This is my beloved country Nigeria.Where I can travel freely, eat amala, eba, pounded yam, tuwo kinshafa, starch with edikaikon and esi owu.
Simon Kolawole Live!: Email: simonkolawole@thisdayonline.com
THISDAY became the latest victim of terrorism last Thursday as suicide bombers attacked our offices in Abuja and Kaduna, killing at least eight persons. Immediately these co-ordinated and simultaneous attacks were executed, people started calling and asking: why THISDAY? What did you guys do to them? Later in the evening, a news website reported that “Boko Haram” had claimed responsibility. According to the claim, the attacks were meant to warn the media over biased reporting of their activities. The spokesman said the stories that favoured Boko Haram were not being positively reported while the angle of the security agencies was having the better part of the front page.
If indeed Boko Haram was responsible for the attacks on THISDAY, then a
different branch of the sect did it. I know of the Boko Haram that is
avenging the death of its leader, Muhammed Yusuf, in the hands of
security agencies in 2009. They have been launching attacks on police,
army and SSS ever since then. I know of Boko Haram that is seeking to
Islamise Nigeria with the backing of some international terrorist
groups. They deploy suicide bombers and are obviously carrying out the
major operations in the North today. And now, as premature tension
begins to build up ahead of the 2015 presidential election, another
branch of Boko Haram—hired by some desperate politicians—may have
emerged. And, my sense tells me, that political wing was responsible for
the murderous attacks on THISDAY.
Why am I saying this? If we examine the allegations attributed to “Abu
Qaqa” in the claim against THISDAY, they cannot be substantiated. It is
just like giving a dog a bad name in order to butcher it. Any honest
observer who could take the pain of doing a content analysis of this
newspaper would come to the conclusion that we have been very fair in
our reporting of the insurgency. There is nothing we have reported that
other papers have not reported. In fact, we are not a “good” option for
those who want to read exclusive stories on Boko Haram. As I read
through the accusations by “Abu Qaqa” one by one, it became clear to me
that whoever authored the claims did not study THISDAY properly. Most of
the “offensive” reports “Abu Qaqa” was referring to were not carried by
THISDAY. More so, when Boko Haram recently issued a statement
threatening some media houses, they specifically named those that they
had problems with. THISDAY was not on the list.
All that we have sought at THISDAY is a lasting resolution to the
crisis, and this has guided our editorial treatment of stories in
reporting the conflict. Personally, I have been a subject of intensive
attacks from Southerners and Middle Belters who accused me of being “too
soft” on Boko Haram. Some have gone to the extent of cursing me,
heaping abuses on me and my family and anything that relates to me. When
I wrote to support ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s underground moves
to negotiate with some members of the group, I was thoroughly insulted
by a man who said his aunty was injured in the UN House attack. When I
wrote that the security agencies were wrong to, extra-judicially, kill
the Boko Haram leader, someone accused me of trying to be “politically
correct” by taking sides with “those animals”.
On this page, I have consistently canvassed a multi-dimensional
approach to addressing the conflict. I am a student of conflict and
development and I know, judging from case studies around the world, that
any conflict that has religious undertone can hardly be fully resolved,
much less with military force. Religious extremism is an incurable
disease; if you cannot prevent it, then you have to devise a lasting way
of containing it. This, unfortunately, involves some shifting of
ground, which could be in the form of negotiation, without compromising
the sovereignty of the state. The laws must still be enforced. Security
must still do its work. But the door to a negotiated settlement must
never be shut.
We are not dealing with a case of armed robbery; we are dealing with
people who, having been thoroughly brainwashed, are ready to take their
own lives in the belief that they will end up in heaven with loads of
virgins at their beck-and-call. How do you kill somebody who is ready to
kill himself? That is a serious complication. The situation is further
worsened by the fact that members of the sect have now acquired the
knowledge of how to make explosives. Which means they can make
explosives right in their bedrooms and toilets! Are we now going to
deploy policeman in every house? Someone can just improvise an explosive
device in his sitting room, load it in his car and drive to the next
target to unleash terror. The materials are everywhere. You cannot ban
fertilisers or condensers or mobile phones. That is why terrorism is
very delicate and frustrating to subdue. It is based on these sad
realities that I have always advocated a multi-dimensional approach to
tame the monster.
Indulge me to reproduce a mail I got when I wrote in support Obasanjo’s
underground moves to resolve the conflict. The reader wrote: “In your
last article ‘Jos: A Society without Statesmen’, where you commended
Obasanjo for visiting the family of the late Boko Haram leader, I was
appalled. You call his act that of a statesman? Apart from the fact
that the UN victims were being remembered, the fact that a former
president dines with terrorists makes you ‘glad’? So you subscribe to
negotiations, appeasement and of course amnesty, while law abiding
citizens suffer fear and intimidation… There is nothing statesmanly
about Obasanjo’s actions! I do not condone the extra-judicial killings
of the Boko Haram leaders, but the law courts are there for them.
Moreover they have killed so many policemen and innocent citizens, so
where exactly does your sympathy stem from? As our ‘reputable’
journalists tread cautiously not to anger the terrorists (yes, who will
bell the cat), stop pushing your theories down our throats! You have the
power (of the pen), please don't abuse it!”
So how exactly does THISDAY, of which I’m the Editor, qualify to be a
target for Boko Haram for “biased reporting”? I am by no means trying to
be apologetic. We owe Boko Haram no apology and they are not in a
position to edit our newspaper for us. They cannot determine for us what
story should be on the front page and the one that should go inside the
pages. But I have gone to this length in laying out the facts just to
prove that last Thursday’s attacks on THISDAY were not based on the
contents of the newspaper. The allegations by “Abu Qaqa” do not describe
THISDAY at all. There is, therefore, more to the attacks than those
accusations that are being peddled. It is either their media advisers
misadvised them or—more likely—some political interests are at work and
they have identified THISDAY as the newspaper that could hurt their
narrow and selfish ambitions. So they hired some Boko Haram militants to
do their bidding and, as afterthought, have now manufactured evidence
to justify the act. I suspect that intimidating THISDAY is one of the
strategies of these interests.
Because of the terrorist attacks on THISDAY, my friends have been
asking me: “So, Simon, do you still believe in one Nigeria?” I still
think we are missing the point. If Nigerians decide that the country
should break up, how is that my problem? All I have said and will
continue to say is that there is no challenge facing our nationhood that
good leadership cannot address. If you create Republic of Southern
Nigeria today, I would love to see how the Igbo and the Yoruba will
sleep on the same bed without conflict! I would love to see how the
South-South will stop talking about “our oil”! We also talk about
breaking Nigeria into North and South on the basis of the activities of
Boko Haram, forgetting that there is a vast population of Christians
even in Borno State, the headquarters of the sect. Are we going to
relocate them to Ondo State? What about the millions of Northern Muslims
who do not agree with Boko Haram’s philosophy and who are also subjects
of the sect’s attacks?
Breaking up the country looks good on paper but there is no neat way of
doing it in a country of 250 ethnic groups and 5000 dialects, as
Comrade Kayode Komolafe would always say. Every nation has its fault
lines. It is the management of these challenges that matters. There will
always be challenges, even in a mono-ethnic nation, as we have seen in
Somalia. Our resolve should be that the sponsors of Boko Haram will be
brought to book. Our resolve should be that our politicians will begin
to put the interest of Nigeria above sectional and selfish interests.
With the calibre of leaders ruling us at different levels, breaking up
Nigeria will only change the shape of the map; our problems will remain
intact. Fact.
And Four Other Things...
Thanks, All!
The outpour of condolences and support after the terrorist attacks on our offices in Abuja and Kaduna helped in relieving the pain. As soon as the news broke, our phones never stopped ringing as people from far and wide expressed shock and surprise at the unprovoked attacks. Many people could not really understand why THISDAY would become a target, no matter the excuse and afterthought being bandied around. My phone was beeping every second such that I had to abandon it for hours and even days to clear my head. The truth is that the hate mongers will not win this war. The outpour of love, in my opinion, is a billion times more powerful than the torrent of bombs unleashed on us, killing innocent people and sending their families into sorrow and pain. How any human being would be happy killing and inflicting pain on others for no just cause is something I will never understand in my life. But the terrorists should know this for a fact: hate can never overcome love. Thanks to all who shared in our moment of pain.
The outpour of condolences and support after the terrorist attacks on our offices in Abuja and Kaduna helped in relieving the pain. As soon as the news broke, our phones never stopped ringing as people from far and wide expressed shock and surprise at the unprovoked attacks. Many people could not really understand why THISDAY would become a target, no matter the excuse and afterthought being bandied around. My phone was beeping every second such that I had to abandon it for hours and even days to clear my head. The truth is that the hate mongers will not win this war. The outpour of love, in my opinion, is a billion times more powerful than the torrent of bombs unleashed on us, killing innocent people and sending their families into sorrow and pain. How any human being would be happy killing and inflicting pain on others for no just cause is something I will never understand in my life. But the terrorists should know this for a fact: hate can never overcome love. Thanks to all who shared in our moment of pain.
Azazi’s Outburst
The National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, launched a very brutal attack on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the menace of terrorism in the land. He said the party was responsible because of the nature of their politics. “PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr A can go and Mr B cannot go, and these decisions were made without looking at the constitution,” Azazi said at the second South-South Economic Summit in Asaba. To be honest, I didn’t understand him, but I suspect he was indirectly referring to the “zoning” crisis in the PDP. He seems to believe that the growing violence is an aftermath of the failure of some politicians to get their wish in the last presidential election. “Is it not amazing that after the elections, Boko Haram became better trained, better armed and better funded? But I can assure you that Boko Haram could not have that kind of sophistication without a backing,” he said. I don’t know but as the NSA, I thought his job is to fish out these backers and bring them to justice.
The National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, launched a very brutal attack on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the menace of terrorism in the land. He said the party was responsible because of the nature of their politics. “PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr A can go and Mr B cannot go, and these decisions were made without looking at the constitution,” Azazi said at the second South-South Economic Summit in Asaba. To be honest, I didn’t understand him, but I suspect he was indirectly referring to the “zoning” crisis in the PDP. He seems to believe that the growing violence is an aftermath of the failure of some politicians to get their wish in the last presidential election. “Is it not amazing that after the elections, Boko Haram became better trained, better armed and better funded? But I can assure you that Boko Haram could not have that kind of sophistication without a backing,” he said. I don’t know but as the NSA, I thought his job is to fish out these backers and bring them to justice.
Poverty Haram
I recently commented on the attempt to tie the Boko Haram insurgency strictly to poverty. I did argue that the sophisticated weapons being used by the militants don’t come cheap, so blaming the insurgency on poverty will not help matters. A reader, who did not agree with me, asked that I have a rethink over the argument. To be sure, I agree that there is a poverty element. When people are jobless, they become ready tools in the hands of the devil. I will be the first to admit that. But that begs the question on the motive and motivation for Boko Haram. The first thing driving these guys is religious extremism and religious hate. This trend has been there for decades. Poverty may be helping them to recruit foot soldiers, but when you tell a man to be a suicide bomber because you would give N200,000 to his family when he dies, I don’t think his motivation is the money. He believes he is performing a duty for God. That’s the drive. Let’s get these issues right and stop playing games.
I recently commented on the attempt to tie the Boko Haram insurgency strictly to poverty. I did argue that the sophisticated weapons being used by the militants don’t come cheap, so blaming the insurgency on poverty will not help matters. A reader, who did not agree with me, asked that I have a rethink over the argument. To be sure, I agree that there is a poverty element. When people are jobless, they become ready tools in the hands of the devil. I will be the first to admit that. But that begs the question on the motive and motivation for Boko Haram. The first thing driving these guys is religious extremism and religious hate. This trend has been there for decades. Poverty may be helping them to recruit foot soldiers, but when you tell a man to be a suicide bomber because you would give N200,000 to his family when he dies, I don’t think his motivation is the money. He believes he is performing a duty for God. That’s the drive. Let’s get these issues right and stop playing games.
Lagos Doctors’ Strike
One of the saddest, heart-breaking moments in my life is anytime I hear that doctors are going on strike. I can live with journalists going on strike, or even lawyers, or engineers. I can live with PHCN going on strike. I can never live with doctors going on strike. We are talking about human lives being saved and lost. A life lost can never be replaced. There is a saying I always deploy when discussing the importance of doctors: “After God, it is doctors.” When doctors embark on their strike to make a point against the government, who loses? How many governors’ or ministers’ children die during the strikes? It is the ordinary people that bear the brunt. The current strike by Lagos doctors makes me really sad because I know that they are better off than most other states. I am not saying they don’t have a point, but I don’t know how much sense it makes for doctors to be going on strike at the slightest provocation, like tanker drivers. No, it doesn’t make sense to me.
One of the saddest, heart-breaking moments in my life is anytime I hear that doctors are going on strike. I can live with journalists going on strike, or even lawyers, or engineers. I can live with PHCN going on strike. I can never live with doctors going on strike. We are talking about human lives being saved and lost. A life lost can never be replaced. There is a saying I always deploy when discussing the importance of doctors: “After God, it is doctors.” When doctors embark on their strike to make a point against the government, who loses? How many governors’ or ministers’ children die during the strikes? It is the ordinary people that bear the brunt. The current strike by Lagos doctors makes me really sad because I know that they are better off than most other states. I am not saying they don’t have a point, but I don’t know how much sense it makes for doctors to be going on strike at the slightest provocation, like tanker drivers. No, it doesn’t make sense to me.
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