Ndigbo have a saying that a man whose house is on fire has no business chasing rats. To do is sheer stupidity if not outright psychosis.
That also goes for nations. Leaders of a country sorely challenged as Nigeria is right now should not indulge in frivolities. But that is exactly what we are doing.
Nigeria is burning. Literally. And rather than come together to put out the fire, our leaders, particularly the political class, are chasing shadows.
The terrorist group, Boko Haram, is assaulting the territorial integrity of the country, yet in an inexplicable absurd drama, the two leading political parties, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), are throwing tantrums at each other.
At a time Boko Haram is audaciously going beyond insurgency to territorial acquisition, encircling the North East, our political leaders are playing to the gallery of the 2015 elections.
Yet, the country’s security augury has never been starker.
In a report published in The Guardian of London last week, a security analyst, Andrew Noakes, warned that the Nigerian government was losing control of vast parts of the North East.
“Unless swift action is taken, Nigeria could be facing a rapid takeover of a large area of its territory reminiscent of ISIS’s lightning advances in Iraq.
“If Borno falls to Boko Haram, parts of neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa States can be expected to follow. Parts of Cameroon along the border area would also probably be overrun,” he said.
As if that is not scary enough, Daily Trust also reported last week that seven emirs had fled their palaces in Borno and Yobe as the insurgents gain more territory.
Thousands of Nigerians have fled villages in many states in the North East, while young men are conscripted as fighters and young girls as sex slaves. Five months after they were abducted, the Chibok schoolgirls are still in captivity; forgotten, literally. For the Nigerian leadership, theirs is a lost case.
The worst tragedy is that Nigerian soldiers have lost the appetite to engage the terrorists in combat. Foreigners are worried. But we are playing the ostrich.
Speaking at the third session of the regional security working group in Abuja on Thursday, September 4, United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, pointed out that the “apparent capture of Bama” by terrorists and the prospects of military assault on Maiduguri would be devastating.
“This is a sober reality check for all of us. We are past time of denial and pride,” she said, and warned that “the situation on the ground is worsening.”
“The reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake,” she added. “But more importantly, Nigeria’s and its children’s future is in jeopardy. Failure is not an option.”
But how can failure not be an option when the political class only sees in the tragedy an opportunity to demonise rivals and gain advantage in the 2015 polls?
That is why reactions to the so-called revelations made by an Australian, Stephen Davis, who claimed to be involved for four months in negotiation on behalf of the federal government with commanders of Boko Haram to release the kidnapped schoolgirls is disgraceful.
Davis, in an interview with Arise Television, named former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, and former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of Boko Haram.
“First thing to do is to arrest former Governor Sheriff. He has been funding this (insurgency) for years. He is satisfied that he will be picked up and he has now switched to the ruling party, PDP, in the hope this will give him protection.
“That guy is really a bad guy and he is known to be corrupt and why the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) has not picked him up is anybody’s guess.
“There is a former chief of army staff, who retired in January, rightly sacked by the president, who is another sponsor,” Davis said.
The Australian was emphatic that Sheriff and Ihejirika are current sponsors of Boko Haram.
Expectedly, both men have denied the allegation. In fact, Sheriff has threatened to sue Davis in his home country. I will be surprised if he carries out his threat.
But I am not bordered about the former Borno State helmsman. His name has always been a recurring decimal when Boko Haram is the issue.
I had an extensive interview with him in his office in Maiduguri in 2009 shortly after Yusuf Mohammed, leader of Boko Haram, was killed.
I raised all the issues, including the allegation he gave Yusuf 80 kilometres of land when the going was good and that the reason his Commissioner, Buji Fai, a member of the sect, and Yusuf were summarily executed after their arrest was because he did not want them to talk so as not to implicate him.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had back then accused Sheriff of being the brain behind Boko Haram. Of course, he denied all the allegations. I don’t know if he is a sponsor but I doubt if he can ever successfully distance himself from the sect.
But I find the allegation against Ihejirika unbelievable and curious. There must be a motive behind every crime. Find out the motive, solve the riddle, we are told.
What will be Ihejirika’s motive for sponsoring Boko Haram? What is the nature of this sponsorship? When did he start sponsoring the terror group? Was it when he was still Chief of Army Staff or after his retirement?
Most of the people killed and dislodged by the Boko Haram insurgency are Southerners, particularly Ndigbo. So, why will Ihejirika sponsor the sect to kill his kith and kin?
In any case, is this not the same Ihejirika whom Northern elders threatened to sue to the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of his single-minded determination to battle Boko Haram to a standstill? So, was he fighting them and at the same time sponsoring them?
And come to think of it, which terror group would reveal its patrons particularly when they are still active sponsors as Davis claimed?
By the way, who is this Davis? Has anyone, including our “activists” such as Femi Falana, who are calling for Ihejirika’s prosecution, tried to find out who the man is. Has it occurred to anyone that this could be a distraction deliberately planted by those who don’t wish Nigeria well?
Rather than formulating a collective strategy that will contain the Boko Haram insurgency and halt its attempt to compromise Nigeria’s territorial integrity, Davis’ allegations will keep us busy in the next two to three months.
Already, leaders of the APC are beside themselves with joy that Davis has vindicated them. PDP’s response is even more puerile.
Meanwhile, Nigeria and the citizens are tottening on the precipe of disaster.
Perhaps, by the time we realise what is happening, the entire state of Borno would have become a Boko Haram Caliphate.
Talk of pursuing rats when one’s house is on fire.
