Nigeria can overcome Boko Haram — Tam-George

 

Dr. Austin Tam-George, a former lecturer at the University of Cape Town, currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Communication and Corporate Studies, Lagos, discusses with Sunday Vanguard. His PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, was based on the Niger Delta crisis. He spoke with Jide Ajani, Editor

Boko Haram is waging a war and seizing territory in Nigeria.   How did we get into the insurgency in the North East?
Boko Haram is not just a security threat. It poses the most serious existential threat to Nigeria since 1967. To continue to underestimate this insurgency is an extremely perilous mistake. But to tackle this menace, we must understand its origins. Despite their fundamentalist rhetoric against Western education, Boko Haram ultimately has its roots in politics and poverty.

Dr. Austin Tam-George

If the politics of a country is seen as a form of warfare, then masters of violence will dominate it. This is why thugs, the military, extremist clerics, ethnic bigots, touts and militia of all stripes have dominated Nigeria  s politics since 1960.   So you could say Boko Haram is the latest child of a toxic political tradition that is at least five decades in the making.

In its current form, Boko Haram is a vicious, nimble enemy with suicide bombers and a hateful ideology. It feeds on a global narrative of terror, and has aspirations for its own caliphate. There is credible suspicion that Boko Haram receives support from local politicians in Nigeria. They probably have jihadist networks that stretch as far as Syria.   But Nigeria can defeat Boko Haram.

We need to see a decisive, ironclad determination to confront this threat from its roots to its branches.   All Nigerians must work to confront this threat, with President Jonathan acting as the tip of the spear in this fight. We cannot continue to watch in powerless perplexity as towns are razed, and hundreds of innocent men, women and children are murdered.

The President has said that the military is holding back from launching an all-out operation because it wants the abducted Chibok girls back alive.
I understand the President’s sentiment and the moral horror he faces with every hard choice he makes on this insurgency. But there is a fast-changing reality on the ground. Since the abduction of the 219 Chibok girls, more than 400 innocent people have been killed, more have been abducted, towns have been razed, and thousands of Nigerians have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees. So why hold back?   Which is the greater evil? Why watch a virulent cancer spread?   We need to stop this sickening barbarity by Boko Haram.

In your opinion, what specific actions should the President take?
There are two main ways of resolving any conflict – negotiation during which the parties reach a compromise; or the greater force prevails.
In the case of Boko Haram, it is difficult to see the grounds for compromise since its goals are extreme. Boko Haram is driven not even by Islam, but by bloodlust.

It wants to impose a medieval caliphate on Nigeria. It rejects any form of modernity. It rejects education for children, especially for women and girls. It kidnaps people, bombs crowded markets and schools, rapes and kills at random in pursuit of these goals. How do you negotiate these?