Nigeria in a Fog of War

By YS Ehoda-Adi

The ongoing conflicts in Nigeria, including insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and armed herdsmen killing people and sacking communities, have created a disconcerting melancholy in the citizens.

1. The government appears to be in no hurry for a decisive action in restoring peace and stability, reminiscent of Clausewitz’s concept of “the fog of war”. But we await the unfolding actions emanating from the President’s declaration of national emergency and ministerial changes in the ministry of defence.
2. Chaos and unpredictability characterize these multiple attacks in several states, with the government seemingly having incomplete or inaccurate information. The ongoing national debates centre on the adequacy or suitability of government preparedness.
3. This situation is the height of confusion and paralysis in the country, with everything constantly changing and moving to darkly unpredictable scenarios. As such the morphing nature of the Nigerian situation is difficult to track and understand.
4. When there’s a relaxation of hostilities, and a semblance of peace settles, more daring and sinister attacks take everyone by surprise.
5. The multiple fronts in which these conflicts play out and the sheer diversity of the challenges present overwhelming chaos and unpredictability in the lives of citizens.
6. If the government has been involved in decisions and actions that come off limited engagements, outcomes will be uncertain.
7. This appears to be the tentative framework of government actions, with uncertainties and complexities surrounding the ongoing massacres.
8. The government must have been forced to pawn off sustained actions for ad hoc measures, until the recent declaration of the state of emergency by Mr. President. But we await concrete actions with clear timelines.
9. A lot of people have died in all the theatres of these severely traumatizing national experiences.
10. In the context of the armed herder aggression on farming communities, the “neutrality” of the military only served to embolden the herdsmen. They are fully armed, while the farmers have no arms, beyond their dane guns and machetes, which are totally inferior to the military-grade weapons carried by the herdsmen.
11. Family, clan, and other community support systems have been violently broken. In the absence of money, food, accommodation, and medical care, a good number of them became badly circumstanced and died, in addition to those who died in the mass killings by the herdsmen.
12. The infernal ideology of the herdsmen is that war is peace, and death is life. So, there’s no meeting point between them and the farmers, and mutual coexistence is rendered impossible by such unnatural ideology.
13. The available lands for the farmers have dwindled in size because of growing population and consequent competing demands on same. Open grazing of cattle must end immediately, and there must also be the immediate disarmament of the herdsmen.
14. Any government action that falls short of outright banning of open grazing and disarmament of the herdsmen makes the government complicit in the murderous impunity of the herdsmen.
15. The gloom and doom amongst farming communities that have been attacked and those not attacked must come to an end by halting the excesses of the herdsmen.
16. Rights and freedoms inherent in the social contract or the natural rights of citizens enjoin the government to use its facility of monopoly of violence to restrain and contain the impunity of the herdsmen.
17. Boko Haram, ISWAP, Lakurawa, Fulani militia, bandits, and kidnappers must be decimated appreciably within this period of national emergency. The remnants will have no alternative to total surrender.
18. The aberrant theology of the Boko Haram, for instance, has been tolerated for too long. It’s anti-God and opposed to the true worship of God. An ill-defined, indiscriminate war where an entire society must be destroyed is a meaningless war.
19. But that’s the nature of evil; it starts in an almost formless, insignificant way, then it metastasizes, becomes uncontrollable. The present hydra-headed nature of the ongoing violence in the country attests to the abyssal compounding forces of evil. At which point, everyone becomes a victim.
20. The situation demands urgent attention and collective action to restore peace and stability in Nigeria. The government must take bold action to address the security crisis and protect all peace-loving citizens. The time for ad hoc measures is over; the time for decisive action is now. We must stand together to defeat the forces of evil and build a more secure and prosperous Nigeria.

In conclusion, the government must take immediate and decisive action to address the security crisis, protect all peace-loving citizens, and restore peace and stability to the country. The situation demands collective action, and we must stand together to defeat the forces of evil and build a more secure and prosperous Nigeria.