Recognizing Possibilities: Nigerian Militancy Case

By Ogadimma Mbadiwe

The latest trend is the recognition of the media as manipulatory tools for devious goals. Vast readers have gained much knowledge with proves that affirmed such claims, but sadly, that does not liberate them from manipulation strings. They get all the clues, yet, they cannot decipher when they are being manipulated except, for some, when it comes exactly like the instances given in the expositions they got.

Vanguard is a notable media house that tells true stories, also committed to seeing we are not totally lost in information. However, as practically everybody or system is susceptible to corruption, their human resources are no exception.

Militant is an organization or person that employs strong or violent action to achieve political or social change.

In Nigeria, when militancy is mentioned, every attention points to Niger-Delta group that fights a contemptible life of having rich resources that feeds a nation, yet dying in poverty. The worst of these is that they are usually cursed with acid rain and even lack potable water as a result of oil spills and gas flares from monstrous rigs situated in their land. The militants for some time now have been into filthy acts of vandalism, worsening the degrading condition of our nation.

“Militants Attack: 50 Feared dead in Lagos/Ogun Communities”

The headline shocked Nigerians who know that militancy in Niger-Delta is more like a fight for survival than a fight to shed blood. Historically having pipelines, oil-rigs and sometimes abduction of foreign personnel that work with the oil firms as targets either to draw attention or for bargain, all happening in a defined location: their oil rich communities’. Nigerian government understood their wretched conditions, as well as their needs and resolved to amnesty and vocational trainings, monthly settlements plus lucrative contracts of guarding pipelines to ex-militant leaders and which they gladly welcomed. That ended militancy till the present government’s interference into the affairs of their allowances in bid to fight corruption.

“…tensions resurfaced following President Buhari’s May 2015 inauguration speech, which revealed his plans to significantly curtail the program. In June 2015, President Buhari terminated the ex-militants’ pipeline security contracts and the government began prosecution against the former militant leader, Tompolo, for contract fraud. At the same time, President Buhari cut funding for the amnesty program by around 70 percent in the 2016 budget, citing corruption. With these developments, coupled with the government’s ongoing failure to properly address local grievances in the Delta region, it was only a matter of time before another wave of militancy would resurface.” (Freedom C. Onuoha)

Sadly, Militancy has resurfaced, but we still have a more dreaded group: Boko-haram, which grew and lingered not because they are stronger, but chiefly because of faithful allies in the military and influential individuals sabotaging government’s efforts. Few extracts:

…a colonel (a Muslim) Commanding a team of three APC’s, with the capability to fire up to a range of 1.5kilometres or even more, had instead of pursuing the terrorists, deliberately set the APCs on fire… before running away with his team of soldiers into the bush (Vanguard October 11, 2014).

“… military authorities are disappointed that the attack on Baga was not repelled… despite all weapons made available to them...” (PremiumTimes January 30, 2015)

Fortunately, better strategies that were exposing the military and civilian saboteurs were developed and many of the corrupt military men were caught and court-martialed. Towards the end of year 2015,a lot of Boko-Haram members were killed, many surrendered, a lot got drowned in Lake-Chad trying to escaped military bombardment, most communities they conquered were liberated… they were heading towards the point of total annihilation before the handover over of power.

The new government in bid to achieve greater things for the nation came with its own system and developed new strategies it felt would be more effective. The military was restructured. Suddenly, we had the good news:

Today, I can report that the war against Boko Haram is largely won. I can confidently say this because just recently, I led a group of 33 journalists from both the local and international media to the hotbed of the insurgency, that is, Maiduguri, Kondugua, Kaoure and Bama (Lai Mohammed; Premium Times, December 23, 2015).

“President Muhammadu Buhari claimed recently that militant Islamist group, Boko Haram have been driven into “fall-back positions” and are “currently not holding any territory” in the country.” (Premium Times, February 1, 2016)

Well, that believe was short-lived when counter reports flooded the national dailies that Boko-Haram were still in charge of territories, and they were growing stronger. According to Olatunji Olanrewaju,

In Biu axis and other places, there are still attacks by the insurgents. There are places where Boko Haram has fortress that the military cannot even go. There are so many Nigerians still held hostage. How do the government declare victory? Is it when people can’t return to their land? Many can’t go to their homes… At what point do we declare victory? At what point do we say we have crushed Boko Haram? Undue criticism of government is better that unsolicited praise” (Today, January 12, 2016).

Unlike appraisal, Criticism is meant to point out errors or negativities in a system and healthy for a sustainable positive change. But now, it is uncommon to experience that every criticism of our government would be tagged political, ethnic or a religious move. Obsessed supporters of our government believe religiously that there cannot be an element of error or corruption in all our government’s actions; I am moved to believe too. What baffles me are the puppet-like actions of such supporters defending like witnesses with their body and soul the covert dealings of the government.

When I was arguing with my brother some time in year 2015, I decided to employ some reports taken from national news to explain my points…

“Government is not to be trusted… Most news you hear are lies manipulated to look like truths...Don’t believe them”, he countered.

However, when the new government officially increased fuel prize few months ago, he dropped a comment in defense suggesting that the increment was the best decision to end fuel scarcity. I was shocked, knowing that fuel scarcity was a past issue at that point in time. I inquired to know the states he knew in the country that were lacking fuel; he could not point out one but argued that what he had given was a more authoritative report. “There's no data on fuel scarcity per state except via individuals reporting from where they were”, he concluded.

He was wrong. In fuel scarcity time, the news dominated every media. But before increment in its price, there were no more such news except positive reports of end in fuel scarcity going round the country. I wondered where he got his information. He responded to this by sharing a link to a Facebook post, allegedly, from the presidency with the information he believed justified the increment which to him, was “to end scarcity”. I was trying to argue that that was not enough…

“You can't discredit a report from an authoritative source without providing a more authoritative one”. He concluded, and I let him win.

I wondered why he did not want to study conflicting view of the people who responded to his defensive comment. I also wondered why he would believe that ‘this’ government would be trusted when he was the one who said that ‘that’ government should not be trusted. What made him think this government was incapable of manipulating the media?

Well, around a week later, a reason behind the increment was revealed:

ABUJA-Federal Government summed up the reasons for the all-time increase in the pump price of fuel, saying that it was broke and needed to raise money to keep the system afloat (Vanguard, MAY 18, 2016).

This would humble my brother; I thought. Again my hopes were flawed.

Aside religion where people are made to believe everything with faith, recognizing every possibility in situations is the first step to leading a noble life. Unsurprisingly, obsessed supporters behave like religious people; they hold firmly that there is no atom of corruption in a system they believe in.

Fanaticism dominates virtually every group. The sad thing is that fanatics never see themselves in that light, which is why it is practically impossible to overcome fanaticism.

Consequently, obsession is evident in the manners of counter-criticisms from our obsessed government supporters. From empty treasury proclamation by our president even before settling in the office, which suggested malice and pre-meditated defamation of the former, to the time when even the most un-intelligent turned psychologists and fully understood and believed in our president’s body language; from the time the unripe good news of Boko-Haram’s defeat was broken to everyone who cared to listen, to the controversies surrounding returned Chibok girl... There was also a well-documented reports of arrested president’s top guard with link to Boko-Haram.

Corporal Hassan Aminu is President Buhari's body guard who has been arrested for having some things to do with the terrorist group” (Wednesday, June 29, 2016). “Several calls and SMS sent to the presidential media Aide, Mr. Femi Adesina and Mallam Garba Shehu were not answered or replied even as at 8:35 pm (Vanguard, JUNE 29, 2016).

What if we are really experiencing a selective fight against corruption as suggested by critics?

government is accused of not indicting Tukur Buratai, current Chief of Army Staff, who served as the director of military procurement under the former Goodluck Jonathan administration. Critics argue that as the man in charge of defence contract at a time of rampant government and military corruption, it would be unlikely that Mr. Buratai is in the clear (Premium Times, July 15, 2016)…

What if our government is actually witch-hunting and into some covert revenge mission? And what if there were pact with Boko-Haram and our government? A reason why possible assassination was not carried by the Boko-Haram alleged linked guard?

Boko-Haram terrorists attack troops of 113 Battalion… troops have been battling the insurgents since early hours of today...The troops had been trying to establish a permanent base in Damasak as Boko-Haram remains active in its hinterland” (Colonel Sani Usman, Thisdaylive April 19, 2016).

Boko Haram’s mayhem was heating up while the government was, perhaps unknowingly, initiating chaos-worthy programs, and shifting attention from Boko Haram’s anarchy to Militancy tragedy, mined (perhaps ignorantly) by meddling with the resolved militants’ settlements... It’s a shame because even a kid would expect resurgence. Now, why will a government want to handle a blood thirsty beast (Boko-Haram) with one hand and at the same time, indirectly wake a hungry dog (Militancy) that only bouts for its daily meal? It drew my attention to re-recognize the antics of mass manipulation: a good time to carry out selfish goals unmonitored is sometimes by initiating commotion—people will be busy looking up to the system for solution to their immediate chaos or save themselves from a victimized situation the government brought them into, and so, loosing responsiveness and energy in checking government’s possible unjust covert dealings.

Are worthy mouths in Nigeria now interested in clearing themselves from a victimized situation or afraid of falling into one?

For bearable development, I thought it would be better if government had handled the bloody beast with every hand. After that, the hungry dog can be woken and served a new set of meal if it feels the meal it was served is too much, low or passing through a corrupt process.

Shocker: Even with the growing Boko-Haram issue and their peculiarity with the Lagos/Ogun attack, Vanguard potted the attackers as militants.

50 people were feared dead on Thursday night when militants swooped on the neighboring communities… The militants came out from the creek and attacked the communities around 11p.m... The militants opened fire on anyone on sight. “The whole communities have already been deserted. We need the presence of the Nigerian Army, Airforce and Navy to curtail the excesses of these militants (Vanguard, June 25, 2016).

A fair reading on the location, manner and target of the attackers reveals peculiarity to Boko-Haram, yet nobody remembered Boko-Haram. The unidentifiable witnesses who according to the report, pleaded anonymity and vanguard news emphasized with much certainty they were Militants.” Now a fair question one should ask is how the interviewed became certain of the attackers even when the bout was off the tracks of militancy? What social or political course were the attackers after? Was it an ignorant choice of word? An assumption? If so, why did Vanguard report the news without questioning such calamitous claim or at least tag the attackers in an appropriate or more professional manner like ‘unknown gunmen’? But they were simply and freely potted as militants, a defamationwhich if well analyzed, is a critical corruption worse than common Half-truthwhich is the situation of people that lie for monetary interest on the true cost of a government deal— situation of most people facing alleged selective probations in our nation.

The Vanguard militant news reminds us of media mass control described by Lopez as Manipulation by Association “All that is necessary to destroy a person’s character publicly is to take that person and overtly or covertly associate them to something the masses will reject... A typical relative example of this tactic is to connect the person, through intricate stratagem, to some law-breaking, shady action, organization or person. Even if it is not true, it will leave a dark cloud of doubt in the mind of the person receiving the information…”

Staid probability: some folks with a dreadful program in mind are manipulating militancy reports, and systematically demonizing Niger-Delta Militancy while giving a better picture of Boko-Haram… maybe for some sort of amnesty. Defaming a group’s image is an antic employed by manipulators to influence policies or actions which would be totally unacceptable without people having a malicious notion about the subject.

From the way Niger-Delta militants have operated, their possibility of attacking a community like the Lagos/Ogun case would be like fish hunting on land. Now a picture is being painted:

All things considered, the Niger Delta Avengers are no different from the Boko-Haram criminality… they are more deadly, more destructive, more dangerous and consequently more devilish. Boko-Haram has been… hitting and killing soft targets… (Sahara Reporters MAY 24, 2016).

When on earth did butchering of unknowing and defenseless civilians become a soft target?

Boko-Haram issue is at hand, militancy was awoken. Could it be a premeditated instigated commotion for devious goals like shift of attention from the fatal (Boko-Haram) to the hurtful (Militants), creating a diminishing image of the latter, possibly employed to render their voice worthless so that when they start crying of inhumanity like communal or tribe abuse or massacre which might follow, their voice will be seen as that of terrorists getting what they deserve?

Note: “Practically, no human system exists without iotas of corruption or evil. But because the masses are usually naïve, fake heroes, who usually harbor more dreadful corrupt intents, rule. They win by exposing common corrupt practices of the reigning system…”

Virtually no investigation into government dealings or purchases in our world would occur without people making some un-documented gains alias corruption.

Psychologists are certain that probing people like the militancy deals on case of un-documented gains or loot, people must be found wanting. And such actions carried out at a time of delicate national situation, militancy resurgence is predictable.

Maybe Nigeria is actually too broke to continue giving a little back to the mouth that feeds her. But has anybody considered how much our government is currently spending and willing to spend in fighting the militants? One would wonder.

Now Nigeria is faced with a lot of core issues. The people’s strength, which lies in their voice focusing on a particular ill is shattered. Religious sides, political, ethnic, Boko-Haram, sudden high cost of living… fight against corruption alias undocumented gain recovery mission… now Militancy.

Sure, the presidency has shown commitment in seeing that the militancy issue is resolved which includes humbly begging them to stop. But a disagreement is not about begging, it is about re-agreeing. The militants seem to be very interested in ending the chaos if the government truly wants to dialogue. Nonetheless, interest in peace seems to be flawed systematically. Few extracts:

…militant group, in the Niger-Delta urged President Muhammadu Buhari to discontinue his pretentious plea to militants to cease bombing oil and gas facilities and commence dialogue with stakeholders to avert looming disaster… The issue is when he will start his dialogue (Vanguard, JUNE 27, 2016).

…prominent elders and traditional rulers in Bayelsa State have alleged that some of the aides of President Muhammadu Buhari are frustrating the Federal Government’s proposed dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers. Though the elders and the monarchs commended President Buhari’s decision to lead the proposed dialogue, they expressed concern over the alleged show of deceit, insincerity and discordant tunes among the presidential aides (Punch, July 9, 2016).

Who talks about probing these presidential aids? Our minds have been conditioned to focus more attention on loot recovery and various dealings of past government, overlooking critical issues.

Note: “the secret of change is to focus all energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” Socrates.

Africans are now buying into advanced form of mass manipulation. I am afraid before their antics are bared, they might have left lethal wounds in the lives of the betrayed masses. I hope Nigeria is not in line…

The problems emanating could be ‘corruption’ fighting back as alleged. I do not agree with the thought that “Nigerian Government is confused... too old... can’t handle the nation”. Our president is surely working with like minds that plans every action before execution... he is not confused. What one should worry more about is possibility of a “devious covert plan”.

Now every government’s criticisms are countered by obsessed supporters charging critics to start the fault-findings from their homes. I’m yet to understand the point. A critic can be criticized in his own dealings but if a criticism is for the government, one should interfere with clarifications or disproof, not rendering some comparative check.

A scholar purported “you don’t criticize the government if you don’t have a better solution to the problem”. But a criticizer must not have the solution, criticism usually works in domino pattern to the person with solution. I gravely hope our critics and defenders start considering every side of happenings which starts by recognition of every possibility.

Obsession is a hazardous path which is among the cause of corrupted reports like Vanguard’s Militancy case. Appraisal is good when necessary but criticism is more vital, and the recognition of variant probabilities is paramount for healthy criticism.“There is something known as manners, and basic to any code of manners is simply: consideration for others!”(Wole Soyinka) Lets not because of ego,obsession, favour, ethnicity, religion, political link or immunity stop considering others or variant possibilities for a sustainable tolerable world.

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