Still On Boko Haram

It is indeed heart-break
ing to see innocent, harmless young girls, young  boys, men, women  being murdered every now and  then in this country. Since 2009, Boko Haram Islamic  group has seized dozens of villages and towns,  attacked  churches, mosques,  institutions, leaving thousand of people dead and destroying properties.
Of all these attacks, the most pathetic is that on schools where lifes of innocent  children in pursuit  of knowledge are wasted. Just last Monday, there was  a suicide  bomb attack on Government Science  Secondary School, Potiskum, Yobe State. The  incident was typically daring and ruthless. As the  students gathered for Monday morning assembly among them stood a suicide bomber  dressed  in their  very school uniform, explosives  hidden in his back  pack. The blast tore through  the high school assembly hall, killing not less than 47 people  and injuring  over 90 others.
In the same Yobe State, on February 25, 2014, fifty nine boys were massacred during their sleep at Federal Government  College Buni Yadi by Boko Haram.
The abduction of over 200 school girls at government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State Seven months ago still remains a ridicule  yet  to be  solved. Despite  all the local and  international attention this particularly incident attracted the girls are yet to be brought back.
Records have it that in 2012 fourteen schools were burnt  down in Maiduguri, Borno State, forcing over 7,000 children out of formal education, and pushed down enrolment rate.
The story is  not different in Adamawa State in the  same  North East region, as many school children have been killed and  many others have withdrawn from school due to Boko Haram  activities.
Truly, this development should give any well meaning Nigerian  a cause for concerns especially against the background  of a recent  report that there are more children out of school in Nigeria than in any other country in the world. According to the 11th Education  for All Global Monitoring Report, Nigeria is now one of the  only fifteen  countries projected to have fewer tahn 80 per cent of its primary school  aged children enrolled in 2015.
It is also on record that while a handful  of these  out of school children can be found in the south, a larger  percentage comes from the north. It therefore becomes worrisome  how northern elites,  northern elders, states and  local governments, will watch such an il educated region  depreciate the more.
One  thinks that if  there is any reason why the northern  elites, elders leaders  and  government should rise up against  Boko Haram this is it. They  cannot afford to watch their children drop out of school while children in other parts of the country are progressing educationally.
Having spent my youth service year in a secondary school in the North East, I know the wide gap between the North and the South educationally which efforts must be made by all stake holders to narrow  instead of allowing Boko Haram  to widen it.
However, we must  not  see this  battle as that of the north alone. It concerns   every Nigerian. Whatever  must be done to stop the killing of innocent school children must be done now. Senator Alkaji Jafere, representing Yobe South  Senatorial  District in the  Senate while  reacting to last  Monday’s suicide  bombing on Government Science  Secondary school Potiskum appealed for a change  in strategy by security operatives  to contain insurgency in  the state and  other  parts  of the north east.
Perhaps that appeal should be considered since its obvious that the strategies so far employed have not yielded  much result. It is been over a year that a state of emergency was  declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa  states,  yet the audacious attacks  of the terrorist group continues unabated. With the numerous  attack on schools in the past, one would have expected that security would be have been beefed  up in schools in this region prone to Boko Haram attack but the latest happening showed that was far from being the case.
The number one responsibility of any government is to protect  lives and properties  of the citizens. Any government which fails to carry out this basic responsibility cannot be said to have fared well. It is  so sad  that five years into the insurgency by Boko Haram,  little head  way has been  made  in halting the attacks that have killed thousands and displaced  hundreds of thousands more in the north.
There was a brief glimmer of hope last month, when the military announced it had reached a cease-fire following  talks with Boko Haram. Hardly after 24hrs, the so called cease fire crumbled and the attacks continued.
Honestly, urgent  action must be taken now  to  put an end to activities  of Boko. Haram and restore people confidence in the government. The different  political  parties  should shed the different  toga of party affiliations and come together to solve this national problem so that our children  can carry on their educational  pursuit unhindered and  without fear. Let’s not forget that it is these children’s right to go to school.  Let us also note that if no solution is found to the  educational problems caused by  Boko Haram insurgency, this country will continue to be at risk. Illiteracy is like a disease and until this disease is cured  and our government becomes effective, Boko Haram crisis will be a child’s play compared to what will happen in future.

Calista Ezeaku