Kolawole
also urged the United Nations and Nigerians in diaspora to intervene in
the challenges Nigerians are facing at this time.
Terrorism is man’s new evil with the capability for self-extinction to mankind. It is crude, barbaric, cruel and inhuman.
God
Almighty frowns at it. Humanity has cursed it. Nations and countries of
the world are fighting it to a standstill. The United Nations (UN),
that world assemblage of civilized nations, is bitter and enraged with
it.
Except the sadists who perpetrate terrorism, the evil is abhorred and resented everywhere and by every right thinking human.
Yet, the mystery is that it has continued to rise and spread its tentacles to cover more grounds and nations.
Nigeria’s
experience with Boko Haram terrorism is still fresh in memories, since
2009 when its atrocities on Nigerian people reached the pinnacle.
The
deaths, the brutal killings, the arson, the destruction of property,
the dislocation of social and communal life, the displacements of people
and other mass inconveniences it created are the sad multiple relics of
this evil on the land.
Though,
Nigerian Military has defeated this obnoxious sect, the unalterable
truth is that Boko Haram terrorists have not been completely wiped out
from Nigeria, in the sense that the remnants have taken refuge in
countries near Nigeria.
And from time to time, they recuperate and gather momentum to strike obscure and soft targets in the country.
By
this evidence, it is clear; terrorists are funded, trained and supplied
with weapons in foreign countries to continue with their atrocities in
Nigeria and other neighbouring countries. The unanswered question is;
why is the shadows of some countries behind the evil of the festering
and flourishing terrorism?
And these suspected countries are
members of the UN and also, some subscribe to the dozen region bodies
in Africa, whose main mandate is to promote unity, peace and security,
but none is being rebuked or reprimanded on account of support for
terrorists?
Many instances abound
which indicate that world and regional bodies are indifferent about the
evil of Boko Haram in Nigeria, despite their official aversion to it.
In year 2006, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously
adopted a 15-page resolution on UN Global Counter-terrorism Strategy.
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The
document was designed to secure peace and prosperity now and for future
generations of the world. It was a landmark proclamation by this
exalted world body and for the first time, all member-nations endorsed a
resolution of the UN without exemption.
The
resolution is reviewed every two years. And for every member state, the
United Nations and other appropriate international, regional and
sub-regional organizations' efforts are expected to heighten on
implementing it in an “integrated and balanced manner… to enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism".
At the last review, the UN urged member-states “To
consistently, unequivocally and strongly condemn terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for
whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to
international peace and security.”
Also,
at its 5th review and 10th anniversary in 2016 at the UN headquarters
in New York, Immediate past UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon said
the UN’s “Adoption by consensus of this resolution symbolizes the
international community’s strong resolve to act in unison and without
delay to address terrorism and violent extremism.”
He was unambiguous that “Terrorism
and violent extremism pose a major threat to international peace and
security, as well as to sustainable development, human rights and
humanitarian action at the global, regional and national levels.”
On measures to prevent and combat terrorism, the UN member-states explicitly resolved “To
refrain from organizing, instigating, facilitating, participating in,
financing, encouraging or tolerating terrorist activities and to take
appropriate practical measures to ensure that our respective territories
are not used for terrorist installations or training camps, or for the
preparation or organization of terrorist acts intended to be committed
against other States or their citizens.”
Apart
from the UN, regional bodies like ECOWAS; the East African Community
(EAC) and the Horn of Africa (HOA), further categorized as the
Inter-governmental Authority and Development (IGAD) and a lot more have
failed to exhibit the integration and co-operation needed to stamp out
Boko Haram terrorism.
The body
language of these bodies surprisingly suggests countries facing threats
of terrorism like Nigeria are on their own that the problem is
exclusively theirs.
A Ghanaian scholar Mr. Nyionkuru
Fulgence in an article titled “War on Terrorism in Africa: A Challenge
for Regional Integration and Cooperation Organizations in Eastern and
Western Africa,” pungently said despite the infiltration and
multiplication of terror groups on the continent, regional bodies have
remained inactive and docile and at best, churn out verbal policies
unsupported by any concrete road map of action against terrorism.
He adds that “Intervention
may not follow any pre-arrangement agreement and this has caused
misunderstanding and little grudges between countries within the same
regional organization.
A
country may be so lenient to deal with terrorism on its soil for some
reasons but neighboring countries facing consequences may decide to
intervene for the good of its citizens and hence inter-state conflicts
arise.”
But ECOWAS alone, where
Nigeria belongs, has expanded its scope of vigilance in the sub-region
to also include among other matters, the Protocol to Non-Aggression
(PNA) and Protocol on Mutual Assistance and Defense (PMAD), which
mutated into the protocol for establishing mechanism for conflict
prevention, management and resolution, peace and security.
But
none of these vast tissues or organs of intervention by ECOWAS has been
applied in the Nigerian case over Boko Haram terrorism.
Assuming
Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republics are only suspected of
harbouring of Boko Haram Terrorists against Nigeria, but could the same
tale be extended to Iran?
It is
unfortunate that the UN has done nothing about the glaring case of
Iran’s sponsorship of terrorists and Islamic extremists sects in
Nigeria. Boko Haram’s now factional leader, Abubakar Shekau openly
confessed, in one of his videos, the sect’s Islamic State (ISIS) links
and funding. But regrettably, no reproach has ever been contemplated
for Iran till date by the UN Security Council (UNSC).
But an opportunity has rendered itself by Nigeria’s defeat of Boko Haram insurgents.
It
is expected that the UNSC and the regional bodies would have stepped up
efforts to consolidate on the gains recorded against terrorism by
ensuring, terrorists do not find safe havens anywhere among
member-states in accordance with the 2006 UN Global Counter-terrorism
Strategy, which these countries are joyfully and freely violating with
impunity.
Nigerians know in clear
terms that whatever trace of Boko Haram terrorism in the country these
days are devils, recruited, trained, armed with weapons and harboured to
perfect the strategies to attack Nigeria from the deliberately
compromised border communities of other countries.
It
is pertinent to ask, who sells arms and ammunition to Boko Haram
terrorists and how can the sophistry of the weapons be explained?
Samples of weapons seized from terrorists by Nigerian soldiers over time
bear the trademark of specific countries which are UN member-states.
Nigerians are really worried that
the UNSC is failing in its duty to assist nations to overcome
terrorism, as in the case of Nigeria, by its somewhat hesitation to
invoke the necessary disciplinary measures on erring countries to serve
as deterrence.
The impression being created is that someone somewhere has suppressed action on the law because Nigeria is involved?
But
there is need to remind the world like it is acknowledged globally that
Nigeria is the giant of Africa and a restive Nigeria would cause spiral
disruptions to peace and security on the continent, which will in turn
affect the much canvassed global peace and security.
No
one stands to make any gain from this conspiracy against Nigeria,
especially as it concerns terrorism. Besides, what happiness would the
world derive from the continued bloodletting and massacre of Nigerians
by terrorists? Absolutely none!
Nigerians
in diaspora should begin to pay more attention on the issue of
terrorism in their country. A peaceful protest to the UN House in New
York, and foreign embassies to demand for action and justice would not
be a bad idea.
It will reawaken the consciousness of the world to the predicament of Nigerians back home.
In conclusion, Fulgence offers a useful advice. He says; “The
regional integration organizations and the United Nations’ commitment
to counter terrorism have to move from their theoretical framework into
real action.”
And the time is now in order to save humanity from total destruction.
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