Musings: Has The Insurgency Defied All Solutions?

The last couple of weeks saw some sort of calm or normalcy returning to the polity albeit, in the security sector. At least one cannot remember when last they saw a news headline bearing such bizarre riders like: “four killed and many others injured as terrorists strike”, or multiple blasts in one area of the country or the other. As a proxy, we have been fed with different news emanating from the political scene. Such as, 2015 politics, Al-Mustapha’s acquittal, the upcoming Anambra gubernatorial election, the Amaechi-Jang roof-rofo fight even though the latter hasn’t been in the news lately, the Asuu strike, Something about five Northern governors visiting some elder statesman at the hilltop mansion, section 29(4)b which I am sure not all of us understand the technical meaning of that section and so many other petty news like the Nobel laureate’s “beef” with the first lady, Stella Damasus’ rant on the social media in defense of the infant-marriage that ended up achieving what she never intended etc. But amidst all that, we “enjoyed” the various “delicacies”. And one need not be told why. Of course because we were not carrying our fellow country men and women to the morgue neither were we forced into a national mourning. But unfortunately enough, joy has a slender body that break so soon, as Ola Rotimi of blessed memory will have us understood in his classic drama, “The gods are not to Blame”.
The whole script changed over the weekend when the Islamic militants struck in some villages in Borno state where the death-toll continues to rise even as I write this piece. Yesterday night at about 9:30 pm, Kano state was thrown aghast and the predominantly Christian dominated Sabon gari areas of New Road and Enugu Road, witnessed four loud blasts that occurred in successions leaving scores dead with their mutilated bodies thrown in different directions and many others injured. As I write, the tension in Kano is heightened and the state government yet to release or make an official statement with regards to that attack. What can we say, but to ask that the souls of the dead rest in perfect peace. Amen. Permit me then to ask- Has the insurgency defied every solution?
It appears that we are now clueless in this fight against these harbingers of death. It appears that we have run out of every other means to curb these depraved acts of the fundamentalists. I can beat my chest and say that even as I write, president GEJ still don’t know whether he should exercise an option of true amnesty to the belligerents by way of diplomacy or to use his military arsenal to force them into compromise little wonder, we find ourselves declaring a state of emergency and at the same time leaving the doors of amnesty open. Some weeks ago, close to 40 members of the insurgents were sentenced to life imprisonment by a high court sitting in the federal capital territory and the leader of the dreaded sect Abubakar Shekau releasing a YouTube video renouncing a peace-pact between them and the government as was circulated in the media. And one begins to wonder whether we are playing a hide and seek game here. To tell the holy truth, the insurgency, has defied all solutions whether diplomatically or otherwise as we have tested both. We are up against a people who haven’t the word “peace” in their dictionaries. Or how can you broker peace with a person who knows not what he is looking for or why his ox is gored? And even if he does, comes to state a demand that lack feasibility. It is only but an invitation to war. Perhaps we should invite the west? Certainly Not. They will only worsen the situation. They succeeded at that during the Biafra war; we sure don’t want to be bitten twice by a snake. We are meant to be two times shy if anything.
While we bank on the hands of time to be quick in phasing out this era of terror and bloodletting, the only question extant remains: how many more heads will roll before that unknown tomorrow? Oh God! What is/was our sin? God bless Nigeria.
The writer is on twitter as @yung_silky