Boko Haram and The Expansion of Terror

While we are still searching for the 234, another 11 were abducted and 300 killed. At this point, we must admit that we are at war. I do not think we are giving this menace a serious thought yet, perhaps because they are yet to storm the South. I have no doubt whatsoever that these guys are planning meticulously towards that. From their operations, these guys are not just callous, but they are also intelligent, particularly military wise. I am worried that as I write, some Boko Haram intels may be plotting and mapping out a plan to extend their terrorist acts to other regions.

It is time to nip this menace in the bud. As I said earlier, we are at war. While it is important to keep people informed and perhaps sell newspapers and acquire online hits, I feel we are giving Boko Haram too much media attention. What we need to give them is military and political attention.

Imagine what would happen if they moved into the South and perhaps start bombing oil installations? What if they start attacking locations in the South-South and South-East? Now, imagine if MASSOB and MEND decide that enough is enough and start retaliating? That would be a full blown war. Even though I was not born during the civil war, the stories I hear make me scared, even as a tough guy. I would not like to see that in my life time. I am too used smoked chicken and chilled white wine to adapt in any way to raw meat and dirty water.

Crises always have remote and immediate causes. The political attention I talked about earlier is to ascertain these causes and proffer solutions. The military attention is for our military to do what they are trained to do; Go to war against these terrorists. To do that, they need intelligence and ammunition.

These Boko Haram guys are not ghosts. Afterall, they release videos. How do these videos get streamed? There is a school of thought that the whole Boko Haram thing is political. I have even heard that they have sponsors in government. I am too far away from where it is happening to know the truth. I have always said that Nigeria is an action thriller movie, but this Boko Haram thing is a war and horror movie combined, only that it is real. That makes it worse.  Way forward????