Caution and prudence! That the spiritual leader of the nuisance Boko Haram sect, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, has allegedly died, sequel to a gun duel with Nigerian government forces, is a development that can arouse excitement on the part of the traumatized vulnerable Nigerians and embolden the government forces detailed to exterminate the sect. But rather than being too excited and complacent about the said routing of Shekau, adoption of caution should be utmost in dealing with the sect’s case because history has it that killing of a war leader at times does not mean the weakening and routing of his troop(s) and the end of hostilities. America’s eviction of Osama Bin Laden from the surface of the earth did not wipe out Al Qaeda sect from the earth and of course has not stopped their inhuman activities of terrorism in the world. The entire world still lives in fear of the sect. All these terrorist groups are believably well organised and their management structure is superb; and based on their seen resilience, it is obvious that they have deeply rooted strategic and long term succession plan, hence their continued operations after the death of leaders, and Boko Haram may not be an exception. No discerning person should therefore take it for granted that once Shekau is dead that the battle is over. And as Femi observed, if by the JTF account Shekau died as claimed between late July and early August 2013 and yet incidences of the sect’s acts of terrorism rather than waning have continued to be recorded here and there in some parts of the north eastern flank of Nigeria, it leaves one with apprehension that though the snake’s head may have been cut the snake is still much alive with potent danger to humanity, and the sect could be more deadly, hence caution is needed now not to relent in stemming the terrorist activities of the group. And again as we pray and expect an early resolution of the Boko Haram dastardly activities, one hopes that caution and prudence will be applied in spending of public resources over the sect’s activities, so that it would not be a veritable opportunity for some people to rip off the country under the guise of financial spending in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group, lest it turn into an endemic scourge and a kind of bottomless pit. The heavy amount of funds said to be mapped out for the fight against terrorism or for security is startling and curious as to whether actually such amounts were/are really spent in dealing with terrorism, or is it a case of some large amounts of such provision going inappropriately elsewhere but with claims of going into the fight against terrorism. Caution should also in public interest be taken to checkmate the possible situation of running with the hare and chasing with the hound, a possible situation of pretending to be waging war or being against terrorism but at the same time covertly stoking up or aiding it, simply because of (personal or individual financial or socio-political) gains or interests. As action is being sustained to mop up the scattered flock supposedly left behind now by Shekau, true sense of patriotism and altruism must be the guide and public funds prudentially handled in pursuit of the matter, so that the funds would be justifiably and honestly apportioned and appropriated in dealing with the sect. Possible diversion of public funds under the guise of fighting Boko Haram is not in our national interest when our education sector needs adequate funding because it is the main real sector for national growth and development. A situation of paying lip attention to our nation’s human capital development and not actually providing at least 30 percent of our annual national, state and local governments’ budgets respectively is unacceptable, ridiculous and inimical to true national development and growth. Our public universities today remaining stagnant and being mere glorified secondary schools in terms of inadequate funding and inadequate facilities and infrastructure for learning and proper acquisition of knowledge and skill to meeting the human capital need of the country, as well as compromising or jeopardizing the provision of quality education at the public schools level, is a national shame and condemnable, especially when people who in the past were teachers at tertiary institutions of learning are today holding key positions of authority in the country. Our government universities ought to produce quality graduates and post-graduate experts in various fields and also conveniently admit no fewer than seven million fresh students annually and save the country the embarrassment of having more than 90 percent of those seeking admission into the universities not being admitted because of inadequate funding and inadequate facilities and infrastructure for learning. Those monies being frittered way into so many irrelevant channels, including perhaps under the guise of security provisions, should rightly be channeled to education sector for the common good of the nation; or would it be a problem of running down government universities so that private universities would grow, at the expense of the public universities? While we should be happy that Shekau may have died, let’s not boast (too) much about it. Rather, let efforts be genuinely stepped up to completely eliminate the group and its activities from Nigeria in its entirety and at the same time with minimal cost. It is possible. Yes, it is possible.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 12:22:01 +0000
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