By Adeola Aderounmu
I don’t know who is having a laugh or a rough time now among these 3 gangs. I mean the US promised intelligence and provided it. At what cost I don’t know and I’m sure many people do not care the cost as long as the “Chibok girls” are found and Boko Haram esterminated from the surface of the earth.
But many people have been disappointed and they are like: you mean the girls have not been found! You mean the US in Nigeria is not doing the magic? wao!
Well, sources have it that the US provided images on the movement of Boko Haram to the Nigerian Army. But what is the Nigerian Army doing? The Nigerian Army is avoiding the locations where Boko Haram operates. So rather than use the information from the US assistance to curb Boko Haram, it turned out that the Nigerian Army is using the information to actually avoid Boko Haram. This is very serious but laughable.
The Nigerian Army over the years have sold many of its weapons and ammunition to Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a big threat to the Nigerian Army that is full of treacherous fellows. We knew that before the US came, but now we have a confirmation that they are not only treacherous but also fearful.
This is the same army that stopped the war in Liberia, Sierra Leone and made impacts in Congo. At home the Nigerian army is a failure. But this is not a sudden occurence, it was a systematic breakdown coming from the failure of governance and the roles of the Northern elites.
The Northern elites remain pleased with Boko Haram if that is what we bring them back to the presidency in Nigeria in 2015.
The way this whole mess is playing out and with the murder and massacre of Nigerians in Northern Nigerian and Abuja, the Northern elites will wake up soon to realise that they have been chopping off the fingers that feed them knowingly or unknowingly.
Governance in Nigeria is a huge joke anyway with the ruler Mr. Goodluck apparently not feeling safe outisde the Aso rock and bursting off any visit around troubled areas. He is so scared of the Nigerian army he feels like one of them can sniff his life away. This is the state of loyalty of the Nigerian army to the Nigerian nation.
Goodluck Jonathan is a coward, but playing smart in a small confine. He should have rounded up all the former and serving generals and civilians who promoted, supported and financed Boko Haram. He was so slow things got out of hand. He may have been part of a terror cell himself which will seem logical too. I agree it is more complicated than that but doing nothing at all because of selfish interest and political power is costing Nigerians innocent life. Add to the injustice and madness of corruption in Nigeria, this is hopelessness for the common people.
So, no the girls are probably gone a long time ago. Boko Haram had all the time in the world to diaply arrogance and “freedom”. The hide and seek game is very insultive to the collective inteligence of informed Nigerians.
I don’t know how Nigerians can co-exist in 2015, it will be one of the greatest miracles of all time if Northern Nigeria (now harbouring PDP “settled political prostitutes”) goes along with a Jonathan presidency in 2015. How are they going to conduct elections around Nigeria with bombs dropping daily? If elections are held only in certain parts of Nigeria, will that count as national elections? How far will Boko Haram take this war as the Nigerian Army plays the handicapp? The thriller will be another box office hit.
A View From The Scandinavian 
Hi Adeola
I am increasingly coming to believe that Nigerians don’t want country to succeed.
America has done all that it can do, after all Nigeria is an “independent” country (they even have the unmerited audacity to proclaim themselves “the giant of Africa”). America has provided intelligence, and training to aid Nigeria to combat Boko Haram (and free it’s captives), and yet Nigeria is unwilling and helpless to secure the lives of it’s people WITHIN Nigeria. The fault lies lies entirely with Nigeria. One can not expect Americans to sacrifice their lives to resuce Nigerians within Nigeria, whilst the Nigerian military and political establishment merely watches from the sidelines.
Doyin Okupe was on the BBC trying to compare the Chibok situation with that of the US hostages in Iran in 1979, which was a joke the two situations are entirely different. At the very least America did try to rescue it’s people, even though it failed. The Nigerian government to date has done nothing.
Former US ambassador Carson, came up with blueprint to rescue the Boko Haram situation.
” The second prong of a new policy should be a robust social and economic redevelopment program – a ‘Marshall Plan’ to demonstrate to the people in the nineteen northern states that they are a valued part of the Nigerian federal republic.
Elements of a more-effective strategy should include:
A Northern Nigerian Development and Recovery Ministry
Appointment of a highly respected and experienced northern leader to run the new ministry
A special fund to address some of the region’s most glaring social and economic inequities
A comprehensive youth training and employment program, including dedicated funding for microfinance and microenterprise activities
A mixed civilian/military court to investigate and prosecute military and security personnel accused of human rights violations
A commission to investigate and review the extrajudicial killing of Mohammed Youssef, Boko Haram’s first leader
A forum for Nigeria’s president to meet with all northern state governors on a regular basis.
In the run up to Nigeria’s 2015 presidential elections, President Jonathan also needs to make a more concerted effort to reach out to the people of the north, to visit the communities most affected by the crisis and to ensure that the people in the north will be able to vote next year.
”
Taken from http://allafrica.com/stories/201406051617.html?page=3
This is all very well, but I’m confident if adopted would also be a failure. There was a similar thing set up for the Niger Delta (the Niger Delta Development Commission under former president Obasanjo). Judging by the lack of success in the region there is no reason to assume that this plan would work over the entire Northern region, which is a far larger area than the Niger Delta.
An important point has been overlooked here, the reason why this mess even arose in the first place, is because all the politicians decided to ignore the constitution and adopt a rotational presidency and also effectively ditch democracy. This meant the outcome of any election was known before it even occurred (it was merely a matter of choosing figure heads to occupy the required positions). Once this has been established, there are no laws to moderate the governance of the nation. So a scrap for power has ensued, with the Northen elite using whatever means to secure power, which means the sponsoring and aiding Boko Haram and other affiliated groups. Jonathan and supporters having already operated outside of the constitution don’t feel bound to respect any “unwritten” agreement with the Northern powerbrokers. The Nigerian people are the ones who are bearing the brunt of this, and are willing being suckered into thinking it’s all the fault of somebody else. They allowed this situation to occur (by allowing the leadership to get away with anything), ultimately to get a resolution they will have to take power back, relying on the current leadership to sort things out, has been proven repeatedly to be a waste of time and a disaster, they are all corrupt. Should they ever arrive at a situation where a constitution can be arrived, they should learn the bitter lesson to stick to the constitution and operate under the rule of law.
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