The Reign Of Terror

I don’t know if Nigeria will survive this but I hope and pray she does. The impunity of gunmen is getting more scary. Could it be that our leaders are running out of ideas on how to go about it? Is President Jonathan losing the
battle against the menace of terrorism?
Are all the contractors and henchmen of Jonathan administration running out of ideas on how to tackle the issue? As it were, gunmen have taken over our dear country.
‘Gun attacks’ have become a regular cliché
in our dailies. The political parties don’t seem

to be aware that gunmen have successfully
hatched and executed a ‘coup’ and they are
now in ‘power’. Political parties and the
leadership of the day are busy throwing stones
at one another and gunmen are consolidating
their ‘government’.
All we do is condemn these attacks and
killings and move on to continue politicking
and then, it happens again and we condemn
and move on. But the problem persists.
Ofcourse it’s a security situation and laymen
like us shouldn’t comment but the truth is that those being killed are our relations, husbands, wives, children, siblings, and friends
and that’s worrisome.
I have a dream that one day, PDP, APC and nPDP will get serious and realistic; forget their
differences and join hands to build a secured Nigeria.
If things continue like this, one shouldn’t be surprised if an association or political party
under the aegis of ‘Gunmen Political Association of Nigeria’( that includes Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen,  extra judicial killers,
armed robbers ,stray-bullet operators, kidnappers, assasins and ombatse cult members) one day gets registered by INEC.
They have gone haywire and waxing stronger by the day.
What is happening in government today is working up the fireworks. Our leaders have become like Emperor Nero of  Ancient Rome,
who was busy playing the fiddle while Rome was on fire!
They are busy fighting on who contests 2015 elections while Nigeria is under explosion by
gunmen! Are we sleeping? Government has quoted millions voted to tackle the security
issues confronting the country but all the money being spent seem to be going down the
drain. It’s like using baskets to contain water.
It’s more worrisome when it appears the
combined efforts of the police, the army, the Department of State Security, DSS, and the
civilian vigilante are failing.
Recently, gunmen attacked a Kenyan Mall, sending many to an early grave. That should
send signals to Nigeria that our markets and
shopping malls should be more secured.
Just last Sunday, innocent students of the
College of Agriculture, Gujba, were massacred
at 3a.m. as they slept in their hostels by
gunmen who later moved to other houses and killed residents. This attack came only two
months after a similar one on students of a
boarding secondary school in Mamudo, near Potiskum, claimed the lives of about 29
school children.
What have innocent students got to do with the problems besieging the country? Are they
not victims too?
Is there nothing to be done to pacify the fury of the gunmen?
Nigerians were made ab initio to think the
killings started because of the perceived extra
judicial killing of  Boko Haram founder and
leader, Mohammed Yusuf, but now, one is not
sure what to think again.
Thousands have been killed since Boko Haram launched its uprising in 2009, turning itself
from a clerical movement opposed to Western
culture into an armed militia with growing
links to al Qaeda.
From all indications, the state of emergency
in three North-eastern states declared by
President Jonathan in May and the military
offensive ordered to crush Boko Haram’s
insurgency has not tackled the problem.
The initial lull in the violence after the declaration of state of emergency is over and the militants are back with full force and revenge attacks on schools, security forces and civilians.
Nigerians are tired of hearing of huge sums of money being quoted in a bid to tackle a problem that is swallowing up the polity.
Shouldn’t our President call a spade by the name and ask himself some crucial questions?
What is he not doing right? What do they want? Who are the men behind the masks?
Since these gunmen now operate under the cover of darkness, government has to come up
with something to be done under the cover of darkness too.
The other day, JTF celebrated the ‘death’ of Shekau and  claimed victory for defeating a ‘strongman’. Newspaper headlines eleborated
on the last days of Shekau but just recently, Shekau resurfaced looking healthier than ever, claiming responsibility for recent attacks and making JTF look almost stupid.
Recent developments should also serve as a pointer to schools to secure their premises and protect the lives of students in their care.
The next generation should be protected and if we have to make allies with other countries to combat this menace, why not? The future is threatened and we should wake up to this reality.

By Chioma Obina
Culled From VANGUARD