This is, no doubt, a trying period for Nigeria, not just for president Goodluck Jonathan’s government alone. Since 2010 when the Islamic sect known as  Boko Haram invented its own world of perpetual fear, human life has become a worthless penny in the hands of blood-thirsty desperadoes who claim to be fighting western education and championing the cause of Islam.

Since the defeat of Biafran insurgency in the early 1970s, I doubt if any of our national challenges bears as much red flames of wickedness and threats to national unity as the on-going insurrection against government and humanity in the northern parts of the country.

As the clock ticks, Nigeria’s unity appears headed towards dangerous terra firma. The pessimistic prediction that Nigeria may cease to exist by the year 2015 stares us in the face. While it is easy to dismiss the prediction as too unprincely and perditious, it will be suicidal to ignore the signs of an impending holocaust.

It all appears that the events that led us into three years of bloody civil war between 1967 and 1970 are still lurking around the corner. The incurable optimists among us may argue that the pogrom of the 1960s is dead and buried with its mastermind and architect. I hope so. But the unfolding absurd theatricalities in the northern parts of the country are clear indications that the wounds of the past are not yet healed.

I say so because the albatross plays itself out anytime, and at the slightest provocation. Or are these mangled flesh of human bones, smashed skulls, caked blood, wanton destruction of properties including sacred places of worship and the zig-zag footprints of escapees fleeing the fury of blood-thirsty Boko  Haramists in the North mere chimerical imagining? What about the calls for reprisal attacks by some angry  ethno-religious leaders?

It has severally been argued that Nigeria’s political amalgamation in 1914 by Frederick Lord Lugard is our Archiles’ heel. Maybe. But if truly the fusion of the country’s numerous ethnic tribes is a salad of contraries, what about the Guals, the Prussians of East Germany, the Dutch and the English forcibly yoked together under the rubric of a nation?

The truth is that we are shying away from examining the basis of our togetherness, as a people. Each time we are confronted with national problems, we always reach for a hackneyed rationalisation of our collective foibles and incompetence. We quibble from the exigencies to matters miscellaneous. We pop up sentiments and pander to the sickening ethnic and religious pantomime.

While reacting to the senseless killing of people, mostly southerners and Christians, in the north, some southern and Christian leaders called for a reprisal (or is it defensive?) attack by Christians. The president of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo Oritshejafor was at the head of the call, fuming and sabre-rattling with inciting statement shortly after the Madalla massacre. Thanks to some Christian leaders who quickly dismissed his call for defensive attacks as a mere expression of his personal anger.

There is no doubt that the Boko Haram’s  insurgency in the last one year is enough temptation to provoke anger and make one clothe the uprising in the north with secretarian garb. Understandably too that there would always be a rancorous decibel and public backlash against any move that threatens national security and integration or attempts to scupper our hard-earned democracy (sorry civil rule), it however, becomes dangerous and self-serving when public flak and ferocious reactions against such criminal activities as Boko Haram’s tend to be defensive of ethnic or religious interest.

We do not need to scratch our heads too far to realise that the uprising in the north is not a religious or ethnic war, nor does it require extra-terrestrial intelligence to know that the loose-limped reasons offered by Boko Haram gang for its criminal acts are just as brittle as bits of straw.

By all indications, Boko Haram is a mere criminal gang that exploits the country’s ethnic divide and religious suspicion to perpetrate its civil activities.

I would rather pander to the arguments of many people, especially that of former American President, Bill Clinton, that the Boko Haram menace was a product of poor leadership in the country, especially in the north which has created a tribe of Almajiris who, for lack of means of livelihood, have become pawns in the hands of political marauders.

Ordinarily, the line of argument would seem persuasive to those who believe that the reasons behind those heinous acts could be traced to religious bigotry. But a few instances, which though are still under investigation across the country, have debunked this impression and belief.

The bombing of the headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Jos two weeks ago has been reportedly traced to an in-fighting within the church. Similar occurrences took place last year. A Christian woman, who pretended to be a Muslim, allegedly went to her own parish church in Bauchi and tried to set it ablaze, just the same way a Christian who claimed to be a Muslim was arrested while trying to bomb a church in Plateau State. There was a similar report in Zamfara State where 19 Muslims were killed by some people suspected to be Christians. But after investigation, it was discovered that those merchants of death were actually non-Christians, but Muslims.

These few examples go to buttress the point that the Boko Haram  menace has crossed religious borders. So,  in our quest towards national unity, we should avoid quibbling from the exigencies to matters miscellaneous We need to understand the Hollywood style the Boko Haram  sect has adopted to give its criminal acts a veil of religious bigotry.

It is interesting to know that a handful of Boko Haram kingpin in police net are giving useful hints and information. Government must, however, ensure that the reports of the investigation are not swept under the carpet. Nigerians deserve to know the sponsors and the real motives behind those heinous attacks on humanity. It is only this way the government can earn the trust of the people.

Again, our political and ethno-religious leaders must avoid playing politics with the issues of our collective survival. Rather than resorting to knee-jerk reactions and divisive, wild utterances, they should face the challenges of the time by offering a leadership that focuses on common good. The earlier we collectively fight the enemies within our folds who are determined to destroy our country, the better.

Boye Salau