I went to bed the other night brimming with pride over the photos of hunters from North East Nigeria who want to take on Boko Haram. Our men are rising up to defend us, I thought to myself, let them loose. Unleash them. Beside the hunters, the Boko Haram terrorists look so much like cowards. They are no match for the seasoned hunters. The terrorists hide behind their sophisticated weaponry which is where all their powers reside. There is no power in their ideology or cause. The photo of the hunters – their fellow Moslems – is a powerful repudiation of their use of Islam to justify their brutal and criminal acts.
Comments by ordinary Americans on the internet show that there is much support for the hunters, and some cite other wars in which native intelligence and prowess proved to be more valuable than high technology and a sophisticated military.
I wish men all over Nigeria will rise up and assert that they won’t allow Boko Haram or any other outlaws to enslave women and overrun Nigeria. This is not a job for the military alone. I wish the Nigerian military will find a way to use the hunters. And the hunters don’t have to wait for permission to play a role in the war. They remind me of the men who rose up to stop the killing of Easterners during the Nigerian civil war. It would be wonderful if former Biafran soldiers and technologists could go and support the hunters. They could teach them how to make ogbunigwe (improvised explosive device) and other crude but effective weapons. Retired Nigerian soldiers should also join the fight.
Images of Nigerian activists clamouring for the return of the ‘stolen’ Chibok girls also feel me with pride. I was particularly impressed with Hafsat Abiola who looked good (like a proper Nigerian woman) and spoke well in an interview with Katie Couric.
Ms Abiola could be effective in convincing the Western media that though the Nigerian military is corrupt and has engaged in some nefarious acts, it is still our best hope for restoring order in areas overrun by criminals.
I was so outraged when I read a report in the New York Times in which they seem to show more sympathy for the Boko Haram terrorists than for their victims. Some in the United States (U.S.) portray the Nigerian military and oil companies to be more of a problem than Boko Haram. They like to revel in their moral superiority and demand strict adherence to their own rules of engagement and their notions of respect for human rights – these trumps all other considerations, including the survival of a nation. They like to root for those they consider the underdog, even if the so-called underdog is wrong. They would want the Nigerian government to read Miranda rights to captured Boko Haram terrorists, assign them lawyers, house them in Club Gitmo-like settings, gather stories about their tough childhood, take years to bring them to justice and afford them a platform to spew more contempt to their victims and spread their dangerous ideology.
Sorry, we are not as squeamish as the misguided dovish Americans when it comes to ensuring the survival of our nation and communities. We understand that there will be collateral damage and that is why everyone is warned not to associate with outlaws because when retribution comes, it is neither precise nor merciful. We understand that no system of justice is perfect, and we won’t let the quest for perfection and the approval of Western powers stop us from ensuring the survival of Nigeria.
Here’s a sample of some of clips from the U.S. media that underscores my point that some in the West don’t just get it:
“This is a youth revolt driven by enormous demographic changes in a place where Muslim women average 7.5 children each,” says Paul Lubeck, at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “It is youth anger expressing itself in the language of jihad.”
“Brutal tactics.” “Record of atrocities.” “Gross violations of human rights.” Top U.S. government officials spoke those words Thursday at a Senate hearing about Boko Haram’s abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls. But they said them about Nigeria’s government and military, not the Islamist terrorist group that burst into international consciousness with its actions last month.
Youth anger indeed, perhaps they (Boko Haramites) are bored. Or maybe they were bullied. Some reports even say the Nigerian government has repressed and oppressed the North for years.
Quick Update On My Health: The MRIs went well, revealed problems in my pelvic vertebrae; so I have to go back into the hospital for another kyphoplasty procedure. They will use cement-like putty to again shore up my two collapsed pelvic vertebrae.