The topic, as captured above, may not resonate in many minds – President Bola Tinubu’s mind inclusive, most probably. It is for this reason that I might have to start by decoding some factual assumption that shall be characterising delivery of today’s subject matter.
I must warn that this is going to be a very long project, but I can also assure that it shall never be moribund because I shall break it into segment to remove the of continuity in reading.
Let us start by saying that the President of Nigeria does not know, in actual reality, those terrorists that have destroyed – and still destroying, peace and tranquillity of this great country. He probably may not have known them really.
Yet, it is this Group of hardened criminals that he has vowed to crunch to return Nigeria to the land of peace and tranquillity – a land where the citizens would know and have peace once again. And most importantly, where the President would be able to stand tall and tell the whole world that he has fulfilled his constitutional obligation of protecting/securing lives and properties of Nigerian citizens, as this is the enshrined obligation of Government in Nigeria, according to the Nigerian 1999 Constitution [as amended].
There shall remain, yet a nagging gulf of understanding between the preamble given above and the reality of speculating that the President of the Federal Republic – albeit the very astutely knowledgeable president Bola Tinubu; who has traversed all segments of the Nigerian landscape, would not know the criminal gang of terrorists terrorising Nigeria?
For ease of understanding, and decoding of this intricate discussion, permit me to go back to the beginning. “Whenever you find it difficult to start a story”, instructed the erudite Professor Jinadu, of the London School of Journalism, many years ago, “go back to the beginning and start from there”, he instructed.
In total obedience to Professor Jinadu, one of the best teachers that shall remain evergreen in my memory, let us construct the navigational channel of sailing into this subject before heaving anchor, as Master Mariners would always say.
WHO ARE THE TERRORISTS IN THIS NARRATION?
Mr President, please, take it that the terrorists I am discussing with you today goes beyond the those that we narrowly define as terrorists in today’s Nigeria. What we have in todays’ dictionary of terrorism does not include Banditry, Kidnapping, Insurgency, Ritualism, and the Unknown Gunmen, most attributed to the criminal upheavals in the Southeast of Nigeria.
Every persona dramatis in these mentioned Groups have same characteristic at the points of their operation. They all kill, they maim, they loot and destroy. They abduct – which is the same language for kidnap, for ransom payment. They even kill their victims sometimes after collecting ransom.
Oh, lest l forget, the list of the Groups of these notorious Terrorists mandatorily include the Fulani Jihadist – once acknowledged by the World Terror Index as the Fourth most dangerous Terrorist Organisation in the whole world, the Fulani Herdsmen that go about with AK 47, and maybe, the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB]. The list can also be extended to include some money bags, sponsoring criminality, bigotry religious leaders that encourage secularism of religion in their sermons, and many others. The list is endless, Mr President. But for sure, all of them in the lists above share the same characteristic, as all of them are baptized in the same water of iniquity, holistically.
Sir, in this endeavour, I chose to put all the above in just one basket and call of them Terrorists. At least, the groupage language I have chosen would help in concentrative endeavours – both for your humble-self and for the reading public. In addition, Sir, this little endeavour of grouping them together would build your mind and efforts for a much more co-ordinated approach, geared towards winning the battle.
That is only if you have the capacity to, or determination to fight this vital war for the survival of Nigeria. Because if the truth must be told, most members of the Terrorist Group I am discussing with you, belong to the class of high, noble, affluent, stupendously rich and controllers of unlimited political power.
And your humble-self, Mr President, is First Amongst Equals, or Senior Dramatis Personae in this Club, with all due respects.
NEED FOR YOU TO ASSURE ME TO CONTINUE WITH THE DISCUSSION, PLEASE.
I am asking for this just to assure that what both of us [your humble-self and myself] are engaging on is dialogue and not monologue. This is one time that silence from your end cannot stand for golden, ipso facto, because I am now delving into the most delicate area of this discussion.
I had to do this, strictly on my understanding, that you are not lacking in capacity of receiving bad news or the temerity of acting against whatsoever you confirmed to be both true and factual. I hope you are taking judicious note of the differentiation between the two words used – True and Factual?
Now, that you are ready Sir, Mr President, l seek your permission to suspend continuation of this very long voyage’s chat till tomorrow, and this is for a tangible reason. If the message is too long, you might be losing interest in reading everything Sir, and once you are scared away from continuous reading, I doubt if you might want to return to continue.
After all Mr President you are not getting younger, as I am not too.