Why Defeating Boko Haram Is Difficult

Many Nigerian public intellectuals used to regale us how, Nigerian gallant soldiers were able to go to far flung countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia among others to restore peace and are at lost why the same gallant soldiers have failed to restore peace in their homeland ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency. Some of them rested the problem on the shoulders of the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan accusing him of lack of political will to defeat the insurgents and playing politics with the whole matter.

However somebody who should know better has told Nigerians and the world why the war against the insurgents is not succeeding. Speaking recently at a workshop held for journalists covering security agencies in the country in Abuja, the chief of defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh revealed that there are many fifth columnists in the Nigerian army and elsewhere working against the defeat of the insurgents. Because of fifth columnists, Nigerian army is hamstringed from its usual gallantry and Boko Haram is gaining grounds especially in parts of the North East of the country.

Little wonder President Goodluck Jonathan while commending Nigerians for their role in defeating Ebola Virus Disease(EVD) in the country noted that if the same unity of purpose is applied to all other problems facing the country including the insurgency, the nation will overcome the challenges. Today the country is sharply divided along religious lines, thanks to Boko Haram. Some elements in the opposition All Progressives Congress(APC) are accusing the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) of being the sponsors of Boko Haram, while the PDP in turn accuses APC of being a Janjaweed party that sponsors Boko Haram. A leading former member of APC and former minister of aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who has moved to the PDP alleged that Boko Haram is the military wing of APC. When the private jet of the president of Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejefor was allegedly used to ferry $9.3million to South Africa to allegedly buy arms and the cash was seized by the South African authorities, before investigation into the matter could be concluded the social media was on fire and the big story was that “CAN is the sponsor of Boko Haram”. Even when it is illogical that CAN will sponsor Boko Haram, a group that was determined to establish Sharia Law in the whole country, a proposition that Christians have opposed severally in the past, some Muslims still insist that Oritesejafor led CAN is sponsoring Boko Haram. This is just a few of the many ways that Boko Haram has divided the country and will continue to do so until after the 2015 elections when perhaps the politicians will come to their senses if they still have a country left to run.