Hope you said that lil prayer today? we need it!
As the Nigerian Government intensifies battle against
militant sect, Boko Haram, some conflict resolution experts say the
country might have to map out more strategies to contend with the
insurgency for the next six years.
An in-depth analysis by the researchers revealed that increasing
poverty and inequality has led to the consistent violent conflict
particularly in north-east Nigeria.
Presenting a study on ‘Radicalization And De-Radicalization in the
North-East’, the experts gave the assurance that though Boko Haram will
end, the fight is not about a group of persons or political party.
A Professor of History at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Sanni Umar,
said, “It takes an average of 27 years for most insurgencies to come to
an end but they do.
“You’ll remember Sierra Leone, Liberia, their crisis ended and this
one will end (too) but by the average length it takes, if we say six
years, that’s quite early. We pray it will not last to the average of
twenty something years before it ends but it will end,” he said.
The group of research experts who undertook a research on the complex
causes and processes of radicalization posited that the Boko Haram
insurgency is more about the nation than a group of persons or political
party.
Therefore, they believe that winning the war against terrorism is possible with the full co-operation of all Nigerians.
Professor Abdul Mustapha from the University of Oxford, UK, decried the level of inequality within the Nigerian society.
“Niger is poorer than Nigeria by any account but Niger hasn’t also
gotten the level of inequalities we have – both inequalities between
individuals and inequalities between communities.
“There is something about the nature of our poverty that aggravates people,” he said.
He said further noted that Nigeria deals with a “war of minds of
people”, as it would be important to improve of the way families are
organised and create a country where “education is provided, societies
are disciplined and development takes place”.
“We are never going to return to Nigeria of yesterday but we can try
to deal with the problem today and build a better country,” he said.
The battle by Nigerian troops to retake all territories controlled by
the Boko Haram and generally cripple the terrorist group has
intensified in the last few weeks through several collaborative efforts.
The general elections earlier scheduled to start February 14, 2015
had been postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC on the recommendation of the Nigerian armed forces to enable it
intensify its efforts to reclaim all territories lost and put an end to
the insurgency.
Recently an audio message purportedly from an ISIS spokesman
announced that a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram has been accepted
by the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Signs of the end time! God save us!
ReplyDelete