CURBING THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY

According to Malala Yousafzai words “with guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.” This connotes that an irresistible force may only defeat people behind terrorism while education is the most effective counterterrorism policies. Al-mourabatiun terror group in Senegal, Ansar dine in Mali and Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya in Egypt were once technically suppressed in the 1990s but later roused and currently at the vanguard of terrorizing their nations. In fact, the Boko Haram sect ideology can be traced to the Maitatsine group crushed in the 1980s and Al-Shabaab sect established in late 1995 by Mallam Abubakar Lawan in Maiduguri but subsequently crushed by the Nigerian Army. Since antiquity every terrorist group has been guided by an irrational and unsound ideology. In a bid to successfully quench any terrorist group with firearms, its ideology must be well mastered followed by formidable, relentless and coordinated campaigns against it on mass media and public debate. Moreover, public institutions curricula at all levels must entail and encompass broad and accurate ideological teachings and researchers while private institutions curricula must be guided with established principles to avoid teachings that might endanger the society. This method has prevented terrorism from reigning in some European and Arabian nations.

The increase in unemployment rate over the years in Nigeria has been contributing to the prevalent proliferation of criminality and terrorism. A popular saying posited that “the devil finds work for idle hands to do.” The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report 2017 presented the total numbers of unemployed and underemployed Nigerians as 40%. It is pertinent that this vacuum is filled by creating job opportunities and empowering the masses to drastically reduce or prevent the able-bodied men and women from surviving on criminal acts or being drawn into terrorism for livelihood.

Terroristic approaches are mostly adopted by the affluent individuals or groups who are willing to accomplish certain political interest. In a bid to aggressively pose threats and adequately mitigate the strategies and capacity of these forces, the Nigerian security intelligence must maintain an effective cooperation with its international allies in combating terrorism. Also, the country must embark on technological advancements and projects such as the installation of CCTV and other detective machines in strategic public places with proper monitoring.

In conclusion, the consolidated effort of Nigerian governments at all levels to exterminate terrorism would amount to vanity without the citizens’ unalloyed support. Therefore, to build a final nail in the coffin of terrorism, Nigerians must be vigilant, compliant and supportive of the government anti-terrorism policies.