Sunday, we recorded incidents of explosion in Jos, Zamfara and Yobe, losing scores of citizens. The transition to CHANGE nevertheless, we still are effectively in a state of war, as the ugly story “many killed. cores injured” continues.

One, that terrorism, as well as allied cases of insecurity, grows to become a seemingly intractable challenge puts Nigeria in the circle of failed/failing/malfunctioning states in the world. Go check: large scale organised violence like Taliban, Al Shabab, ISIS, LRA etc. are features of failed states like Afghanistan, Iraq, DR Congo, Somalia among others where resources and policies have been mismanaged so bad that Government becomes unable to meet basic obligation like security; and combat divisionist tendencies. Given that conceptualisation, one only becomes self-delusional not to call Nigeria a failed or failing state.

Two, what we have today, as challenge of insecurity, is a cumulative result of years misrule which has ripened into creating fertile ground for recruitment into terrorism through poverty, hunger, joblessness, poor education standards, lack of economic infrastructures etc. that characterise contemporary Nigeria. For sure, in every society you have individuals who only believe in violence as instrument of propagation extreme ideology. But socio-economic and political conditions determine whether or not such intentions will manifest into organised violence. If America had been like Nigeria or DR Congo, the Dylann Roofs would have brainwashed and recruited too many people into terrorist campaign against blacks.

Three, Goodluck Jonathan? was not responsible for Boko Haram. However, his lack of will to combat the group earlier buoyed them to unleash unprecedented, devastating violence. He made mistake by ever bowing to unconscionable voices of sectional demagogues who were appealing for dialogue with terrorists, even though, they have no known or just motivation. Excuse me, you only dialogue with violent campaigners who have motivation, e.g. economic oppression, on the basis that once the grievances are addressed, the violence ends. Please on what basis are we to dialogue with Boko Haram. I am convinced that if we had sustained the military campaign the way we started in mid 2013, when state if emergency was first declared, we would have defeated terrorism.

Four, We helped give Boko Haram psychological boost, while discouraging our own soldiers who are placing their lives on the line toward the end we live in peace and safely. We were not united against terrorism. We were always ready to hit the media with news of losses, but went silent when we recorded gains or even doubted the veracity of the gains or said soldiers were killing Northerners. A self-conscious knowledgeable entity once told me he had access to Nigerian secret intelligence and thus was sure it was Jonathan that was sending his Niger Delta brothers to kill the Northerners. Another one said it was to diminish Northern population for election reasons.

Five, besides expectations of being tough on corruption so that we can free up funds for development and restoring sanity in our public institutions and processes; some of us supported Muhammadu Buhari to succeed a failed Goodluck Jonathan because we believed it’s possible to end insurgency and the retired General could bring the belief into reality. We didn’t just support because we hate Jonathan, but because it was clear he was just ill-suited for the high office of Nigerian Presidency, especially in the face of ever growing insurgency. President Buhari must therefore vindicate us! It is a sacred pact!

Six, President Buhari has two options. Short term, we must up military campaign against Boko Haram, balanced with effective intelligence and regional as well as international collaboration. Negotiating with terrorists is merely postponing battle. No reason justifies killing innocent people. They will never change. It is possible to kill them all. Jonathan’s six weeks before elections and the beginning of SoE  in 2013 helped drive that possibility. Two, however, if we kill all terrorists today, another set will spring up tomorrow, unless we address issues that help organised violence grow in the first place, And that’s the long term solution. We must initiate a comprehensive socio-economic reform, including improved education standards, industrialisation aided by solid minerals, economic infrastructures among others, for the North, and ditto for other parts of the country. We must create a society based on principles of justice and fairness to all where citizens are not sunk beneath basic necessities of life.

VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY AUTHOR’S…