IN BETWEEN THE BOMB AND THE BULLET

IN BETWEEN THE BOMB AND THE BULLET
By
Justine John Dyikuk

Preamble
The state of security in our country is near a grave experience, especially the north-eastern part of Nigeria. A country where the security of lives and property has deteriorated to the Hobbesian state of nature; a situation of anarchy, total lack of law and order, a precarious circumstance of survival of the fittest and the elimination of the unfit, reveals nothing order than O. Henry's 'banana republic.' Such is our situation - suspicion has become the order of the day as the number one citizen of the country has made public confessions.
Popular words on the lips of Nigerians are; boko, bomb and bullet. A sure creed for a people in travail hopelessly hoping against hope - looking up to a security outfit that has failed either because it has compromised its stand or it is helpless due to its unsophisticated armaments compared to those of those threatening the unity and integrity of our common existence as a people and a nation. The ugly state of affairs namely insecurity, plus a poverty-stricken populace unsure of the so-called dividends of corruption-bound democracy greased by privatization and the deregulation of the petroleum down stream sector, leaves much to be desired.
The Arab spring and the January fuel subsidy protests have a lot of lessons for our nation. Many social critics and analysts have lend credence to this fact. America had predicted 2015 for our break-up as a nation but now, 2030. Are we going to fold our arms and watch our country head for perdition?
This confusion will surely need a 'Philip' to interpret the state of things to the 'Ethiopian eunuch.' This piece intends to reflect on the current issues of insecurity in our country showing the place of a helpless people placed, 'in-between, the devil and the deep blue sea.'

State of Security
The African proverb goes, 'You don't need to tell a blind man, it is raining.' Our 'security status' as a country is worse than what full blown AIDS is, to a HIV patient. Ours is a situation of chaos. A tragic-drama which not only dares but rubbishes military might in the wake of several bomb blasts in; military (mami) barracks, merciless bombing of police stations and barracks, gunning down of security agents in and out of duty; others include, total climb down on both native civilians and foreigners, burning down of places of worship (Churches and Mosques) and government parastatals. These have become a nightmare giving us a bad name internationally. This tragedy further unfolds a tragic-comedy turning civilians to armed militias and the military/police cum para-military, civilians. What a mess of ourselves!

Intrigues of Insecurity
Insecurity is the bane of our country. Regime, upon regime, dispensation upon dispensation, the fire rages, the battle proceeds, the force pushes. For former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Shariah saga crept round, round, and around. The nation was in seeming disarray - the 'northern-insistence' notoriously persisting. The southern sages rigorously resisted the formers wimps and caprices. Obasanjo simply said, 'It will die a natural death.' The hoots, the hauls and hullabaloo hunting...The die was cast... into thin air it went.

Late President Musa Yar'adua was confronted with the twin evils of Niger Delta militancy/hostage taking and boko haram (remote stage). The economy was threatened - the possessive south purposefully took to its protective resource-control resolve. The northern elite elicited national support - 'we are one Nigeria.' The 7-Point agenda/rule of law disciple, thought fast and the Amnesty Programme was born; the Niger Delta Commission was consolidated. With the initial seeming quagmire gone, restiveness became a thing of the past as did the humble servant himself.
For President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the Boko haram hunts and hammers as never before. National security is constantly threatened and the nation in panic and tears. The south and north now see this as a national problem (northerners and southerners alike are killed). This danger is both a national (1st October 2010 blast) and international threat (UN House attack).
A constant ritual now is butchering our fellow human beings thus turning our streets into abattoirs. Nurses who nurse infants and teachers who tutored same suddenly wake up to see these same children going after them for a slaughter. Foreign investors are vanishing. Looking at the wave of attacks in our country and its antics, one cannot but conclude that ours is a case of orchestrated organized crime.
The state of security as described above reveals insecurity and bewilderment in a country that prides itself as the most populous nation in black Africa. There are a lot of maneuverings and intrigues in this sensitive yet sensible matter of unbending magnitude. These intrigues include:
(1.) Security Vote: The issue of security vote is a big fish as far as government is concerned. Large and mostly unaccounted sums are purported to be spent on security. Once it is security vote, no one raises any eye braw. This is indicative of a polity that finds a leeway of doing away with money in the name of maintaining peace - fake peace, it is, because, once there is peace, security vote becomes a mirage.
(2.) Boko Haram Debacle: The boko haram sect is perhaps a fallout of the erstwhile maitasene sect which started in Kano between 1980 and 1983. It will be recalled that its twin, kala kato had a tough experience with security agents in Bauchi in December 2009. As a consequence, not much is heard about that group. Many outfits have described the Boko Haram phenomenon as either, the Boko Haram Republic or the Boko Haram Imbroglio. Boko Haramites, disciples, of this phenomenon, Boko-Haramism, can best be described by their activities. Going by the Boko Haram vocabulary, the sect has a Creed which stands for: 'Western Education forbidden'

A spokesman of theirs one, Abu Dardam once said, 'we are strongly against the Nigerian Constitution. We are also against the democracy being practiced in Nigeria. This is the reason why we are fighting. It is irrational for us to accept the proposal of the new governor (current Governor of Borno State) who was elected under the provisions of the Islamic Sharia which is the only vibrant option that will guarantee peace, justice and equality. We would continue fighting until we archive a virile society." (Hamza Idris and Yayaya Ibrahim in, Borno: Rise and rise of Boko Haram attacks; Weekly Trust- Saturday, May 21, 2011, 2). With the above 'statement-of-belief', is dialogue or negotiation possible?
(3.) Compromised commitments: There are indications, that our security has been compromised. The popular game now is once security agents are deployed to a volatile area, in no time, you will see some of them extorting money from motorists while allowing them go unchecked. Worse still, some will remain in their camp and ask prospective bidders to come and pay money to be secured. I recall in our parish, we had to pay 8000.00 to have our church premises guarded on a Sunday. If you do not have money, you remain insecure. The President has said the group has infiltrated government, the police and the military. The escape and subsequent re-arrest of the suspected boko haram master-mind of St. Theresa's Catholic Church, Madala, Christmas day bomb blast, Kabiru Sokoto and the drama that followed the exit of the former Inspector General of Police Hafis Gingim and Zakari Bui, Commission of Police in charge of the culprit's case, is not only a sign of compromise of our security agencies but a big shame on our national sensibilities.
(4.) Fallout of Religious convictions/fanaticism: The ugly state of affairs in our country cannot be divorced from religious coloration. The bribery and corruption we are facing today, which has further breaded violence, is the undoing of religion. Religious fundamentalism and disorientation occasioned by ignorance, poverty and unjust structures have combined to create the situation we find ourselves in. The challenge of being unlettered, the failure of sound moral family values, the Almajiri system in the north and aggressive/sadistic preaching by illiterate and disoriented clergy are burning issues that have landed us where we are.
(5.) Rudderlessness of the political class: The political class has often taken advantage of poor and gullible Nigerians whom they use as political thugs, agents of destruction as evident in the April 2011 election violence. The alleged face of boko haram if there is any truth in the story, reveals serving Governors and ex-military dictators who aided and abetted the boko haramite's crimes with both public and private funds. An infantile and feudalistic mentality that a certain caliber of Nigerians are born to rule creates a 'political eugenics' - The exclusion of others from the polity and safeguarding of the 'national cake' for my kith and kin. This has further made our situation worse!
(6.) Betrayal of traditional rulers and elder statesmen: The wisdom of our elders seems silent in the face of evil. We have grown to know and belief that, 'an elder doesn't sit down to watch a goat struggling to give birth with a rope round its neck.' Some traditional leaders and elder statesmen have been accused of having a hand in the evil crippling our nation. With things taking this twist, what becomes of our fate as natives living in the land of our ancestors?
What we use to hear taking place in Chad, Niger, Iraq and Palestine is now bedeviling us. The media is not even helping matters as sometime it blows things beyond proportion or whips regional, geographical, political or religious sentiments. A sad commentary it is that Nigerians now attack each other on socials networks like Facebook, 2go, Twitterand Skype mostly based on the divides of the largely Christian-south and Muslim north. One wanders if there are no Muslims in the south or Christians in the north. We have domesticated our thinking. In a supper-highway world such as this, we are sharp in accepting every change except a change of mentality (little wonder Akunyeli's rebranding did not work) because no one can wake up and decide to exterminate others and succeed. Ask the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda. In the face of all these tribulations, how do we intend to meet the demands of the MDGs? How do we expect to rank high in the globalised economy? How do we intend to hold our heads high among the League of Nations?

Way Out
Is there any way out of these evils? Certainly, yes! We need to go back to our roots - the principles of the foundation of our country. We need to rekindle the ideologies of the founding fathers of dear and great nation. Nationhood is built on the ethics of being our brothers' and sisters' keeper and the firm resolve of the indispensable place of every Nigerian created in the image and likeness of God, for a purpose. Is government alone in this matter? Not at all - Security is every body's business - the police and the policed. Community vigilance and policing would not be out of place.
We have to watch dangerous religious and ethnic affiliations, which puts nationalism at risk realizing that allegiance to the nation, comes first. Where are the stakeholders? Where are captains of industries? Where are our NGO's? Where are our traditional and religious leaders? Where are our men and women of goodwill? Shunning bribery and corruption, going into government for self-less service, commitment to duty by all and sundry (security agents especially), preaching and living out peace, reinvestment and empowerment and the good example of leaders of every grade will be bold steps in the right direction.
It seems that sometimes we tend to think for God. Our pitfall is the product of religion without a soul. If we submit to fatalism and predestination, the place of reason and freewill will definitely become questionable. Only God can heal us of our wounds. Since we live in time and space, time equally, a divine-product is the greatest healer. Against all odds, counting our blessings and not losses is key to our myriad malaise.
Government and security agencies must resolve to develop confidence in the people. While justice is unequivocal, peace must prevail for reconciliation and reconstruction. We need to nurse back to health, our national psyche of, ethnic, religious and socio-political sentiments and underpinnings. No one has ever been paid for being public enemy number one. Giving birth to many children one cannot fend for only generates trouble for society. Government must have the political will power to prosecute offenders. Our porous borders must be on constant check. The National Identity Card should of compulsory usage; provision should be made for those who do not have, to get theirs to weed-out unlawful foreigners in our country. Our security apparatus which hitherto is the check-point style needs a change; this means our security agencies need a change of tactics.
Nothing can really or truly compensate for any life taken away nevertheless, adequate compensation to all families of those who lost their lives 'in-between the bomb and the bullet' (especially security agents) is fundamental. While the satisfaction of our material needs by government is important, what we need now mostly is, the fulfillment of our invisible hunger with 'a civilization of love' anchored by the indivisible truth of the integrity and oneness of our nation.
Mr. President, the transforming agenda man, man of luck, ¬in his bid has tried a partial state of emergency in all the hot spots amidst tongue lagging/wagging criticism.
The drum rages, doggedness in practice, prudence in principle. The lucky Goodluck on ...Will there be good luck this time?
'In-between the bomb and the bullet' are helpless citizens. Beyond 'the BOMB and the BULLET' is 'our BELIEF in ONE GOD in whom we live, move, and have our existence as an entity called, NIGERIA.' God bless Nigeria!

N B: This article has been published by sahara reporters!

Fr. Justine John DYIKUK, a Catholic Priest and a Public Affairs Commentator, writes from Bauchi!

Fr. Justine John DYIKUK, is a Catholic Priest and a Public Affairs Commentator; he writes from Bauchi, Nigeria where he is currently ministering!

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Orignal From: IN BETWEEN THE BOMB AND THE BULLET