Every time there’s a ‘terror’
attack, we’re quick to say that terrorism is a global problem giving heads of
state headaches from Washington DC to Nairobi. However there’s a peculiar
emerging trend in this terrorism. It
almost goes without saying or rather it is assumed that 99.99% of terrorist
attacks are by Islamic fundamentalists or rather jihad fighters
There are so many cases
in point from the Alshabaab insurgency in the horn of Africa, the boko haram in
Nigeria to the world’s best known Al Qaeda. My attention has however been drawn
by the actions of Boko Haram in North East Nigeria vis-à-vis the reactions of
the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and by extension Africa at
large. At almost the same time as when the French capital was rocked by terror
leaving 17 dead, Baga in northeast Nigeria was also hit, in an attack that left
2000 dead! Boko Haram militants descended on a region not for a day, not for
two days; for 4 days terrorizing a region, razing down buildings, raping and
killing; suffice it to say dehumanizing indiscriminately. 10 days later CNN was
reporting that it was still not safe to go and collect the bodies I suggest we
do a little comparison, minutes after the Paris attack, the French president François
Hollande came out within minutes to condemn the attack and assure the citizens;
here in Kenya it takes hours or sometimes days to here from the head of state
after tens are killed by terrorists. The way of doing things in Nigeria is
however different! Let’s advance a little further first: a few days after the
Baga attack there have been suicide bombings one where a 10 year old girl was
strapped with bombs and sent to the market to detonate! There’s no single
official statement from the head of state, or government for that matter. However
Mr ‘Goodluck’, the president of Nigeria was quick to give a statement
condemning the Paris attack and condoling with the French. His lieutenants in
government gave scanty details some talking of 150 fatalities others 500 others
3000 and others 2000, but photos emerging from Baga speak in a way that no
words can express. Some government officials have said that the fatalities
cannot exceed 150(as if this is a consolation).
Reading from a political script, Nigeria seems
to be in deeper trouble than the eye can see. It will not be a love affair on
the Valentine’s Day in Nigeria this year, it is the general election in Nigeria
and Mr Goodluck is seeking re-election. Elections in Nigeria are known to be
violent, having been democratic for only about 15 years after decades of
military rule. Northern Nigeria has a lot of non-state security providers. During
the pre-democracy period in the 90s and post democracy period in 2000 there was
a rise in militia and private security forces; the state has abdicated its duty
on providing security. Nigeria’s predicaments could have as well simmered overtime
while the state was just watching, thus today Boko Haram can boast of equalling
its 2013 achievements in a single attack even after a state of emergency had
been in place for over a year.
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| Nigerian President Jonathan Goodluck, he commented about Paris but ignored a worse attack in his own country |
In a genocide
commemoration in Rwanda, leaders from all over Africa and the world were so
good promising that a case such as that of Rwanda shall never replicate, when
the world’s youngest nation was on the brink of precipice all we did was warn
of an imminent genocide, in Central African republic when religious factions
tried to cleanse one another like it happened in the mid-90s in Rwanda as well
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same rhetoric was repeated. UN’s Ban Ki-Moon said
the UN was still ashamed. But can we claim that this is not replicating in Nigeria
among other countries. Is the African union that toothless? 2000 dead is just
another set of statistics as Africa watches, as the world watches.
Dennis Kabutha is a finalist at the University of Nairobi, specializing in linguistics; with interest in politics and law
