TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF BOKO HARAM (PART 3) – By Moses E. Ochonu, Associate Professor of African History at Vanderbilt University. The Nigerian state is one of the most unlucky in the world; a state where its citizens, politicians, civil servants, law enforcement agents, religious organisations, tribes, states, foreigners, and terror groups continuously undermine its legitimacy. In a country where it is easier for dropouts, incompetent, inexperienced, corrupt, and men of illegitimate/unmerited wealth secure government appointments and political power, it comes of no surprise that the legitimacy of the state continues to be undermined. YEARS OF DE-LEGITIMATION OF THE NIGERIAN STATE - Fueling Boko Haram ideology and membership. 1. By failing to fulfil the most rudimentary obligations of a modern government, the Nigerian state erodes its own legitimacy. There is equally the tendency by groups (political and religious), North and South, to depict the state as illegitimate in order to justify their efforts to undermine it. 2. Corruption is also a major challenge in Nigeria and has contributed in hampering the military effort to combat Boko Haram. ‘This corruption thrives partly because many citizens and groups understand the state to be illegitimate, undeserving of loyalty, an entity whose resources can be appropriated for personal gratification.’ 3. ‘In an essay published in 2009, when Boko Haram was beginning its campaign of violence against the state, Aliyu Tilde, a prominent Northern Nigerian Muslim pundit, described a phenomenon in which some Islamic clerics teach their followers that the secular Nigerian state and its governmental organs are haram, illegitimate.’ 4. ‘The theological end-point of this Islamic teaching, Tilde argued, is the assertion that “public property and finances belong to nobody, so they can be looted whenever possible.” Many Nigerian Muslims, like many of their Christian compatriots, see the state and the patrimony it superintends as zones of easy largesse — perhaps even a site of divine favour where God authorizes his worshippers to profit at the expense of the government.’ 5. ‘People who try to stand in the way of this systematic undermining of the state through theft and sabotage are taunted with the words, na ya papa money?/is government money your father’s property?’ 6. ‘It is also a profound enunciation of the notion that the state is an illegitimate orphan, belonging to no one, to be used when needed and destroyed when it stands in the way of one’s parochial agenda. This view of the state removes any moral constraints on individuals and groups determined to attack or plunder the state.’ 7. ‘If government is haram and its assets, including military resources, can be legitimately stolen to promote personal and religious interests, undermining that government through violence and sabotage is halal, not only permitted but a legitimate religious obligation.’ 8. ‘Boko Haram’s anti-government insurgency is partly driven by this belief that the secular Nigerian government is, by virtue of its illegitimacy, a legitimate target of violence — a sacrilegious entity that should be replaced by a state governed by Sharia.’ SOLUTIONS: 1. ‘One approach is to gradually reduce the number of Muslim youth susceptible to the macabre allure of violent extremism. This will require massive investments in Western and instrumental Islamic education.’ 2. ‘Expansion and diversification of the economies of the affected regions.’ 3. ‘Reinvent the legitimacy of the Nigerian state by devolving considerable power and control over developmental initiatives, natural resources, revenue generation and allocation, and law enforcement to states and local governments, or to some other new, more locally entrenched and thus legitimate entities.’ 4. Quell the endemic appetite for unmerited wealth through simple but effect steps that send signal to the masses. Corrupt and unmerited wealth is often invested in expensive residential properties, commercial houses, cars and hotels. Nigeria needs a government that will make use of the military, the secret service and civilian informants to strike terror in the heart of unmerited wealth across the country and bring the once untouchable corrupt politicians, civil servants, and business men/women to account. The starting point is to: (a) Investigate residential house and land ownerships in Abuja Capital Territory and all expensive locations in cities across the country; freeze and prosecute unmerited ownership. In a city where individuals are purchasing plots of land for N200 million and houses for billions of Naira in a country with a national minimum wage of N18,000, something is not right. This is driving anger across the nation and fueling organised crime membership. (b) Private jets and yachts have become toys common to the rich and powerful in Nigeria. There is nothing wrong with that but only when such acquisitions are funded by stolen national wealth and illegally acquired funds. Nigeria needs a government that will boldly probe these ownerships, freeze the assets and prosecute unmerited ownership. (c) The proceeds of corruption have also funded commercial hotels and big businesses, sometimes in collaboration or disguise with foreign partnerships. Nigeria should strike at the heart of this practice swiftly and decisively in the interest of state legitimacy and future generations. (d) Expensive cars on Nigerian roads should be stopped and investigated by law enforcement agencies – making it difficult for individuals to acquire and display unmerited wealth on Nigerian roads. Such acquisitions should be impounded and crushed rather than sold. (e) Politics should be made less rewarding than it is today to attract only dedicated and patriotic citizens rather than crooks. The remuneration and incentives associated with political office should be sliced by more than 60%. On successful and productive completion of term of office, a politician can be given a golden handshake for serving the nation productively, patriotically, and judiciously. These are few steps in the right direction to reprogram the mindset of the nation, redefine what constitutes hard-work, merit and wealth in our nation, protect the interest of generations to come, discourage membership of terror organizations, increase national productivity and wealth, and improve standard of living and security for all.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 07:14:01 +0000
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