Checkmate!

I posit, that ‘Boko Haram’ is a name seized upon, and ‘made to look like everything’, even though it was ‘nothing’, as was proved to us in Leonardo Di Caprio’s Body of Lies (a 2009 movie, depicting counter-terrorism and the thinking of the all-powerful Americans).  I say, that this name is a perfect fit for whoever wants to put us all in trouble, for it is easy to connect it with AQIM (AlQaeda’s African wing) and other international terrorist groups, plus it perfectly stokes local anger (e.g. these Muslims just don’t want to go to school, they should leave the rest of us alone blah blah’).  The most plausible explanation for our problems, lies in this deep, multi-pronged, strategic, chess-like analysis, in an understanding of modernity, strategy, and what exactly is at stake.  Alas, the best of our intellectuals have chosen to bury their heads in the sand, and had adopted a one-track minded approach, just when their intellect is most needed.  Many are on the payrolls of foreign intelligences anyway.  So here we go, destroying and hating ourselves, thinking north is against south, Muslims against Christians, as we are set up for the perfect kill.  A perfect storm brews in Nigeria. Just as they predicted earlier, we are headed for Pakistan.  En route Afghanistan.

Conspiracy theories, transmogrify and become our reality, while we still argue with ourselves and tear at each other’s throats, for belonging to different tribes, creed or religion.  In January 2012, our then National Security Adviser wrote in the Washington Times, asking the US Congress to categorise Boko Haram as international terrorists and generally take over the hunt (plus the entire security of Nigeria), because according to him, he cannot guarantee the safety of the USA from Nigerian terrorists (or better still Northern-Nigerian terrorists). See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/4/combating-a-common-terrorist-threat/ In May 2012, the same ex-NSA, alongside Nigerian US Ambassador went to beg the same Americans NOT to classify Boko Haram as international terrorists.  See http://www.pilotafrica.com/2012/05/23/nsa-azazi-asks-us-to-leave-boko-haram-off-terrorist-watch-list/.  Whoever says he is not confused about what is going on, and tries to explain Nigeria’s present predicament with the cavalier manner of ‘Muslims hate Christians, North hates South’, is himself a terrorist!

Well, President Jonathan has removed his kinsman, and my personal big Oga and friend, Owoye Azazi, as the NSA, alongside the Minister of Defence.  Due to my confusion about Azazi’s positions, and the escalating problem of terrorism in Nigeria, I felt it was a good move.  That the President had to travel to Brazil before the announcement was made, made me think it was even more quite strategic.  Perhaps it was time to try new hands.  The Azazi I know is terribly intelligent and honest, but perhaps it was a time to rest.  Or who knows, his lieutenants could have been running rings around him, trying to present the issues as a North/South issue.  Given the implications of a US-led counter-terrorism operation in Nigeria, and the fact that we are all damned if it becomes a reality, I hailed the President’s move as a strategic one.

The USA just two weeks ago, officially categorized three members of the ‘Boko Haram’ sect as international terrorists, a step short of taking over the hunt for and vanquishing of the terrorist group, as Azazi had asked in his first memo.  It seems very likely that a full takeover will soon be the reality, whether we like it or not.   A day is coming soon, that American Soldiers, will start kicking in rickety doors in Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri and other towns up north, in search of terrorists.  We know how they fared in Iraq and elsewhere, and it could only be more disastrous in Nigeria, given our simple societal structures, poverty in many places up north, and of course the colour of our skin.  I will explain this later.  I don’t know if the south of Nigeria will be expected to be in total peace when that starts to happen, or whether Nigeria will see total upheaval.  It is also very very doubtful, whether the restive parts of Nigeria – South South and South East – would be able to actualize their plans to secede, when the USA takes over fully (except that makes sense to the USA, which I doubt).  A straight-line thinking is useless at this time, therefore I would reckon that the south will also see problems coming up.  Like Zrbigniew Brzinscki put it a long time ago, it is THE ULTIMATE CHESS GAME that is being played – this time in and on Nigeria.

With Col. Sambo Dasuki as NSA, it is expected that things will calm down (at least for a while).  Because as a sophisticated soldier himself, with strong bias for the Americans (as an ex-IBB aide, and one of those who toppled Muhammadu Buhari’s left-wing government – as reported by newspapers), he understands fully what the issues are.  I reckon he will not look on as his people – the north – become mincemeat in the hands of counter-terrorist geeks. The moment drones start flying over Nigeria, with teenager nerds manning the controls out of Langley Virginia (HQ of the CIA), we are done for, as collateral damage will escalate.  Old white immigration officers can hardly tell us black people apart at airports (as we often travel using fake passports etc), how much more nerdy teenagers playing with lethal joysticks in Virginia.  How many Mohammed Yusufs will they ‘take out’, when they are actually seeking Yusuf Mohammed?  With the clusters that we call villages and towns, how many will die unreported – victims of stealth bombs thrown from unmanned drones in the name of counter-terrorism?

The real problem however, is that Nigerians are moving into this next phase, being sworn enemies of each other.  No one has appeared on the horizon, who is ready to redeem us.  As a nation presently, Nigeria has lost all hope of emerging into anything glorious.  The fundamental ingredients of great nation states – unity of purpose and the ability to build consensus – was the first victim in this international chess gambit!  We would henceforth exist as headless chickens, hating and afraid of each other, while others run our lives entirely.

Checkmate! We must come to terms with the fact that we are a creation of the White Man.  We often act like we are at par, but not in this lifetime can we be at par.  The White Man has defined everything about us – the clothes we wear, the materials they are made from, the food we eat, the language we speak, the way we have our children, the way we bury our dead, our system of governance, of finance, of education.  What else is left uncontrolled?  We here merely ventilate and talk tough, but we have nothing on ground to show for our purported ‘greatness’.