Jonathan presidency and emerging threats from Boko Haram

The bombings, especially the blast at the Force headquarters on Thursday, have again thrown up the debate about the security situation in the country, writes MIKE ODIEGWU This may not be the best of time for President Goodluck Jonathan. There is no doubt that the euphoria that accompanied his emergence as the number one citizen of the country after dodging many political missiles has gradually fizzled away. The reality has set in and the hotness of the prestigious seat he occupies in Aso Rock has become blistering. He is now faced with the highest level of decision-making that could make or mar his administration. In the face of these choices are challenges that seem insurmountable.

Political observers are waiting and watching to see how the president who hails from Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State will wriggle out of the crisis rocking all sectors of the country. How is he going to paddle through the rising tide of insecurity? The North, which used to be a peaceful haven in the country, has suddenly become a hotbed for many terrorist attacks. Boko Haram, an Islamic sect, which frowns on any form of Western education, has become a thorn in the flesh of the new administration.

From hatching and executing local violent attacks within some states in the north, the bloodthirsty group has demonstrated unusual resilience as an emerging threat to the sovereignty of the most populous country on the continent. The group’s members have dared powerful institutions using a suicide approach believed by many to be a globally dreadful style and uncommon in the history of Nigeria.

Though the group had in the time past attacked local police stations, the Thursday bombing of the Police Force headquarters in Abuja, a surprise attack that targeted the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, has further exposed the insecurity in the land sending a wrong signal that all institutions in the country including Aso Rock Villa are not safe.

The group has bombed the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, open-air beer garden; an army barrack and many police stations; institutions that represent the country’s political unity and peaceful-coexistence. Surprisingly, the group is not yet done.

Just hours after the dastardly act against the police headquarters, Boko Haram Spokesman, Usman Alzawahiri, said: “We are behind it and we are going to attack the entire north and other parts of the country, including the capital, Abuja.”

He said that some Boko Haram members returned from Somalia and had been scattered around northern parts of the country. He also advised residents of northern states to be wary. Boko Haram had on Wednesday distributed handwritten statements in Hausa to journalists in Maiduguri, in which it threatened a harsher campaign against government and civilians.

Part of the statement said: “Very soon, we will wage jihad. We want to make it known that our jihadists have arrived in Nigeria from Somalia where they received real training on warfare from our brethren who made that country ungovernable.” Who wants to make the country ungovernable for Jonathan?

Pundits are of the opinion that the activities of Boko Haram portend danger to the peace and unity of the country. They also believe that there are more to the actions of the group than religion. Some of them have speculated that a few powerful politicians in the north were responsible for importing the group into the country and have resorted to using the sect to destabilise the administration of Jonathan. They argued that the inimical actions of the group have become deadlier, more daring and more alarming since Jonathan became the president.

However, observers believe that the development is an acid test to the security agencies. The President of Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Kimse Okoko, asked the security agencies to redouble their efforts towards curbing the menace of bombings in the country. He described the attack on police headquarters as sad and an indication that the country was gradually turning into terrorist nations like Pakistan.

He said the police and other security outfits had continuously failed to apprehend perpetrators of criminal activities and their sponsors, arguing that such failures were responsible for increase in criminality.

He said, “The bomb blast is sad. We have a lot to do. Security in the country is so bad that Mr. President has to redouble his effort. I know it is difficult to take care of all kinds of security problems, but something serious has to be done to curb the continuous bomb blasts in the country. We are now turning to Pakistan. We have not got there but this is the beginning.

“The security agencies have to redouble their efforts. They should get the necessary experts and fix these problems. Like many other crimes in this country, security agencies have not been able to get the perpetrators and their sponsors. So, these individuals continue to commit more crimes because they know that the security agencies will not be able to catch them. So, the government has to step up training of security agencies in tools and communication.

“The police should also try to establish good relationship with members of the public so that they will get privilege information from them. Unless fundamental changes are made in the orientation of the police in such a way that individual Nigerians will pass necessary information to them, we will not be on top of this thing. The government must redouble its efforts; otherwise it will be a sordid state of affair in this country.”

To the National Chairman of the Nigerian Democratic Forum, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, the successful attack on police headquarters was a serious threat to the Jonathan presidency. He argued that the development was a dangerous sign that no part of the country including Aso Rock Villa is safe. He added that the incident was an indication that the group had a strong network of its members in all major institutions in the country.

“The unfortunate thing is that if this thing can happen at the national headquarters of the Nigerian police, then it can happen anywhere. This is to tell you that there is no security in this country again. This is to tell you that these people are organised. They have a very strong network. They can penetrate anywhere. They have allies. It is to tell you that even among the police, there are members of the dreaded sect there. I wonder how they could go in with all the checkings at the gate. If they can find their way in, they can easily find their way into the Villa and you know once upon a time, a fake army officer was caught in the Villa,” he said.

He described the attack as a negative historical record, claiming that even in countries with worst terrorist antecedent like Pakistan, their national police headquarters had not been attacked.

He noted, “The IG should look within because as it stands now his days are also numbered. This is a very big threat to the administration of Jonathan. This will go down in history because it has never happened anywhere. Even in Pakistan where Al Qaeda used to go and bomb, they have never gone into the force headquarters of the Pakistan police or military.”

He blamed the incident on Ringim, recalling that the IG had said the days of the sect were numbered, an inflammatory statement he said the IG made without being adequately prepared to contend with the overtures of the group.

“A day before the incident happened, the Inspector-General of Police made a statement that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. Then Boko Haram immediately responded to that and took their attack to his domain. This is an organised crime but unfortunately, the police are not organised. The criminals are more organised than the police. Very soon everybody in this country will start thinking of how to secure themselves,” he argued.

However, before that happens, observers believe that Jonathan who is in the middle of the nation’s security crises should muster the required political will to deal with the group. But they also said the group should exercise caution as its activities portend danger to the unity of the country. However, Vatsa has advice for Ringim. “The IG should resign immediately. In the game of hunting, no man hunts the hunter but this time around the hunter has been hunted.”