Being prepared for terrorism

Last week, our National Security Adviser (NSA), Owoye Azazi said that the reason why we seem so incapable in dealing with terrorism is because we had not been prepared for terrorism. This statement is odd considering the length of time Nigerians have been dealing with the terrorism of the Niger Delta, the kidnapping enterprise, Jos & Kaduna ethno-religious crisis, the Maitastine and now Boko Haram. It is especially strange considering we have an anti-terrorism bill passed months ago in response to the Nigerian underwear bomber and the frequency of bombs going off across parts of the country over the last year. In fact, in November 2010, a new brigade was created within the Army specifically to treat the rising insecurity…yet we are still not prepared?

When does a country become prepared for terrorism and can we ever be ready to deal with the type of terrorism we have?

The issues

The reasons for terrorism are clear and well known and range from lack of transparency and accountability in governance, extreme social and economic inequality, dearth of prospects, loss of hope, desperation, illiteracy to the inability to read and interpret religious scripts/texts for ourselves. This type of terrorism is of the ‘I-have-nothing-to-loose’ strain mainly found in resource rich corruption riddled underdeveloped nations such as Nigeria.

Solutions

In the last couple of months we have seen all sorts of changes to the way we live- the bomb detecting devices which look like golf clubs to check underneath our cars, the requirement that drivers come out of their cars to open their car trunks and lately since the escalation of violence in Jos and the UN bombing on 8/26, a shoot on sight order to our already more-than-sufficiently trigger happy security forces.

We are looking for solutions and clean surfaces to paste blame in all the wrong places. Even the nature of our buildings and public facilities, according to Azazi, are cause to blame for the success of terrorism in Nigeria...could the World Trade Center buildings ever have been prepared for the terrorism they faced on 9/11?

There will be no easy solutions to the problem and it is logical to be sympathetic to any government which has to deal with terrorism but there are some things which need to start changing today in order for us to start getting a firmer grip on the wave of terrorism which threatens to drown us.

Education and literacy

An educated population will be easier to sensitise and enlighten about managing terrorism and knowing what to look for and report- especially with border control and migrant issues. Literacy helps with communicating about what to do about strange or abandoned objects and helps raise the level of discourse about the value in supporting the security agencies in protecting lives and property. The woeful state of education and literacy in Nigeria can compete for tears with any of the greatest tragedies in the world.

Improved economic & social welfare

If the lives of the average Nigerian were better, we would be more interested in the viability of our nation and thus vested in the security of property and life. When the hardships of life give existence little meaning, then we will treat life with levity. It is no secret that we have no regard for human beings – hit and run drivers are standard with pedestrians often as much to blame for accidents as drivers, dead bodies lie unreported and with the slightest provocation the machetes and matches are out. Now the importance of a national identity system is glaringly vital, but billions in resources and trillions in time have been wasted over the years from short sighted self serving governments.

Security forces

Our security forces need better education, training and increased salaries and allowances. If policemen can be enticed for as little as N100, then the terrorists will take advantage of this like everyone does. Security agencies act like Nigerians are their number one enemy – they bark, snarl at and abuse us and the daily news is filled with atrocities carried out by the men (and women) in uniform. How much more difficult could they make their work of intelligence gather? Whenever there is a report that suspects in the custody of security agents have confessed to a crime…there is always the thought which cannot be kept away no matter how hard, that the confession was extorted somehow. Today, intelligence gathering must be a lot harder than it should be considering that no sane Nigerian will willingly call the Police or venture into the police station to report a crime or suspicion because the reporter will inevitably become the prime suspect. This has to change and it needs to change immediately because as long as we distrust the security forces, managing terrorism will be that much harder.

Strengthening democracy with credible leadership

Unless we get credible leaders whose primary interest is the sustained development of Nigeriathen we will continue to be at the mercy of our biggest ills: corruption, unaccountability and oppression. If our election processes continue to be undemocratic with the support and collaboration of the last refuge of the wronged, the judiciary, then we will not be able to deal with terrorism. It is ironic and indicative of how unyielding we are in our devotion to doing things the crooked way that ex president Obasanjo would be part of a national meeting on terrorism just as Wikileaks disclosures have him fingered by former Chief Justice Uwais for meddling in the judgement of the 2003 election tribunal.

The fact that those in power never want to leave and do not want to work means that our elections will always be manipulated. If people cannot get rid of unproductive elected officials at least once every four years, then what other means are available for them to take control of their destinies? Any government which wants to deal with terrorism has to put in place the right structures to protect democracy and democracy support institutions like the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In conclusion, so much of what the security agencies need from Nigerians to manage terrorism is lacking. The Nigerian security agencies can continue to meet, proliferate and expand budgets, we can get bomb sniffing dogs and use road blocks to make a 20 minute journey 20 hours and import all sorts of special gadgets but we will continue to be tragically unprepared. Until the social issues are dealt with, the type of terrorism which we have become exposed too – the type most difficult to fight, where the people bringing death and destruction are prepared to die as well, we will continue to struggle to contain terrorism in Nigeria.

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The stagnation of the Nigerian Character A somewhat response to The Metamorphosis of Boko Haram

If we really want to understand where we are as a country today, we only need to look dispassionately at the state of our written and living laws and our discourteous attitude towards law and order. This abusive relationship we have with law has recently and publicly shoved into our faces by the actions of the Nigerian Judicial Council and all who have been involved in the sordid affair. And whether we like it or not – just as the Americans had to self reflect in the aftermath of 9/11, we too have to look inwards about the reasons for our disregard for law and order and why Nigeria, the mighty dwarf of Africa, is now leading the continent in terrorism.

Right after the bombing of the United Nations Building in Abuja on 8/26, Simon Kolawole wrote a thoughtful essay on the Metamorphosis of Boko Haram. The first thought the article provoked was of a sense of comedy – the juxtaposition of Boko Haram’s evolutionary journey against the sad stagnation of the Nigerian character and our manner of dealing with issues. The blithe tone of the article about the underlying social and economic reasons behind terrorism – whether of the Boko Haram tenet/philosophy or the Niger Delta extraction sparked a disquiet about our usual focus on the symptoms and not the cause.

In 1926, in The Dual Mandates, Lord Lugard described the type of African he had observed in the West Africa – it was not flattering. Amongst other things he says the this race-type is “full of personal vanity with little sense of veracity, excitable, lacking in self-control, discipline and foresight, his thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past”. He could be describing us today – from the degree laden professional in a pin stripe suit and a bow tie to the greased stained Ankara clad fried yam seller at the side of the road- we all carry these traits and have refused to develop our minds and our societies beyond the shallow materialism and vanity Lord Lugard noted. For those who balk at the harsh description by a foreigner and a colonialist to boot, maybe the descriptions of Anthony Enahoro in the 1966 satire “How to be a Nigerian’ will resonate better. A read through this thoroughly enjoyable and well-written book will have you crying tears of laughter and alarm about traits we like to think are ‘new’. Apparently, there is nothing new about who we are and how we behave right down to the moronic love of titles (vanity again) which has everyone appending ‘Barrister’ and ‘Engineer’ before their names.

What has this got to do with terrorism and law and order? Everything.

When a society is as unjust and unequal as ours is (Nigeria has one of the highest Gini indices in the world – a measure for inequality in society) where nothing, not even justice is without an ever escalating price tag, then terrorism is not out of place. Where people have two sets of rules, one for the rich and/or powerful and one for the poor and/or weak, then terrorism should eventually be expected.

Borno – the home of peace and the home of Boko haram is the 2^nd largest state in Nigeria in terms of land size and the 12^th in terms of population. It is also allegedly one of the easiest places to do business in Nigeria. However, Borno is in the North East, the region acknowledged by human development experts and maybe even the Federal Government as the poorest and least developed in Nigeria. This is where the rating of access to health, education, skills development, infrastructure, employment, gender development are amongst the lowest in the country and where despite billions, we are still far from achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Since it was formed in 1976, trillions of Naira have been poured into Borno and its indigenes have taken part in steering the direction of the Federal Government in line with federal character. Since then it, it has and Yobe carved out if it – which is technically supposed to mean that development would happen faster but no…Yobe and Borno are still some of the most backward places in Nigeria, with more alarming social data than much poorer countries. So what, do the people of Borno have to show for years of government and is this question not what is really at the crux of Boko Haram’s grouse?

What have years of ‘leadership’ styled on our version of democracy earned the people of Borno? Is there no iota of truth in people saying ‘if this has not worked, maybe we should try something else’? Is rigging elections over and over again and designing a quota system for leadership so that Nigerians never get good and sincere people in leadership not a recipe for disaster? Is it right that in states so impoverished by their government’s lack of financial responsibility, grand and lavish weeklong weddings/parties/celebrations can take place and even make the news? And is it really unreasonable to think that if a debtor does not open the door to the sound of knocking, then his creditor might be justified in breaking the door down?

Our disrespect for law and order – where everyone is above the law and no one can be called to account for their actions stems from our character – the traits that make us unable to visualize the future with any sense of wonder or fear – where like mindless locusts we eat up 50 years worth of harvest in advance and wonder why we suffer.

As much as we might regret President Jonathan’s choice of words when he tried to comfort us on the bombing of the UN office he is right: Nigeria is not unique. All around the world, it is natural that if people live with social and economic injustice and cannot change their circumstances peacefully, they will resort to violence. There will always be external forces which will play a role in our internal affairs - the Al-Qaeda, Libya, Somali, Sudan, CIA, Kissinger connections with our home grown terrorists and governments is scary and should be considered carefully by our security agents and all who really care about Nigeria. But we must ask ourselves too, what it is about us that makes Nigeria such a warm and fertile place to recruit and train terrorists and practice terrorism. Until we identify those issues and start changing the system so that life is fair, the situation with terrorism and all the evils that come with it is not going to get better.

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Laws of success (in Nigerian Government)

It’s been seventy nine days since May 29 – it does not seem like much is happening but much has happened. We have somewhat new federal and state cabinets and loads of new special advisers, special assistants and technical advisers to the president, vice president, ministers, state governors, commissioners etc. Without a doubt, government is the biggest employer in Nigeria and it means everything to get into government and stay there.

Over the years, the most inattentive observer would have noticed some things about the way people in government behave; the special traits they exhibit and the strange, unexplainable things connected to government work. There is an explanation: as diverse and disparate as we are in Nigeria, some behaviours, actions and utterances have become sacrosanct for a successful career in government - whether in appointive or elective position. As the officers of the new administration settle in here are some of the laws of success – norms so distilled and perfected from decades of practice that they have become laws – to guide the new officers on their way.

Law One – praise God for what He has done for you (not Nigeria) with a string of celebratory parties. This is really important and no matter how hard a government official tries to avoid this particular law of arriving - there is just no way out. Friends and family will host a few on your behalf and the sheer number of people who will come to your house or office to congratulate you for this new position will make it look like there is a week long party at your house – so you might as well give in and let the champagne flow.

The partying and celebrating is not to be looked upon as anything improper; indeed it sets the tone for the type of inclusive and expansive office which you will operate once you start work. It provides people with the opportunity to come close to you at least once or twice before the doors of access are firmly shut and tell you what they expect from your leadership.

Depending on how lucrative, scratch that, strategic your new position is, there will also be full-page ads congratulating you. Do not be distracted by the fact that you do not remember the names claiming to be your classmates from the set of 1970 or recognise the names of the mothers of your village who each carried you on their backs at one time or the other. Be gracious. Take out a couple of full-page ads yourself, listing each and every person who congratulated you in person, by email, SMS or Facebook and make sure you use a picture of yourself with a finger pressed into your cheek and your eyes looking into the sky for guidance – this will help those who have no clue who you are and what you look like.

Law Two – Hire as many people as you can from your clan/village or ethnic group. Your life depends on this one because there is no way you can trust anyone who does not speak the same language as you do, or who understands your culture or even likes the same foods as you do. And if they do speak the same language, sometimes that is not enough; they must be from your local government area, especially if your predecessor was from a different local government. All sorts of policy issues will become impossible to execute the minute you let other ethnic groups or outsiders into your inner circle.

It is unfortunate that the civil service rules does not allow political appointees such as ministers or commissioners to fire at will. But there are ways around that. You can transfer ‘outsiders’ to other ministries and agencies where their kind are in charge or to quiet places where they can tap their fingers on bare tables in obscurity until a change in government.

Law Three – renovate the office or start looking for alternative office space if you can. The reason why this is critical is because without moving or renovating i.e., lifting wall units and breaking down adjoining walls you will not be able to find all the hidden talismans which have been arranged for you by your predecessor or those who are resentful about the fact that yet again, there is another ‘know-nothing-about –the-way-things-work-here’ whose hand they have to hold.

Law Four – pepper the walls of your domain with pictures of the President of Nigeria and the appropriate Minister. And if you are the Minister, make sure your public relations officer gets a befitting picture of you taken for this purpose. Has anyone landed at Heathrow or JFK airports and seen a picture of David Cameron smiling into their face as they leave the steaming arrival hall two hours after they landed or the Secretary of State for Transport smirking at them over a rickety baggage conveyor belt? No? Then it is because these countries have not yet tapped into the secret industry that is official portrait manufacturing, mounting and maintenance.

Law Five – thou shall not act like you know anything. Nothing will guarantee that you will be kicked out of government faster than you can say ‘I.T.K’ than exhibiting that you know something about the sector you are supposed to be in charge of. Ask basic questions; defer to whomever you report to; and if possible, sleep at meetings and your job will be safe. A legendary career civil servant in one of the agencies charged with getting rid of government property would come in first thing in the morning, drop his jacket and briefcase in his office and go to the library where he would sleep until about noon. Then he would stroll around the offices of his seniors to remind them how loyal he was, go for lunch, then back to the library for a nap and then it was quitting time. Perfect – he threatened no one and retired only when even his adjusted birth certificate indicated that he was 5 years past retirement. Fly under the radar – let this be your motto.

Law Six – be fawning and obsequious. There are many ways you can achieve this and you have a variety of options to choose from. You may be the type who likes to cook – take food to your boss’s house everyday. Be the first to sign up for aso ebi whenever any of his children are getting married and if possible, you should be in charge of forcing the over priced aso ebi down the throats of all employees. There are also opportunities when your boss is away to prove your loyalty: meet her at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja when British Airways lands at 4.30am. And if you are still not sure if you are brown-nosing enough - find Charles Dicken’s Uriah Heep in David Copperfield, he’ll teach you a few more tricks.

And last but not the least, Law Seven – make sure you are always happy and smiling whenever your picture is taken. For instance, Ministers always look extremely happy and content at the end of their weekly federal executive council meetings. We are never sure if the merriment is because (a) they are happy they were not fired during the meeting or (b) there is nothing about Nigeria and the work they are faced with that is daunting or sobering or (c) they just cannot believe their luck at finally making it to Nirvana. Whatever the case is, make sure you have a happy grin plastered all over your face.

We the public will only know how well you did in adhering to these laws when the next round of elections or appointments are done. Until then- best of luck and we cannot wait to be you.

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