WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-24 Time: 10:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Saleh Dan Galadima
Opinions may vary on the genesis, manifestation and management of the Boko Haram imbroglio, but Nigerians know that ethno-religious conflict is not a new phenomenon in the country.
Since the Maitatsine uprising in Kano in the 1980s, Nigerians north of the Niger have witnessed several other crises, with each incident presenting its own peculiarity and sophistication, even as each has idiosyncratic set of challenges. Those conversant with the issue can attest to the fact that the Boko Haram imbroglio is a metamorphosis of earlier unresolved religious fallouts. Quite contrary to views being peddled to the effect that it was a recent development and a creation of a particular person or persons, Boko
Haram remains a phenomenon whose manifestation is the fulfilment of earlier threats posed by the activities of fundamentalists.
The Boko Haram ideology is quite in tandem with the ones expressed by the late Mohammed Maitatsine, Kala Kato, and other fiery clerics whose teachings tended to derive its strength from the Hadith, much more than it does from the Holy Qur’an.
The Yusiffiya group, which from every manifestation is an offshoot of the Maitatsine, later Kala Kato, transforming into the Taliban group and later Boko Haram, has its roots in some Middle East countries. When in 2002 a self-styled group, the Taliban, was reported in Kannama in Yobe State and later Gwoza in Borno State, many Nigerians paid little attention to its activities. By 2009, the group had found volunteers among who are believed to be some security operatives, academics, politicians and other professionals.
By 2009, the group had established connections with would be sponsors and ideological defenders. It had by then amassed sufficient wealth, and had made inroads into the political hierarchy at both state and the federal levels. While the clash with security operatives in 2009 remains the immediate cause of the crisis which has today evolved into a national calamity, the remote cause is the unchecked activities of some clerics who use Islam as a shield to perpetrate to foment terrorism.
Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, is worried with the growing sophistication of the Jamaatul Alsunnah Lida Awati Wal Jihad, otherwise called Boko Haram. As the casualty figures continue to grow by the day, the state government is becoming even more disturbed, almost to a point of despair. There is no doubt that, even beyond the challenges of governance, the menace of Boko Haram remains the single biggest challenge to the government and security operatives in the state.
They seem to have placed Maiduguri, the state capital, under a virtual siege, and have also become even more daring in their operations. In the face of new security measures, they have also changed tactics, from the guerilla style where they deploy snipers after their targeted victims; they now invade communities, throwing explosivesm, and even confront security operatives in gun battles. There have been several arrests and the Joint Security Task Force (JTF) seems to have got a clue on their operations, they said. But they also seem to have devised new methods of beating the military offensives. For now, it has become a ding dong affair, with both the security operatives and the group claiming victory in this new war which has made citizens virtual hostages.
The public and, indeed, the police suspect that there may be political undertones to the issue. This suspicion is informed by the drastic shift from their initial aim of fighting the injustice of the western-style government against Muslims to a seeming vendetta on politicians, government officials, clerics and even innocent civilians. The group seems to have the former state governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, as its primary target for now, going by their pronouncements. Even as Sheriff’s successor, Kashim Shettima, spends sleepless nights working out how to rout the group permanently, his political opponents seem to be enjoying the unfolding drama, with some of them calling for a state of emergency in the state.
Far beyond the death of their leader, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf, and that of their other compatriots slain or arrested in 2009, the Boko Haram members have gradually turned into a terrorist group with a pathological hatred for fellow humans, irrespective of tribe, religion or creed. Even those who stirred their minds against the government, by providing them covers inside and outside the courts where they are being prosecuted, are no longer safe. They may have enjoyed a lot of sympathy from people with an axe to grind with Governor Sheriff and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) government in Borno State, but having transformed from a seeming ideological sect into a group of murderers and political gangsters, only a few seem to regard Boko Haram as victims of an oppressive government, but rather as dissidents with an insatiable thirst for blood.
If their fight had been against the neglect of citizens by government at all levels, or against the plunder of our commonwealth by a few, or the unjust political system, or generally against bad governance, many Nigerians would have taken up arms with them. Again if their struggles had been to correct the imbalances in our society and give the masses a say in the affairs of government, or to correct perceived misinterpretations of Islam, many others would have joined them. But without any of these as their overriding philosophy, it is difficult for them to get more disciples beyond the scattered followership, which they are striving hard to keep together.
Whatever they are fighting for, no matter their grudges against groups or individuals, it is apparent that the battle by the self- styled Islamic sect has transformed into an uncontrollable monster threatening to consume even its own masters. No one can tell which group is their specific target, but everyone is leaving in fear, not knowing where next they will strike. If recent threats by the group are anything to go by – to the effect that they will eliminate Modu Sheriff, and other perceived adversaries – then the real battle may have just started, as the federal government seem to have devised its own strategy of routing the group with military might. As citizens count their losses, and the government kept on its toes, there are palpable fears that there may be more casualties. The news of the arrest of some of them may sound cheering, but the mere mention of Boko Haram is still enough to cause panic, and put security operatives on their toes.
Governor Shettima is not finding this latest threat to his person and state funny at a time he is still grappling with how to assist the federal government in finding a solution to the imbroglio the re-emergence of the Boko Haram, under a new leadership and with new strategies; the times cannot be said to be the best. The hearts of his citizens were gladdened when he recently proposed to dialogue with the group and proposed to grant them amnesty to end the mindless murder of citizens, a move seen to be a departure from that of his predecessor who threatened to identify the brains behind Boko Haram, arrest them and prosecute them. He seems to be fighting with one hand tied to the back, as people who are supposed to work with him towards finding a lasting peace in the state seem to be encouraging the problem for sheer political reasons.
It is rather sad that those who should be in the vanguard of prosecuting identified Boko Haram adherents have been the same people setting up the government against human rights organisations on allegations of extrajudicial killings. We are witnesses to the often lukewarm manner the trials of those arrested for such offences have been treated, where some were let off the hook, and government and the police being asked to pay compensation to families of Boko Haram leaders slain in the heat of the crisis, with the punishment meted out to police officers who tackled the initial uprising, the police have also been seriously demoralsed.
In all the ultimate casualty of the seeming madness, are not the people being killed, neither the government nor governor they make uncomfortable, but Islam under whose name these people hide to commit acts of criminality.
Dangaladima is a public affairs commentator based in Yola.
Original date published: 24 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107240006.html?viewall=1