By
Adewale Adeoye
Recently, tear-soaked Mrs. Deborah
Shetima from Borno State gave a gory account of how her husband was killed, her
two children seized and her only remaining child shot dead barely one year
after the anniversary of the murder of the leader of Boko Haram, Yusuf
Mohammed. The military authorities announced the other day the death of
20 insurgents after a failed attempt to seize a military outpost in Borno
State.
The 20 people have relations, they
probably have children and wives and maybe some of them are innocent. Nigeria
is drifting into a state of blood. The situation may get even worse as the
Nigerian neighbours in the Maghreb region grapple with faith-driven armed
uprisings.
Unfortunately, Nigeria may suddenly become hotbeds of deep ethnic
divisions and religious upheavals. For months unending, the country has been
characterised by bombings and mass killings, the last being the bombing of a
popular luxury bus motor park in Kano State last week, leading to thousands of
internally displaced persons, including women and children.
In our very eyes, the Afghanistanisation
of Nigeria is spreading like a wildfire in the dry season. Predictably, this
carnage will spread into the Southern part of the country if certain measures
are not taken by the government. The bombings of Kogi State, less than 10
minutes drive from some villages in Ekiti and Edo states, are clear indications
that the Islamic movement may soon hit major cities in Southern Nigeria.
I have had cause to visit many Northern
states from my days as an active member of the National Association of Nigerian
Students. I was also a facilitator and part of the technical committee set up
after the first ethnic summit held in Jos in 1999 at the instance of the late
Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti. Over 1,500 people attended the summit with
representatives from all the ethnic groups in the North.
The bitter truth, however, is that the
crisis will continue for certain reasons: One, the current Nigerian leadership
lacks a deep historical understanding of the nature and form of the crisis that
is stealthily engulfing the country and, therefore, cannot provide an enduring
solution. Two, contrary to the propaganda of State Security operatives
and the sometimes deceitful and ignorant categorisation of the crisis as ad
hoc, what we see is a well-planned campaign of terror woven around primordial
values.
Unknowingly to many people in
authority, the insurgents in the North appear to relish the support of a huge
population of adherents who are happy that at last a group is giving it back to
a state that for decades had treated her citizens like cockroaches on the
sidewalk. Millions of poor people in the North are frustrated by a corrupt,
inept and almost moribund political leadership. There was the belief that the
introduction of Sharia, even if illusory, would curb the recklessness and spinelessness
of the Northern political leader.
It means that with what clearly appears
as the support of Boko Haram by a section of the local population, overall
defeat of the Islamic movement is farfetched. Third, President Goodluck
Jonathan had admitted that security operatives are involved in the execution of
Boko Haram campaigns. This only confirms how difficult it will be to defeat the
sect. By now, we should fear for the personal safety of Mr.
President and the violent ethnic backlash any harm on him foretells.
We must, however, admit: This country
is standing on the edge of a cesspool. It is important to note that the war of
attrition being waged by Boko Haram is oiled by the most inflammable
ingredients of human existentialism: ethnicity and religion. The most brutal
and malicious wars in history have either been fought along ethnic or religious
lines. Here lay the peril that faces Africa’s biggest and most homogenous Black
country.
The most dangerous trend is that though
the Federal Government appears to have recorded “victories” through its
superior armed confrontation with the sect, there are unforeseeable, daring
consequences one of which is the fear that security operatives who are natives
of communities under state sponsored siege, will naturally be displeased by the
often innocent casualties that usually accompany military operations in their
dominion.
One thing is now certain, these
bombings have become one of the major threats to stability in Nigeria and West
Africa coupled with the persistent armed uprisings which have become a dominant
trend across the sub-region. The emerging scenario is not only a peril to
Nigeria, but given the country’s huge population, there is a visible threat to
global security.
What should be done? There cannot be a
solution to the crisis without understanding its history, nature and form. For
one thing, it is completely naïve to cite the Islamic insurgency as mainly the
product of the temporary loss of power by the Hausa-Fulani North. This only
explains an aspect of the problem. It appears a section in the Presidency
thinks this way when it linked the uprising to the assumption that “some people
just don’t like” the President’s face.
This is simplistic and will definitely
lead to wrong solutions to a persistent problem. In understanding the current
trend, we should know the history of the people waging this campaign. Let us
reflect a bit on where we are coming from: for over 300 centuries, the
North-East has been home to Islamic re-insurgence, partly due to the region’s unique
political and cultural history.
We cannot do this without understanding
the Borno Empire and its historic fangs and timeless struggle for
self-determination which has been continuously stymied. The Borno dynasty had
existed for over 1,000 years, covering some parts of Ghana, Nguru, Kano and
Adamawa. Its collapse was only saved by Sheikh Muhammed al-Amin el-Kanemi who
was born in 1772.
Borno had over the years resisted any
external culture, influence or the creation of “national cultural identity”
which the modern Nigerian nation continues to fan. The Hausa, Fulani and the
Borno pedigree are not the same and sometimes view one another with suspicion.
For instance, the Fulani first entered the then Borno capital, Gazargumo, on
Saturday March 12, 1804 (the 13th Muharram, 1223 A.H).
Old Borno Empire (now
Yobe, parts of Adamawa, and Borno states — the hotbeds of the insurgency) had
always resented intruders and had meted out harsh venom on such. As the Fulanis
came, the fleeing Mai appealed to el-Kanemi who summoned his Kanumbu tribesmen
and the Shuwa Arabs, who rallied because they considered the liberation of the
Saefawa Dynasty a noble cause. They considered the Fulani as mere aggressors
and usurpers. After routing the Fulani, el-Kanemi returned Mai Dunoma to his
domain. The siege continued until after the death of Uthman Dan Fodio in 1817.
By 1830, some terms of truce was
declared when Sokoto and Kukawa reached a truce. In the 13th Century. The
prowess of Borno extended to the port of Kabara near Timbuktu, where currently,
Islamic groups were recently expunged by the French and allied forces. Borno
had made efforts to expand its purist Islamic norms to the other parts of
Nigeria or the Northern hemisphere. For instance, in the autumn of 1825, Bornu
army’s attempt to take over Kano was repelled by 124,000 Fulani soldiers, half
of the number of soldiers deployed by Alaafin of Oyo to safeguard Yoruba
territory almost a century earlier.
The Borno army captured the Bauchi
flag, while the Fulani soldiers also captured silver timbre. Realising the
balance of forces, a peace accord was signed long before the Nigerian nation
began to emerge. In all the ancient battles, the Shuwa Arabs supported the
el-Kanemi who is known to be the direct descendant of the Holy Prophet Mohammed
(SAS), through his mother.
There are historical reasons to suggest
that the uprising may continue to receive unprecedented support from unlikely
quarters in the middle-east. The break-up of Boko Haram into factions appear to
reflect the old rivalry between the North-West and the North-East.
To be continued.
•Adeoye, a journalist, is cnn African
journalist of the Year 2000. He can be reached at waleadeoye90@yahoo.com
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