“Nigeria says 135 Boko Haram fighters surrender, “fake leader” dead”

The Nigerian Military authority has just made the above claim. According to their claim, made last Wednesday, one Mohammed Bashir, who has been acting or posing as the deceased Abubakar Shekau was killed, and135 of his members surrendered to them.

I wondered whether this news is intended to make us feel good, because it did not. The death of Shekau did not reduce Boko Haram’s surge, rather it increased it. And the killing of the impostor will surely not stop them. These people do not respect or value life, and by now, they must have replaced their two dead leaders, and continued with their blind agenda.

They were just reported to have chased fleeing Nigerian into the Cameroon territory. They will do anything in their power to keep the momentum going, to show the world, that one death or two does not mean the end for them.

The Nigerian Military should put aside their glee over these deaths, buckle up and continue the chase. Until they can come up with the news of Boko Haram’s defeat, or their demise, they should stop talking.

(We will continue.)

Why people are tweeting their #MuslimApologies

The above hashtag which appeared on Twitter last Tuesday is a step in the right direction. In the past, I have asked that question often about why Moslems don’t speak up against what they claimed did not represent them or their religion. It is good and refreshing to see that they have found a way to dissociate themselves from ISIS. This is about the power of the word, especially that of hashtags. I find them very powerful because they convey a lot with just short letters put together with that sign.

I hope Nigerians are taking note, and will begin a psychological warfare with Boko Haram with our own hashtag. We should join this warfare anyway we can. Boko Haram is not sleeping, and we should not sleep. Boko Haram is using stealth attacks, we should also find a way of stealthily rebuffing them. Any other ideas?

Our Military is looking for victory to be given to them on a platter of gold, you know the type you do not labour for. The top brass commanders are busy stealing and smuggling out money meant for arms, instead of seriously pursuing and destroying Boko Haram. This is becoming a virtuous circle. Please God, help us!

(We will continue.)

We have conflicting news coming out of Nigeria about the negotiations with Boko Haram for the release of the girls. The Nigerian government and the Military authorities seem to be back at their tongue in the cheek talks. They say one thing today, and retract it the next day. They just seem to be biding their time, hoping that all of this will go away.

Yesterday, I was urging newspapers in Nigeria to make the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, a constant fixture on a corner of their front pages. I will go further and urge all Nigerians, people of good will, to wear on their lapels, buttons with that hashtag. We may not all be able to fight Boko Haram physically, but there is something called psychological war fare. Let us wear Boko Haram down with our actions and our will not to be defeated.

There are many ways to kill a frog, and Nigeria can win this war. Nigeria will win this war. Let us do this for those girls.

(We will continue.)

If, as some news items claim, talks are going on with Boko Haram about releasing the girls, then we must give peace a chance. I pray also that Boko Haram will take the talks seriously and stop all damaging and destructive activities. Their recent raid on a populated market, killing, looting and burning will not help the negotiations.

The Nigerian press should not relent in putting the girls at the forefront of their papers. They should have a permanent spot on their front pages dedicated to the hashtag
#BringBackOurGirls. That alone will remain a constant reminder to all of us about the fate of the girls.

To diverge a little today, I will like to bemoan the way American journalists, in their efforts to snag scoops always expose too much. They give the bad guys information that should be classified. For instance, before America started their strikes on ISIS in Syria, the news went as far as telling ISIS the targets of the strikes. With this information, of course, ISIS took cover. Journalists should stop giving too much information to the enemy.

(We will continue.)

“Boko Haram and Nigeria Negotiating Release of Kidnapped School Girls, Says Report”

Perhaps, we should wait a little longer before shouting alleluia about the above news. This is also because we do not want to jinx the outcome of whatever is going on now. But we must intensify our prayers that whatever it is should end positively in favor of the abducted girls.

We pray that this will be the beginning of the end.

I am tempted to say more, but it will not be at this time, for this time calls only for prayers. May God’s will be done.

(We will continue.)

I want to focus again today on poverty in northern Nigeria, because, it keeps coming up, and northern leaders keep using it as the excuse for raising Boko Haram to purge the North first; of Southerners, and second; of Christians whether of Southern or Northern origin.

Islamic radicals have always been against Western education, and because of this, they have kept majority of their people starved of Western education. While they were depriving their people of Western education, the ruling class made sure they received sound Western education which helped them to navigate the world at large, and blend in., leaving behind a large majority of their people.

The leaders have also not divorced their minds of the mentality of servant and master. This mentality has helped them in keeping the vast majority of their people as under dogs. The North has ruled Nigeria for longer than any other tribe in Nigeria, but rather than use this long rule to develop the North, the leaders used the opportunity for self enrichment and aggrandizement.

It is true that the North is more backward than the South, but the wealth is still in the North, and those holding it for themselves should release it and use it to promote education, even Islamic education which they so much believe in. The South will surely not stand still so that the North could catch up with her. The northern rulers should purge themselves of the mentality that is keeping them and their people hostage and backward before we will see rapid development there. Until then, the story will continue to repeat itself.

(We will continue.)

“Nigeria Tried to Sneak $9.3 Million Cash Into South Africa to Buy Weapons.”

Above is the headline of a news item about Nigeria that hit me this morning, and a Nigerian watch dog group is asking for international investigation into the veracity of the allegations, well, of the deed.

Let me state categorically that this money was not for weapons as the perpetrators claim. It is stolen money, one of the many stolen monies that these faceless rogues syphon out of Nigeria. It is very likely that this is money given to the Military for arms which some top brass smuggled out for his own use. They do this all the time. This is why the soldiers on the battle front complain of inferior and inadequate arms. The money is usually stolen and syphoned out. Their unbelievable excuse this time is because they were caught. This is how our weapons money disappear. I hope South Africa keeps the money.

Will this stop them from trying again, of course not. Once a thief, always a thief. These government coffer’s looters will never stop trying to loot. Thieving is so ingrained in them they cannot stop until they are caught.

I also hope that the investigation will expose the culprits. It never does. And even if they are found, nothing is ever done to bring them to book. These are people who populate the Nigerian government today. This is what Nigeria has become.

(We will continue.)

The prognosis is not very good for Nigeria. Boko Haram continues to press foreword toward Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in Nigeria. The Military continues to dig in, making sure that Maiduguri does not fall into the hands of Boko Haram.

The whole country, in the meantime, has a new distraction, the elections, and if I know my people very well, the elections are more important now to those power grabbers who want to entrench themselves into positions of power to enable their stealing. That is the priority for the politicians who use Boko Haram’s threat as their campaign slogan to win re-elections.

Some promise the end of Boko Haram if they win, some promise an all out war on Boko Haram, and a few others, particularly from the North threaten fire and brimstone, if Jonathan wins without resolving the problem of Boko Haram, a problem they created,and still fuel.

The Military, though not supposed to be partisan, is deeply and covertly in the center of this milieu. They are keeping their eyes wide open toward politics rather than the business of protecting the country from Boko Haram. I still cannot understand how they cannot see the seriousness of Boko Haram’s threat.

It is just a matter of time before we hear that Boko Haram has taken Maiduguri. We will wait and see what happens after that. Unless they go out and war against these scoundrels, Maiduguri will fall. As my people say, “You do not tell the deaf that war has broken out or started.”

(We will continue.)

This morning, we hear that the Military rebuffed Boko Haram as they attacked a school in Kano city and a town near Maiduguri, I suppose we should thank God for little blessings. But they have to understand that rebuffing does not equal going on the offensive. They have to pursue these scoundrels and do to them what they have done to us.

The Military has been quite over zealous in certain cases where they rebuffed Boko Haram, and then went about killing and destroying indiscriminately. To do to Boko Haram what they have done to us does not mean to kill innocent people or destroy properties of innocent people. We do not want to be like them, or for people to think that we are worse than them. We do not want our Military to become a substitute for Boko Haram. They should work with the natives who are left behind to seek and flush out Boko Haram’s members amongst them.

Just as Boko Haram is using inside informants for their operations, the Military should also devise their own way of getting intelligence on Boko Haram’s plans before they strike, arm the soldiers, and swoop in on them. Boko Haram is getting bolder because the Military has been lagging and cowering. They should wake up and go to war. If thy can rebuff, they can also attack. I want to hear news about such attacks and the victory resulting from them.

(We will continue.)

The Nigerian Military is now on the defensive rather than the offensive. We hear that they are fortifying the city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in Nigeria, to wedge off Boko Haram’s attack. And they perform occasional incursions over, not into where Boko Haram is suspected to be. This is a whole nation’s army, the more populated country in Africa we are talking about. Is that how to wage a war against a group whose members can still be counted on our finger tips? I can never stop berating our Military, and the shame they have brought on us all, but more on themselves.

While they are holed up in Maiduguri, Boko Haram is out and about putting them to more shame. While they are in the air conditioned board rooms discussing the logistics of how to tackle Boko Haram, as if war is waged on the drawing board and not on the battle fields, Boko Haram is gaining more grounds.

The Military’s denials of Boko Haram’s victories and claims is without credit just as the claims and victories by Boko Haram cannot be substantiated, because the Military has not shown us any proofs to support their denials. The Military just lost a warplane, and apart from reporting the loss for a day or two, nothing else has been heard about it, no story about a search for he plane, just as we have no stories about the search for the girls.

The Military claims they are fighting. Maybe they are, but I will not believe them until I see results.

(We will continue.)