MY HEADACHE My little 8years old Praise will never cease to bother me with his thought on Boko Haram everyday . This makes me bleed always within me . Never will a day pass that the poor boy will not grill me on insecurity in the country. In his usual questions anytime we are seated watching/listening to news and the breaking news read Boko Haram killed 50 or 147.feared dead today in boko haram attack daddy , Praise will cut in Boko Haram again? when will this killings be stopped? Who are these Boko haram? How many are they? Who is Shekau? Why the army has not killed him? If he had been killed why Boko Haram are still killing , kidnapping, and even destroying property? Is Sambisa forest in Nigeria? Will the abducted Chibok girls by Boko Haram be set free ? When will this death toll stop? The more I try to allay his fear the more he hammered me with questions. No doubt, everyday we put it in our prayer points that God should destroy Boko Harama , Praise could not understand why the group still has chance for its occasional operations. As a father I felt bad and completely disappointed in myself. It wasnt like this when I was his age. Praise has thrown another dimension into the terror that is confronting Nigeria, that the kids are living in fear, that the kids are conscious of the wanton and senseless killings/bombing and that the kids want a stop to insurgency. There is palpable tension in the country . The threat from Boko Harm is transcending North East to every part of the country. What other geopolitical zones see as North East problem has become an all inclusive problem. What seems to be a threat to one religion has become threat to all religions. What seems to be a threat to one political party is now hunting all the political parties. The sometime threat to a seeming tribe has become threat to all tribes. The threat to one security agency has become threat to all security agencies. Even now the so called Nigeria insurgents has become threat to Africa and the whole world! Yet nigerians do not learn.!Tribes are still trading blames, political parties are accusing one another, geopolitical zones are suspecting one another. Religious groups are spying one another . And some see the governments as being complacent. All to the advantage of terrors. War against terror can never be won by one religion, or by a tribe , or by a geopolitical zone,or by a political party, or by army or any other security outfits ,or by an individual , or a president. If you think it is possible then you are from another planet. Collective efforts and cooperation of all is the panacea. We must be united to win this terror. Individual must know his civic duties to curb this menace. These include;personal security (ii) policing your house/ compound (iii) know security and other national emergency phone lines eg 112 (iv) identify strange face, cars , objects in your area/ street and report any suspicious movements(v) suggest ways to improve security measures around soft targets in your area through any media house . This can be local radio/television station, twitters, facebook, security agents . (Vi) be patient and subject yourself , cars and other items for security screening always ((vii) be bothered about any issue of security concern wherever you find yourself and never turn away your face to it (viii) cut trees, flowers and remove zinc as well as other obstacles that will block your views in the street/ neighbourhood (ix) support the security agents in your locality (x) report any security agent you found wanting through the available security phone lines or media/ social media (xii) find time to discuss with your guard(s) about security matters in the street (xiii) pay your dues for the guards you hire in the street/ estate/ compound (xiv) install your collective CCTV in your street/ shopping mall/ motor parks/ market. (Xv) be wary of people living in uncompleted buildings/obscure places (xvi) know details of somebody that want to hire your house.(Xvii) destroy your unused cans/cylinder (XViii) have passion for Nigeria not your political party or religion or ethnic. The list is endless just add your own Religious groups must do what is expected of them to drive away this evil. There must be religious tolerance . Preaching must be centered on love, peace and harmony not to criticize governments, individual, political parties and other religions . Register all your followers/members and profile them. Take note of extremist and report to the security agents The National Assembly must amend the constitution on terrorism Acts and see to the establishment of a genuine anti terrorism unit devoid of politic. Judiciary must exhibit readiness to prosecute and the penal code as well as criminal laws should be strengthened. This is with a view to accommodating the contemporary acts of terrorism Executive arm of government must improve on its tactics/strategies . NGOs, Civil Society Organizations , media group / social media analysts and opinion/political leaders should be objective in their activities and stop promoting selfish interests . The truth is that no country can love Nigeria more than we , nigerians. We should not allow the ship to wreck so that we will not be second citizens in another country. Africa can not contain us if we allow things to fall aparts. As from today contribute your own quota to the security of this country. This is the secret of United State, Great Britain, Germany, France , Israel even North Korea that you are proud of in terms of security. Let rekindle the hope of millions of our kids .
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 03:56:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015