Violence means op
pressing the less-privileged, under the authority of a ruler.  The act may be based on gender, race, skin colour, tribe,  state of origin, or social class in a given society. Here dictatorship can be seen in law, custom, tradition or gender inequality. That is why several people have been jailed, beheaded, burnt or persecuted.
The Bible gives us the example of a woman caught in the very act of adultery. “The law of Moses stipulated; “this woman  could be stoned to death.” When the very woman was brought to Jesus, he declared: “If any of you has never  sinned let him cast first the stone.” The gospel  narrated  that they left the place one by one from the elderly to the youngest. At a certain point, Jesus was alone with the woman. He declared  to the woman; “Go and sin no more.” This is the very way we should resolve conflict among   ourselves, since violence calls for another violence, and cannot give a lasting solution.
In Africa, when the colonial masters came in, they said: “We Africans cannot lead ourselves, since we are less intelligent and divided. For these reasons most of the African countries  were  colonized more than a hundred years. That was a negative  perception of  the Europeans toward the Africans. So  far at the end of this long period of colonisation, violence came up among themselves. And  we had first  World War, Second World War, the African soldiers performed so well  during these  wars. The greatest  figure in French, General  De Gaulle at the Conference of Brazzaville  promised the gift of Independence  to African countries. That is why in the nineteen sixties, most of the African countries  became independent. That  was the end of   dictatorship over African countries to be able to lead themselves. The outcome of this violence by Europeans gave  way to another kind of dictatorship by some African leaders.
Mobutu declared when  heading Republic Democratic of Congo. “In my life time, I will never be called a former Head of State.” He knew  how to rule by violence and intrigues to remain on the seat as Head of State. He ended up shamefully, and even died in exile. The second  one, Bokassa, the President of Central African Republic, who declared himself  emperor by violence and intrigues, was forced into exile in France   where the wife was from. We  all know how  he ended up miserably. The third President in dictatorship  was  Idi Amin Dada of Uganda who became  very violent  with the Europeans in his country.  Ugandans  had to force him into  exile. The fourth was  Colonel Ghadafi of Libya who called  those  elected him President  ‘rats.’ He was  killed as a rat in an underground.
The American constitution gave  access to the White House to the blacks only. In the American  Society, black  people  were discriminated  against because of skin color. It was Pastor Martin Luther (Junior)   who raised  his voice  against  it for the black people to be considered as those of other colors  were. John  Kennedy, a former  President  of United  States of American, was  assassinated as a common  citizen. But today, it is Barrack Obama,  a black, who rules that great country  with Americans and Europeans under him. This is an indication that violence does not pay.
Similarly, in the past, women were not considered for public office. But  Margaret  Tatcher of United Kingdom showed that a woman  could do it. Angela  Marchel  in Germany  showed  the same quality; Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia is performing well  as President  of the country. In our beloved country, Nigeria, under President  Goodluck Jonathan’s  administration a woman has shown good  capacity of leadership. She is Ngozi Okonji-Iweala. This  woman does well for  Nigeria in financial management.
Boko Haram  as a terrorist group aims at spreading  fear. They advocate that Western education is evil. Not only that, they are determined to enthrone Islam and make it a state religion. They are determined to wipe away Christians  that is why  they say Goodluck    is the last President of  the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As we can notice, Boko Haram uses position that can throw the country backward and divid it. Boko Haram  wants to exploit  resentment to divide  the country since we are united.
Boko Haram aims to divide the country and spread fear among Nigerians. They will not succeed. Their activities show that they are not focused. They lack direction. It is very difficult to determine what they want. They lack our ideology and so cannot command followship.
There are many  cases where leaders were killed  in  their bid to  rule with violence. For instance, Ghadafi did it and failed. Mobutu did it in Democratic  Republic  of Congo and failed. General Kolingba  did it in Central Africa  and failed.  And in Rwanda with  genocide they wanted  to remain in power  they failed. Now  Boko Haram is doing  same in Nigeria. It will fail  and Nigeria will remain strong.

Simplice is of the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt.

Kati Simplice