their sponsors appears to be to make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan. The Jonathan administration had hardly settled down after its inauguration in May last year when the sect attacked the Louis Edet House Force Heardquarters, Abuja, on June 17, 2011. About 73 vehicles were destroyed by the bombs detonated by a suicide bomber. Officials believe that the attack was the first suicide bombing in Nigeria’s history.

Nine days later, on June 26, the sect bombed a beer garden in Maiduguri. The militants on motorcycles threw explosives into the drinking spot, killing about 25 people. On June 27, there was another bombing in Maiduguri. On July 3, another bombing of a beer garden in Maiduguri killed at least 20 people.

Again on August 26, 2011, the sect bombed the UN House in Abuja, and foreign security agencies who probed the attack suspect that al-Qaeda probably had a hand in it. On November 4, 2011, Boko Haram unleashed mayhem on Damaturu and Potiskum in Yobe State. Nigerians were yet to recover from that mayhem when on Christmas day, December 25, 2011, more than 48 worshippers at St. Theresas Catholic Church, Madalla, Suleja in Niger State, were massacred in the house of God by member of the sect.

The Boko Haram phenomenon became even more complex on January 8, this year when President Jonathan expressed concern that members of the sect had infiltrated the ranks of his government and the nation’s security agencies, hence, the security agencies were always caught off guard by their attacks. He, however, insisted that despite the challenges posed by the spate of mindless terrorist attacks which have claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians, his administration would neither be distracted nor deterred from the effective implementation of its transformation agenda. “We shall vigorously confront and defeat the menace of terrorism.” he said.

Although the security agencies recorded a major breakthrough with the arrest of Kabiru Abubakar Dikko Umar, alias Kabiru Sokoto, the suspected mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing in Madallaearly in the year, his dramatic escape from police custody a few days later caused a row in the security circle. It compelled the president to approve the immediate retirement of Hafiz Ringim, inspector-general of police and his replacement with Mohammed D. Abubakar.

The clampdown on Boko Haram by the security agencies led to the  arrest of Abu Qaqa, spokesman of the sect, and the re-arrest of Abubakar Dikko, alias Kabiru Sokoto. Despite the arrest of these two key members of the sect, the attacks by Boko Haram have continued and even increased in intensity.

The unwarranted destruction of lives and properties by Boko Haram, took a new dimension a few weeks ago, when it bombed the office complex of Leaders and Company Limited, publishers of ThisDay newspapers, in Abuja, as well as its office along Kontangora Road in Kaduna.   The bombing in Kaduna also affected the offices of   The Sun and The Moment newspapers.

Boko Haram bomb and gun attacks on innocent Nigerians have become almost a daily routine. The directive by the group sometime last year that Northern Muslims resident in the South should return to the North while indigenes of the Southern states living in the predominantly Muslim states in the North should go home led to an exodus of people from both the North and the South.  This development has made the Nigerian nation under President Jonathan a threatened federation. Besides, there has been a lull in commercial activities in most parts of Northern Nigeria.

The Boko Haram crisis has made devastating effect on governance and the Nigerian economy. The recent World Investment Report, WIR, of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, estimated that Nigeria’s domestic economy lost about N1.33 trillion in terms of Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, owing to the terrorist activities of Boko Haram.

Niyi Ajao, the acting managing director, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, recently lamented the havoc suicide bombers have done to the Nigerian economy which, he said, was affecting everyone and would affect the future generation, if not stopped immediately. “One thing is certain...as soon as all these bombs explode, electronic media – CNN, Associated Press, BBC, Sahara Reporters, Channels, Reuters and others quickly flash them to every part of the world. In fact, each time it happens, friends in UK and USA will always be the ones calling to inform us that something had happened. In the same way, prospective investors are hearing all these things. The bombings create fears such that whoever plans to come and invest will draw back. Prospective investors receive the news in such a way that they think the entire country is on fire. I know many businesses, even from the south here, that wanted to set up branches up North but could not anymore,” Ajao said.

Austin Efe Ojekudo, vice chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Rivers State chapter, said no business thrives in atmosphere of rancour and insecurity and so the Boko Haram terrorism has had its toll on the Nigerian business environment. According to him, every business will require immense atmosphere of peace and security. “Where there is insecurity of lives and property, investors will be scared of coming in. Even those who are already on ground will reduce the volume of their investment for fear of insecurity. This is because they would be afraid of investing much in an insecure environment to avoid colossal losses,” he told Newswatch.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is also piqued by current spate of bombing in the country which is driving away investors from Nigeria. He believes that it has been difficult to crush BokoHaram in the past one year because Nigerians have placed the need for personal security beyond the desire for general security. “Nigerians are more concerned and agitated by the need for personal security, for many people, the greatest source of anxiety is violent crime, but now bombing of public places and where people congregate has become the source of anxiety in the country for Nigerians. This is already giving us a very bad image. It is adversely affecting investment in Nigeria.”

He, however, explained that governance and security go hand in hand.  “The welfare and well being of the people, starting with their personal security is the direct responsibility of the government. Performance of government is measured by the level of security enjoyed by the people.”

There is no doubt that the state of insecurity has  impacted negatively on governance because critical sectors of the economy that could have got increased funding in the 2012 budget lost such funding to the huge allocation to the security sector. Even when President Jonathan recently presented the 2012 Budget, the lopsidedness of allocation in favour of security was still intact as the activities of Boko Haram continued with major target being security agencies. The security sector was apportioned a lion share of N921.91 billion.

Musa Soba, a lawyer and chairman of Kaduna State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, believes that the present administration under President Jonathan has not demonstrated the political will to tackle insecurity in the country hence the bombings by the sect has continued with intensity. “It is not all about fat budget; it is about strategising and good intention. No government has spent so much on security in Nigeria than the administration of President Jonathan. Yet Nigeria has never witnessed a worst security situation than we are into now,” Soba told Newswatch.

He believes that the way out of the present security situation in the country is for the federal government to be more responsive and have a clear mind to tackle the scourge of corruption which has continued to destroy the economy and encourage criminal activities in the country. “So without tackling corruption, insecurity cannot be tackled because the two are interrelated and also part and parcel of crimes under the existing Nigerian laws.

“As far as Boko Haram issue is concerned, government should first identify the group and then engage them in constructive dialogue so that the government will know their grievances with a view to tackling them because nobody wins a battle against an unidentified group. The President should name those he is suspecting to be the members of the Boko Haram that are serving in his government, otherwise, the federal government itself is Boko Haram,” Soba said.

 Balarabe Musa, former governor of old Kaduna State, told Newswatch that it is sad that after one year in the saddle, the Jonathan administration has not been able to effectively tackle the worsening state of insecurity. He lamented that the attacks by Boko Haram have affected the economy of the North in particular and country as a whole. He explained that what gave rise to Boko Haram is the socio- economic system of the country controlled by the political leadership which places self interest of the powers-that-be above public interest. “Our leaders must learn to be selfless, create employment and shun corruption. This is the only way to engage the youths meaningfully so they would no longer engage in the act of terrorism which is killing the Nigerian economy,” he said.

Labaran Maku, minister of information, said terrorism in places like Kano, which serves as the commercial nerve-centre of not only the North, but neighbouring countries like Chad, Niger Republic and Northern Cameroon, is destroying the Nigerian economy.

He reminisced on the Kano State of old: “A vibrant commercial centre with huge textile industry, and many other businesses. They have all gone away now.”

Worried by the negative impact of acts of terrorism on governance, President Jonathan recently spoke of  the preparedness of his government to dialogue with Boko Haram if the sect comes out and clearly states its demands. “If they clearly identify themselves now and say this is the reason why we are resisting, this is the reason why we are confronting government or this is the reason why we destroy some innocent people and their properties ... then there will be a basis for dialogue. We will dialogue, let us know their  problems and we will solve them but if they don’t identify themselves, who are we going to dialogue with?, “ he said.

Although many Nigerians have wondered how the Jonathan administration would dialogue with a faceless group, Chidi Lloyd, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, RSHA, believes that the dialogue option could be adopted since it was also used to check militancy in the Niger Delta. He explained that the dissident elements of Boko Haram sprang up and are now looking for a way of settlement because the country glorified militancy,” He advised them to accept the hand of fellowship which the federal government has extended to them by embracing dialogue. “They should come out and embrace dialogue and stop bombing and killing Nigerians,” he said.

Reportd by Godfrey Azubike and Chimezie Enyiocha