Bokoharam will not negotiate: PMB Should Prepare to Fight.

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President Muhamadu Buhari of Nigeria

There were three major bomb blasts in Nigeria (Jos, Kano and Zaria)  in the last forty eight hours with fatalities going to about one hundred people. I still insist that the president administration under PMB needs to do more to study Bokoharam to know his government cannot just persuade BH members to abandon their so call bloody jihadist struggle. These people are hardliners, motivated by ideology in pursuit of political power under the cover of religion.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan would have deter BH to some extent but it took him for long before he realized the fact that BH are enemy of Nigeria but not his own personal political adversaries as insinuated during the October 1, 2010 bombing in Abuja.

We have to learn from mistakes of the past and understand the fact that BH will never negotiate, dialogue or back down. Hence, President Buhari must be ready to fight and defeat the organization just like Al-Quada was defeated by the American. In fact, his government should prepare to capture or kill Shekau and his commanders.

Of course, it will take another 20-years of relentless struggle to eventually curtail terrorist organization in Nigeria. Some of the reasons are: lack of human capability; Nigerian security agencies of today are more of political organizations; the recruitment and promotion of personnel are political. (It has always been based on who you know, federal characters at the expense of competency); the political leadership are playing politics and lack deep knowledge on how to combat terror; lack of education, inconsistency in policy and lack of transparency.

Meanwhile, I know some scam must have been going underground, thinking they could talk to Bokoharam elements to see why they should support Hausa/Fulani led President. One of the present APC Senators, Mallam Shehu Sani once advocated total amnesty for BH members as an option.  

They must have seen the answer with almost one thousand people killed within 39-days into this present APC led administration. Here we continue the circle of another President who is fast becoming another “MOURNER IN CHIEF.”

While I still strongly believe in PMB capability to provide needed leadership for Nigeria at this point in time, however, the last few weeks has been uninspiring.

I was expecting PMB to have immediately release his National Security Strategy on how to combat Bokoharam and tackle insecurity in Nigeria in the first week of his leadership. Defending our Nation against its enemies is the first and fundamental commitment of the Federal Government

Moreover, most people expect our C-in-C to have done his evaluation studies before May 29, 2015 swearing –in in order to move into action with the appointment of his NSA and National security team. We would have love to see the current government, sustaining the ongoing military intervention in the North East while the probe goes underneath.

Let us take example from the United States of America. President Barack Obama inherited a lot mess from his predecessor, including debt of unimaginable proportion. America was fighting war in Afghanistan, Iraq and also faced economic war back home as 2008.

However, President Obama did not spend his precious time talking about the mess he met on the ground; he was not talking too much about probe; rather, he focused on his agenda as enshrined in his campaign slogan “CHANGE.”

Today, the United States of America is standing tall in the world as largest economy, retaining her political and military power. If Obama can do it, Buhari must be able to do it.

Of course, we want the PMB and his handlers to know that the War on Terror remains a generational struggle, and our entire Nation must be engaged and prepared to participate in this effort.

We know from history that deterrence can fail; and we know from experience that some enemies cannot be deterred.

Therefore, we must know that Intelligence, and how we use it, is our first line of defense against terrorists and the threat posed by hostile element like BH.

How come nobody knows that BH will attack Jos, Kano and Zaria simultaneously like they just did? Do we even have any clue of what they will do and where they will attack next?

Therefore, we must, as a matter of urgency transform our intelligence capabilities and build new ones to keep pace with the nature of these threats.

The first thing the PMB administration must do is to insulate our intelligence personnel and security agencies from politics. There must be ethics in how they carry out their duties.

Hence, Intelligence must be appropriately integrated with our defense and law enforcement systems

We must strengthen intelligence warning and analysis to provide integrated threat assessments for national security.

Furthermore, Terrorism should be our policy priority. It is important to quickly enhance our counterterrorism policy with the use of personnel and resources to preempt, disrupt, or destroy the capabilities of terrorists and their support networks.

Terrorists will always strike, it is not a surprise but how our leaders react is of major concern to everybody and the international community.

My sympathy goes to those Nigerians who have lost their love one to the heinous terrorist attacks going on daily under the nose of our leaders without prepared responses.

Oludare Ogunlana is a Counterterrorism Analyst and write from Baltimore