SOMOLU GLOBAL NEWS EDITORIAL OPINION. Vol.2 N0.5.

BOKO 'HARAMU' : The Case Study For ONOVO and Hillary Clinton.

             From the ‘Pearl of Tourism’,  trouble had migrated to ‘Centre of Commerce’; ‘Home of Peace’; and ‘The Young shall grow’ reportedly. With a population of more than 4,676,465 in Bauchi; 9,383,682 in Kano; 4,151,193 in Borno; 2,321,591 in Yobe; and 30,423,535 in other Northern States of Nigeria. The ‘Haramu’ spirit of death was actually planning the feasting on a good percentage of Nigerians.
  But God forbid bad thing. Mr. Ogbonna Okechukwu ONOVO, the 14th indigenous Inspector General of Police, Federal Republic of Nigeria, had promised to overcome the insecurity problems in Nigeria. We at SOMOLU GLOBAL NEWS are inclined to take the words of the new IGP as his bond owing to the tall profile of the Police Chief placed before us.
   ONOVO who went from Mary Knoll College, Ogoja in 1972 straight to the University of Nigeria Nsukka to  get his Bachelor’s Degree in1976, specializing in International Relations. To be armed with a Bachelor’s degree of 1976 before the debut of a career in the Force was not only thoughtful but was about the best thing that could have happened to a man of valour and of substance. Stabilizing his steps on the track, he had risen through the ranks. From an Assistant Superintendent of Police to Divisional Crime Officer and Unit Commander to Substantive Squadron Commander, to Deputy Superintendent of Police and hence to Commander of Surveillance before becoming the Chief Superintendent of Police here in Lagos State twelve  years ago. He would not have lazily humbled out because he knew where he was going. So in 1990 he became an Assistant Commissioner of Police. All this while, he was serving in different States of Nigeria by post. In 1997, he was already a Commissioner of Police. His wealth of experience in the profession got richer by the minute. Therefore, ‘Oga’ stood by for the post of DIG in 2001 when he was an AIG. The DIG position then became a piece of cake that he picked up in 2002. And for the proper drilling like going through the eye of the needle, it was seven years after that, that ‘Oga’ was crowned finally the Inspector  General of Police. His professional and leadership Courses  from both the Federal Government and International Organizations were countless.
    With this ‘fat file’, Mr. ONOVO should understand how to navigate cautiously through the Nigerian Jungle of Crime and Violence albeit his mission must constantly be “the creation of a safer and more secured environment conducive for meaningful socio-economic development through crime prevention and control.”
   SOMOLU GLOBAL NEWS welcomes our new IGP and wishes him well. But the fire on the BOKO ‘HARAMU’ mountain may not have been totally extinguished after all. Mallam Abdul Muhammad had reportedly said publicly that “I am a member of the BOKO HARAM group, and I do not believe in Western Education. It is against our belief”. He even expressed that he had no regrets being a member of the group at all in his life. That was after over one hundred dead bodies of Sect members had been reported by the BBC, in Borno State. 60 Islamic Militants were also reportedly killed in Yobe and Bauchi.
  The Brainwashed Mallam Abdul Muhammad may have ‘built his balls’ after many battles had ensued between the Sect group and the Security Forces. He may be playing back the reportedly burnt customs officer, the burnt customs post, burnt Police Station, the burnt Churches and a host of other .atrocities; in his brain. The fact is that ‘if you don’t know where you are going, the people of the world will show you where to go’. Mohammed Yusuf had successfully shown many of his adherents where to go. The ‘Psycho’ who did not know what to do again with his wealth and life, went to the grave with the belief that Western Education (BOKO) is  forbidden (HARAM).
    Mr. ONOVO should then be mindful that the seed of BOKO HARAM is still rapidly germinating in the minds and brains of some other ‘psychos’. There is also the need to objectively ascertain that these HARAMU boys are not being engineered by some moneybags for their own selfish interests. Then, it will become necessarily productive to network Isa Yuguda, Ibrahim Geidam, Ibrahim Shekarau, Ali Modu Sheriff,  and their Commissioners of Police in their States. At SOMOLU GLOBAL NEWS, it is now a little bitt distracting to see how ‘the young shall grow’ in Yobe, and how the ‘Pearl of Tourism’ shall welcome Tourists in the face of such gargantuan violence. Also, our readers may not feel too safe again in the ‘Home of Peace’ and one may need to always wear an iron suit in order to engage in commercial activities in the ‘Centre of Commerce’. For what were our Northern Governors and their immediate predecessors doing as chief security officers of their States when the ‘Taliban’ pitched its Tent in 2004 and labeled their quarters ‘Afghanistan’ in Yobe State? Or recently before the hullabaloo, when Yusuf granted an interview to an international Media Organization to discuss his beliefs. The wise ones would have known that if some people could give their lives ‘to the wind’ for Newspaper Cartoons, what will be too expensive to expend in an ‘HARAMU’ situation? We recall with pain, the fate of Mr. Ben Murray Bruce when his Miss World Show was to be staged in Nigeria. More than 332,000 people had reportedly been shamed up in similar fashions since a decade ago. No wonder why National and International Organizations have continually ‘shouted hoarse’ requesting an end to what is an avoidable loss of these natures.
    While we disagree vehemently with the manner with which Yusuf ‘s life was taken as well as that of Alhaji Buji Foi and others, we beg to plead that those innocent citizens now rendered ‘husband-less’, fatherless, motherless, children less, homeless, propertyless and futureless; courtesy these ‘Haramu’ acts of shame should be given adequate ‘Sauve-garde’. So that they do not continue to be helpless, hopeless endlessly. Otherwise, they may become good tools in the hands of future ‘Haramu’ Planners.
  Now, Madam Clinton who was in Town recently had gone back, thank God we got her on a rebound when President Obama didn’t find Nigeria worthy of his visit. How could he have? He may probably have been briefed about the then forthcoming ‘Haramu’ Harassment and Assaults. Thank God he (Obama) didn’t even come. Yusuf may have seen that as a life time opportunity to set free his wild lunatics and it would have been an uglier situation.
  Madam Clinton would have been adequately briefed by IGP ONOVO whose 1976 Political Science and International Relations B.A. Degree will better guide him now. The ‘BOKO HARAM’ crises and the extra-judicial killings of the Sectarian Crisis had reportedly constituted the largest part of her talk in Nigeria. The US Secretary of States is welcome to Nigeria anytime, we wish her luck and anxiously thank God that no ‘HARAMU’ volcano  erupted during her stay. On her efforts to closely better study the circumstances surrounding the ‘BOKO HARAM’ saga in order to energize the USA’s Conflict Prevention Policies, we wish her well. If she will be discussing education vis-à-vis the crisis, she should not be too quick to overlook the experience of Juliana Aunie of ‘Goodness Mercy School’ who now is compelled to teach her pupils in rain or shine as reported by AP.
     Bauchi must now bring together her ;20 focal points’ children : Alkaleri, Bogoro, Dambam, Dass, Darazo,Ganjuma, Gamawa, Bauchi, Giyade, Itas/Gadau, Katagum,Jama’are, Kirfi, Ningi,Misau, Shira, Tafawa Balewa, Warji, Toro, and Zaki local governments Chairmen who should quickly react and heed to Mother Bauchi ’s objective, feasible and productive (in the long run) pieces of advice. These Chairmen should be reminded that if ’BOKO HARAM’ translates to mean ’Education is forbidden’; ‘Bauchi’ means ‘the land of Slaves’ (Adamawa and Bauchi were the major sources for the Fulani empire of the then Sokoto). Also, of great importance is the strategic location of Bauchi State within seven other Northern States on its circumference. Kano and Jigawa are to the Northern boundary; Gombe and Yobe are on the eastern boundary; Taraba and Plateau are on the South while Kaduna is to the west. The way Bauchi people treat issues of National Interest have great multiplier effect on these other seven Northern States around Bauchi.
   At the end of the day, Bauchi State with her wisdom of managing 55 tribal groups constituting Hausa, Fulani, Gerawa, Sayawa, Jarawa, Bolewa, warjawa, Zulawa, Badawa, and other tribes; Bauchi must use the same wisdom to avert future crisis.
  Nigeria, as advanced as we have suddenly become, should not be a breeding ground for anymore ‘Haramu’ demons and also should not be a case study for other nations planning to fortify and consolidate peace process, conflicts and violence prevention. Nigeria, come October 1, 2009 will be 49, nearing just nineteen more years before official retirement, should come to terms with the Peace Process; Gender Equality; Rule of Law; Uninterrupted Power Supply; the independence of the Judiciary; Electoral Reforms; Infrastructural Development; Prisons Rehabilitation; Productive International Relations; amongst other achievable but trivialized goals. Without coming to terms with positive agendas, Nigeria may just continue to be a federation of ‘one man for himself, God for us all’. And the idea of genuine feelings of belonging and Statesmanship may continue to be one hell of a big joke.