CONTEXTUALIZING “BOKO HARAM”

For several days in July, Bauchi and Maiduguri cities in Northern Nigeria were seized in the throes of violence.

An Islamic sect styled “Boko Haram” (meaning education is forbidden) engaged law enforcement officials in a serious street gun battle. Sect members in a pattern previously unknown targeted symbols of government – police stations, army targets, public buildings, etc, and inflicted several damages.

In response, law enforcement officials stormed the hideouts and locations of the suspected sect members and attacked them in a bid to flush them out. Media reports indicate that hundreds of people were killed. Official government figures indicate that in Maiduguri alone more than 700 people were killed.

The Boko Haram crisis is symptomatic of the present state of affairs in our country.  Across the country, crisis ravages, with the government unable to provide solutions.   

 In the Niger Delta region, the militants seem to be in control. In the South East, citizens are under daily threat of kidnap by ransom seeking bandits. Crime level in the South-west is also unprecedentedly high.

The Boko Haram crisis in the Northern Region, has added a new dimension to the national tragedy staring Nigeria in the face.

No doubt the present crisis is traceable to the collapsing infrastructure and state of the national economy.

Economic activities in the country are at an all time low. Manufacturing businesses are virtually shut down, unemployment rate keeps rising and public electricity supply can really be said to have collapsed.

To make matters worse, daily reports of rising corruption among public officials benumb the mind of Nigerians, with the anti-corruption agencies only achievement being sensational media coverage of the detention and arraignment of suspects without further purpose driven action to tackle the menace.

CRP is concerned that the Nigerian State may be failing. The faith of Nigerian citizens in democracy may be at its lowest ever, with the people asking more questions without getting answers on how the Nigerian government can get the country out of the present crisis.

Meanwhile the level of poverty in the country continues to worsen with the stark reality starring us in the face that Nigeria is not likely to meet the MDGs goals and objectives by 2015.

It is our fear that unless urgent action is taken to address the crisis of governance and the failure of government to deliver on “democracy dividends” our current political process may indeed be imperiled.

The Nigerian government at the local, state and federal levels needs urgent awakening from slumber. The poverty rate in the country, exacerbated by extreme high corruption and a failed election management system sends out serious alarm that the government must heed in order to save our current democracy and actualize the MDGs goals.

Constitutional Rights Projects

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www.crpnigeria.org

crp@crpnigeria.org