Stop these terror attacks

In what has become a vicious cir­cle of terror, two state capitals, Gombe and Bauchi, were on De­cember 22 hit by bombs which left at least 29 people dead and 65 injured. The Gombe attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber who struck at the Dukku Motor Park, while the Bauchi incident occurred less than six hours after when a bomb hidden in a shop at the busy Central market was detonated by another suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram member.

These incidents are a sad addi­tion to the terror attacks that have become a daily occurrence in the country. Nigeria is in the grip of an unrelenting insurgency, and noth­ing on the horizon suggests that a reprieve is on the way.
While we commend the Nigerian military which is in the thick of the battle against the insurgents, we call on the government and all Ni­gerians for unity of purpose and re­dedication to patriotic ethos. There are enough discordant tunes and a trivialization of issues on this in­surgency to suggest that we either do not understand the enormity of the challenge we face or we are too eager to earn political capital from our collective pain. In the end, we make a comical show of ourselves. The Boko Haram problem is the greatest challenge to Nigeria’s sov­ereignty, today.
When incidents like the ones un­der reference happen almost daily, it points to a failure of intelligence. And here, we must admit that the army is as good as the people are willing to co-operate with it. Have Nigerians been failing in their duty of supporting the military? It would appear so. There is a need for a re­doubling of efforts in this regard. Though things have improved on this front with the emergence of joint civilian-military task forces and militias, there appears to still be levels of mistrust and disconnect which have not served the nation and the battle against this insurgen­cy well, especially in the North-east.
There have been rumours of sabo­tage fuelled by the number of mili­tary personnel who have faced or are about to face court martial. This is not good for the on-going war against insurgency. If anything, it emboldens the murderous insur­gents, as it makes them think that there is a crack in Nigeria’s resolve to deal with them. That is why the military high command must exam­ine this current challenge dispas­sionately, with a mind to getting to the root of the lacklustre conduct of our otherwise globally acclaimed and very disciplined armed forces.
Have we been complacent and neg­ligent of our duties? Have we sup­ported our armed forces sufficiently in the fight against this insurgency? Have we given sufficient thought to the unconventional nature of the war and its demands? Have we done enough to earn the support and re­spect of our neighbours and friends who could contribute to the effort to surmount this problem? These are questions begging for answers and which the political and military leaderships will do well to re-ad­dress their minds to, to improve our chances of ending this insurgency.
There have been reports of com­promise and corruption in the mili­tary supply chain. These must be properly investigated and identi­fied loopholes quickly plugged. Dis­organization is a luxury we cannot afford in the face of a formidable enemy with demonstrated roots and support abroad. What our military personnel require to win this war must be provided for them– no ex­cuses.
Our political, religious and opin­ion leaders must also strive to build a strong coalition with ordinary citi­zens to win this war against terror.

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