Military Special Forces domiciled in Doma, Nasarawa State, on Monday, handed over 778 spouses and children of suspected members of a recently dislodged dreaded terrorist group, Darul Salam, which had a stronghold at Uttu, Toto Local Government Area to governors of their respective states of origin.
The event which held at the 4 Special Forces Command, headquarters in Doma, Doma Local Government Area of the state, has eased tension and fear of the unknown among residents of Abuja, the nation’s capital, and neighboring states in the North Central geopolitical zone.
Commander of the 4 Special Forces Command, Maj. Gen. Moundhey Ali, said the operation to dismantle the terrorists’ Camp was jointly carried out by his men and various military units, which included personnel of Operation Whirl Stroke, Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) Lugard, the Nigerian Air Force and Command Army Records, Guards Brigade, Nigeria Police Force as well as the Department of State Services.
He disclosed that terrorists had for a long time, camped at Ugya and Panda forests in Uttu, Zagana, Makpa, Agbuchi and Barada in Koto Karfe Local Government Area of Kogi State, from where they had unleashed mayhem on motorists along the Okene-Lokoja road, Lokoja- Abaji as well as Toto- Umasha roads.
While noting that Nigeria was not at war, General Ali urged the dislodged suspected terrorists to come out of hiding, surrender their arms and embrace peace.
Of the 778 spouses and children fished out from camps of members of the suspected Darul Salam Sect in Narasawa State, 86 women and 232 children hails from Niger State, while 20 women and 64 children were from Kano State. The total figure of women and children handed over to their respective state governments, cuts across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Scudnews had on June 15, published an expose on the dreaded Darul Salam sect and the danger its presence in Nasarawa State posed to the nation’s seat of power. The story was published alongside an exclusive interview with a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of operations, Mike Zuokumor, who warned on the danger of the sect’s presence to the presidency and called for prompt action to neutralize the threat.
The Scudnews exclusive report on the sect and Zuokumor’s interview is republished below:
DAMNING EXPOSE!
Ex-Police Chief Opens Up
…I Would Have Ended Boko Haram in 2012 If I’d Become IGP
*Warns of Danger, As Affiliate Sect Consolidates Base in Nasarawa
By ADAMU BEZHE
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power is presently facing danger of insurgents attack. And it’s real. The increasing presence of members of an Islamic sect known as Darul-Islam on the hills of Amuchi, a village close to Uge in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, has become a serious concern in security circles.
Sources in the nation’s intelligence community hinted Scudnews that members of the sect started establishing camps at the hilly forest in Toto, less than 300 kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over the years, and had grown to over 4000 in camps which had yet to be accurately identified by security forces. Suspicion on the motive for establishing the camps at the neighbouring Nasarawa State has further heightened fears.
No fewer than eight soldiers are said to have lost their lives in recent offensives launched by the military on the camps of Darul-Islam in Toto, a sect believed to be an affiliate of the dreaded Boko Haram. Three battalions of the Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army- the 102, 177 and 176 battalions, are presently on the offensive to dislodge the sect, but reports indicated that the camps had been impenetrable. At the last count, the 176 battalion lost a Master Warrant Officer and Lance Corporal during an operation in April.
It was learnt that members of the sect had periodically launched blistering attacks on location of troops at Uge, Nasarawa State, leading to an attendant low morale due to non-deployment of air power amidst lack of requisite weapons to counter the firepower of the extremists.
 In this exclusive interview with Scudnews, Mike Zuokumor, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) who was in charge of operations at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, speaks on the Darul- Islam sect and warns on the dangers of their presence in Toto, Nasarawa State.
“You don’t need anybody to tell you once there is a danger to the presidency, everything must be done to neutralize that threat but the threat has to be properly identified and evaluated. If you don’t put off a small fire, it will grow to become a conflagration. If the security challenges in the Northeast had been timely and adequately addressed, we will not be having the problem we are having now”, Zuokumor said in response to a question.
While lamenting that God gave Nigerians heaven which had virtually been turned to hell, he said the morale of Africans has become very low due to bad governance and corruption. His verdict:Â “Africans leaders are never loved and not respected. They operate on mass fear and keep fellow Africans in bondage and poverty… Once we do away with greed, corruption, tribalism, nepotism and we conduct ourselves with utmost sincerity, transparency and rule of law rather than rule of man, we would be ushered into our God-given heaven on earth in Nigeria. At this time, you don’t need military force to evacuate Darul-islam sect because they will no longer pose a threat to security. Mind you, Boko Haram, widespread banditry, Niger Delta militancy for resource control, Bakassi boys, and rampant kidnappings will all be things of the past. In fact, you will not have IPOB and the likes. All these security challenges are caused by mass deprivation, poverty, lack, and hopelessness in our society that has denied our various governments of credibility”. Excerpts:
There is a very worrisome development that is going on now; there are reports of a group of insurgents located somewhere in Toto, Nasarawa State. There are two versions of the story about it. Military sources say these people are Darul-Islam, a sect that is affiliated to Boko Haram and their activities are becoming dangerous, not only to Abuja, the nation’s seat of power but to the entire country. I know that at a point in your career, you were Commissioner of Police in Niger State and once had an encounter with a sect known as Darul-Islam. What do you know about this Darul-Islam sect?
I wouldn’t know whether it is the same sect. I was Commissioner of Police in Niger State when I came across the Darul-Islam sect. The reports were very frightening -from the DSS and communities around the Darul-Islam camp. They were somewhere around Mokwa at the time.
 What year was that?
I can’t remember the year now but I was CP then. It should be 2010 or about that time. There was so much fear and this Boko Haram thing had just come up. I remember there was so much fear then, that the (Aso Rock) Villa in Abuja had to invite the governor of the state for a security brief. The Inspector General of Police was also invited to the Villa. Onovo was the Inspector General of Police and I went along with him being the Commissioner of Police in Niger State. The meeting at the Villa was presided over by the Chief of Defence Staff then; I can’t remember his name now. We were warned that we were dealing with a very dangerous sect that had encounters with security agencies in Borno, Bauchi and Gombe states, and that we should be careful with improvised bombs (landmines) and IEDs. I assured that I was going to bring them successfully. I relied on the techniques of an ancient Roman General. There are two things about winning a war; one, winning without fighting, and two, morale. An army with high morale but not well trained can easily defeat an army that is well train but is completely demoralized. In 1917, the well trained white Russian Army backed by Britain and France was easily defeated by the communist revolutionaries who were not even trained as soldiers. You’re a Christian. I will also give you some examples in the Bible. Long after Elisha died, another man died and they went to bury him but they heard the voice of the enemy. They got so frightened that they dumped the body and it fell on Elisha’s bones and the body came back to life. Immediately they heard the voice of the enemy; they were so frightened and demoralized and that was why they dumped the body and hide themselves. Israel was always losing wars during this time of history because of low morale caused by bad leadership. Another man went to war and at the war front, he shouted how thirsty I am; how I wish I could drink from the wells of Bethlehem. The wells that David wanted to drink from were in the camp of the enemy. There were so many wells behind him, but he preferred to quench his thirst from the water in the wells in the camp of his enemies. Only three persons went to the camp of the enemies, fetched the water and brought it to David, but nothing happened to them. That great feat of bravery was accomplished because the morale was very high. You can now see that the reign of King David was the golden age of Israel. The morale of the men was always very high, thereby earning Israel all-round victories. These two examples are from the Bible. If we go outside the Bible, you come across a General called Napoleons Bonaparte, he was always winning wars. They said the absence of Napoleons Bonaparte in the war front is like the absence of 40,000 men. Here was Napoleons Bonaparte with a small stature, was he firing 40,000 guns? What made the difference? The morale. So, that is why once you get a team of people, there must be high morale and one of the ways to have high morale as a leader is to have three things in mind. A leader must be loved. As a commander, your men must love you; a leader must be respected and a leader must be feared. The morale of Africans is very low because of general bad leadership. Africans leaders are never loved and not respected. They operate on mass fear and keep fellow Africans in bondage and poverty.
Can you shed more light on how you handled the Darul Islam sect?
When we had the challenge of Darul-Islam, I was confident I could bring them successfully without much ado, despite the general apprehension. They were over 4,000 beside children and women at their camp in Gokana, Mokwa. I waited for them to complete the early morning prayers as Muslims and I addressed them. I can’t speak Hausa, so I spoke to them through an interpreter. The address was a success in that when I asked them to follow me they followed me after searching their houses. But the DIG Operations at that time, late John Ahmadu, gave me ten units of mobile policemen to add to my own personnel; a unit is about 56 men. It was a total operation. Most of these PMF units thought it was going to be a great war like Borno, Gombe; they claimed to have lost trace of us at night, that we abandoned them. I think they were running. They didn’t know I had done something. They were supposed to be with us at the Darul-islam camp at 04;30hr but most surfaced at about 07;00hr to 08;00hr. At that time, the operation had long been over. The principle of win first and fight later was fully applied. So they (Darul –islam) followed me peacefully.
Followed you to where?
They followed me out of the camp. They allowed themselves to be evacuated to Mokwa from Gokana, where they were. We moved them because the government provided buses; and with the buses, we moved them, up to 4,000 with their children and everybody, to a secondary school in Mokwa. From that secondary school, Niger State Government provided vehicles/busses to take them to their various states. There were some that were not Nigerians; they were handed over to the Immigrations.
In your encounter with them, what did you think was … (cuts in)?
There was something I did. When I said I spoke to them and they listened to me, there was something I did which ensured their peaceful evacuation without bloodshed and without injury to security operatives or to members of the Darul-Islam sect.
What did you do?
I don’t know if we can say it here (on record)…
You can say it
Have you heard of a man called Spartacus in the ancient Roman history? Rome conquered the whole known world. Since Rome conquered the whole known world, life became boring for the citizens because there was nothing for them to do. Slaves do all the work and there was too much money through tribute and taxation. So to please the Roman citizens, they built colossus and other things to entertain them, and they devised some cruel, wicked forms of entertainment. The gladiators, for example, were slaves or condemned criminals trained to fight with weapons against other men or wild animals. Spartacus was one of such slaves who rebelled, killed his master and free other gladiators while others joined him, thereby forming an Army of Gladiators. This army lacked tactics and strategy which is the hallmark of Roman Generals but to the surprise of Rome, Spartacus was always winning the battles against them. Spartacus fought his way to the Alps with intention to climb over, thereby escaping from the tyranny of Rome but Crixus decided to stay back in Rome since the Gladiators’ army defeats the Roman army all the time. Crixus succeeded in defeating the Roman Army even without the command of Spartacus. Rome sent another army but because Crixus and his men were drunk without discipline, they were defeated. Spartacus got down from the Alps and defeated the Roman army once again and fought his way to the coast rather than to the Alps. The defeat of the Roman Army in battle by the Gladiators’ militant army was a defeat on the might of invincibility of the Roman Army that encouraged or triggered rebellion from all the various subject nationalities that Rome had conquered and enslaved. Like I said before, Rome was a kingdom, became a republic and later became an empire ruled by an emperor. The time of Spartacus was when Rome was a republic. Three persons, that’s three Generals held sway in Rome at that time, Crassus, Pompey and Julius Caesar. Of the three Generals, whosoever brings Spartacus and his army to Roman will enjoy more influence and popularity. Here was a great opportunity for Crassus to outshine others. He reasoned that the only escape route for Spartacus in the coast was help by the Cilician pirates; these are pirates that operate in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the days of Julius Caesar. They sometimes blocked and starved Rome of grain and other food supply. They also kidnapped important Roman personalities for ransom payment. In fact, Julius Caesar was kidnapped by these pirates and when asked for ransom, he felt insulted and tripled his own ransom to the pleasant surprise of the pirates. Caesar paid the huge ransom and later attacked, captured and killed that set of the Cilician pirates. Caesar got back his money plus other moneys and valuables at the possession of the pirates. The full might of the Cilician pirates was to be destroyed by General Pompey later. Coming back to Spartacus, Crassus knew the only way of escape at the coast will be by the help of the Cilician pirates who operate outside the military influence of Rome. So Crassus bribed the pirates to be off the coast thereby depriving Spartacus of escape. Spartacus and his Gladiator army were eventually defeated by the deployment of the full might of the Roman army against him. It was an act of villainy by Crassus. It was complete Roman victory over the Gladiators army even when Crassus who had hope to monopolize the glory of victory had to share part of the glory with Pompey as some fleeing gladiators were captured by Pompey. This victory by Crassus was my inspiration, and that is why I did what I did and it cost me only N50, 000. The whole Darul-Islam sect of over 4000 persons beside women and children surrendered and were evacuated without any fight, without altercation. Sit down, and they sat down; follow me, and they did followed me from Gokana to Mokwa. Note that all warfare is based on deception and the best wish of a General is to subdue his opponents without fighting. Win first and fight later.
You have just made me more confused. In any case, what did you see as their ideology?
They were known to be very dangerous and we went to search their homes but I was more concerned about the safety of my men; we saw only one bullet, meaning there may have been arms and they removed them. But they were successfully evacuated because I asked the DPO if we invite the Darul-Islam will they come? He said they will come but if we don’t release them within a particular time, the problem we are going to have in the state was going to be much. That was the advice of the DPO, and I assured him that they will not be detained.
Why did the DPO say that?
He was the DPO and he knew what they were. I said no, who told you they are not going to be released. They are going to be released. Invite them and tell them I want to talk to them and I did some talking to them.
How worried are you that the sect is now solidifying their base in Toto, Nasarawa State?
I am surprised to hear that because this thing happened around 2010 and 2011 when Onovo was the Inspector General of Police.
Or could it be it’s the real Boko Haram that is there?
I wouldn’t know, but I learnt that some of them became Boko Haram leaders and other things. From what I learnt, they are close to Boko Haram and there was so much apprehension by both the communities around and the security agencies. There were so many reports against them by the DSS and the Police. The DPO too was very uncomfortable and apprehensive.
How comfortable are you that the same group now affiliated with Boko Haram is somewhere in Toto, not far away from Abuja, the nation’s seat of power?
I am just hearing it for the first time.
 If it is true, what is your reaction?
They are not supposed to be gathered there. An organization like that is not supposed to be in that place. But there is the need for surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The military had admitted that they have launched several operations to dislodge them but always returned with casualties… (Cuts in)
No, no, no! Why will the military say that? You know throughout my police career, the anti-robbery office always followed me and once there is any big threat, I will be involved solving it. I just explained to you what happened during Ombatse in Nasarawa State.
The point I am trying to make is that Toto is in Nasarawa State, which is not far from Abuja. How worried are you that these people are there?
I am worried. Do you know why members of the public cannot carry guns to defend themselves? They are not carrying guns because the security agencies have been paid to carry guns to protect them. And for me, in providing security, there should be zero tolerance for crime, particularly violent crimes. I don’t say we are fighting to mop arms in private hands. Before you mop up these arms, you must first ask what makes civilians to bother themselves with the inconvenience of purchasing and bearing firearms. Once the relevant agencies provide adequate security, there is no need for the average man in Nigeria to have firearms. To answer your question, I am worried but let the intelligence agencies probe to know why they (Darul-Islam sect) are there. It may be a mere farming community; then, they must be protected and not be disturbed. But if they are a militant group, then they must be removed.
They (Army) have, but have not been able to penetrate them. They say the place is impenetrable.
We have Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force; we have Nigerian Navy. These are the three arms of the military and we also have the police with its relevant department plus the DSS. So there should be no excuse; but they should try to win without bloodshed as I did in Gokana, Mokwa.
What is happening is that three battalions in the Brigade of Guard are presently fighting that battle. What do you make of it?
The whole of the military should be deployed. Relevant arms of the military should be deployed to make sure they are not there. And if they cannot evacuate them peacefully as I did, then it is use of… I have told you that there are no impossible situations in fighting crime. The relevant forces should go fully and evacuate them, but they should try the peaceful approach first.
What is the implication because the Brigade of Guard is meant to protect the President and the nation’s seat of power?
They are not the only ones in the military; the Nigerian army is large. The Brigade of Guard is here; they should look for other units of the army to go there and evacuate these people if they are clearly known to be dangerous and are fully armed.
Do you have fear that when you deploy the Brigade of Guard there, the President and the seat of power is left vulnerable?
I don’t want to go into that area but I know if you have a Brigade of Guards guarding the President, they have no business going to fight insurgents. They should guard the president and other troops should be massively deployed to make sure these people are disarmed and there should be no excuses. Even the Boko Haram issue, if I had become IGP in 2012, by the end of 2012; that would have been the end of Boko Haram. It was all in the use of available intelligence data, dialogue and series of dialogue. Force is only used as a last resort when all other peaceful options have been exhausted.
Why do you think Boko Haram exist till today?  Â
Because they were not well handled…
Can you explain more on that?
It is not me that will explain.
You were Commissioner of Police in Borno State?
I went to Borno State as Commissioner of Police for election duties in 2011 and I met Boko Haram there firsthand.
How did that come about?
There is something about us, Africans. We seem to suffer from inferiority complex. We seem to think we are not good enough but I think we are as good as any race- the Caucasian race or even the Asiatic, but our attitude to life appears to deny us from painstaking investigation to the root cause of problems, in this sense, security problems. I think we always want to impress instead of problem solving. When there is bomb blast at Nyanya, for example, all the various arms of police and the military will rush to the scene, display a lot of bravado and smartly take the victims to the hospital; that is the end of action. When there is a bomb blast by terrorists, it is not who got to the scene first that matters. After all, it’s not a 100 meter race, but what matters is identifying the enemy who dropped the bomb; can they be brought to book or can they be neutralized or can they be stopped from dropping another bomb. What is the motive? These are the questions security agencies need to ask and provide answers. You cannot fight an enemy and win without knowing the enemy. An ancient Chinese strategist and philosopher said know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight hundred battles without fear of defeat. The most important thing about war is to subdue the enemy without fighting; that is what I mean by win first and fight later. When you have won the war, there is no battle to fight again. This is what characterized my entire police career and there are a plethora of security challenges where this principle provided answers. The day I wore uniform to the FCT command as the Commissioner of Police, was the day they dropped a bomb at the UN building in Abuja. I have to know who dropped the bomb as I could not neutralize them. So, I went into negotiation with them; I had series of meetings and it was so much so that they volunteered two times to surrender unconditionally to the Federal Government. The third time they volunteered to surrender to the highest ranking security office in the nation without me, but I engineered it. I don’t know why the highest security office did not pursue that opportunity of unconditional surrender by the insurgents. To prove their point, it was the Boko Haram that was pressing to unconditionally surrender their arms but they were rebuffed and driven away. At that time, Boko Haram had not attained this high status. The war that would have been won without fighting is what we are still fighting today with dire consequences.
But when they volunteered to surrender, why didn’t they surrender? Was there sabotage?
I wouldn’t know. I had a meeting with them; I don’t know if this is meant for the public. A prominent minister then deputized for the President in the negotiations that went well. The minister was not always available. There was even an arrangement for Shekau to meet the minister in Dubai to broker peace. Later, it was the then Minister for Police Affairs who presided over the meetings. It was to this second minister that they volunteered to unconditionally surrender their arms and ammunition in bits, and all other arms when Government showed absolute sincerity. Payment of money was not part of the arrangement; it was a voluntary and unconditional surrender.
Were all the attempts at surrender made at the highest security office?
Two times, to the ministers and once, to the highest security office
But you initiated all the three instances?
Yes, I initiated all the three. May be off-record; I can explain better off record. I know that this Boko Haram thing is not an impossible task. There is no problem without solution. When I was in Maiduguri for the 2011 election, I was told that Boko Haram suspects don’t talk to the police; that they don’t confess but all Boko Haram suspects in the cell that I spoke to confessed to me freely. They are the ones that described houses padlocked outside that were harboring Boko Haram elements inside; arms were recovered and suspects were arrested. With the free confession I had from them, I saw a chance of rehabilitation for some. They are not all demons.
So what truncated that attempt to surrender?
After the election I was posted back to Minna; from Minna, I came to FCT. And in FCT, the day I wore uniform was the day they dropped the UN House bomb and I said there will be no other one as far as I was the CP here in FCT, and how was I going to do it? Get to know the Boko Haram and I succeeded in getting to know them. I could not neutralize them; I went into dialogues and a lot of dialogues; friendly dialogue.
How were you able to bring them to Abuja?
I didn’t bring anybody to Abuja. Boko Haram was already operating in Abuja before I became CP here.
So Boko Haram was in Abuja too?
Did you know that when ex-President Goodluck Jonathan won the election in 2011 and there was a problem in most of the northern states, I was the Commissioner of Police for election duties in Borno State and there was no problem in Maiduguri. Have you asked why there was no problem in Maiduguri? There was problem in Kaduna, Zaria and there was problem in many other northern cities; there was problem in Niger State, Gombe and all these states but Maiduguri that there would have been problem, there was no problem.
How were you able to assemble the Boko Haram leaders for meetings?
You don’t need to assemble them. By the time you get one person, through that person you can get many, and that was why I said moving from the known to the unknown. When you know one person through that person you get to know others and many other things. As long as you are not going to arrest them, they will come and have meetings. But it was done in such a way that nobody knew about it; it was only three persons from the police that took part in the discussions that were quite revealing. Boko Haram did not start in Maiduguri; it started in kano. In Maiduguri, only two Boko Haram mosques were destroyed, others were closed.
So Boko Haram started from Kano?Â
Yes, and it started from this Almajiri system. I said some of these things are security issues and not meant for everybody. It is security seminars that these things are discussed to proffer solution for the betterment of all- the Nigerian public and the Boko Haram members.
 With the Darul-Islam sect growing and establishing base in Toto, Nasarawa State, what is the way forward?
The way forward is to remove them. If you cannot remove them peacefully, then you use force on them. And I don’t think Nigeria has sunk so low that a group of people of about 1,000, 2,000, 5000 or 10, 000, cannot be removed, and the earlier the better. It is only the government that has the monopoly of force; no other person is expected to bear firearms. Before the use of force, police, DSS, military etc, must first identify the mission of the settlement. It might be a mere farming settlement – in that case, the local authorities, police at the community level, divisional level, Area commander’s level; the CP and the zonal AIG, should liaise and interact with them. The various bodies for agric incentives must be extended and offers made to them. These are the days of community policing; get their leader involved in local security meetings. In fact, they should be assured of their protection and safety as long as there is no threat to anybody. Use of force should only be envisaged where they are armed and there is no room for dialogue/access; where they constitute threat to the community and the government.
What danger does their presence close to Abuja, the nation’s seat of power portends?
You don’t need anybody to tell you once there is a danger to the presidency, everything must be done to neutralize that threat but the threat has to be properly identified and evaluated. If you don’t put off a small fire, it will grow to become a conflagration. If the security challenges in the Northeast had been timely and adequately addressed, we will not be having the problem we are having now.
What were the mistakes?
There were some mistakes; the seriousness and sincerity at which we handle security challenges matter a lot. The key words are determination, diligence, dedication and above all, discipline. I went to Maiduguri for election duties on 2011 and was exposed to a full blast of Boko Haram activities. My response and reaction to the challenge earned the police a lot of confidence. Important personalities of the highest caliber came out to partner in my fight against insecurity; many behind camera, to render advice on how to combat insurgency. Nobody wants insecurity except the anarchist and vandals. My desire for Nigeria for example, is for a person to take off from Calabar and arrive at Maiduguri without any security issue. This was how it was and it is still achievable if we put our house together. Moderate our mega individual greed, ethnocracy, religious bigotry, insincerity and focus on transparency guided by genuine patriotism with clear vision. Since in the primary school, we have been drawing the map of Nigeria, capping it up with Lake Chad at the Northeast corner. How El-kanemi started a new dynasty – that is the Shehu dynasty in kukawa, from the Mai dynasty in the kanem Borno Empire. And here was I opportune to be in Maiduguri capital of Borno State. It was an opportunity I was not ready to let go though my wife said I was tempting God because of the insecurity. I visited kukawa; I saw the burial site of the great El-kanemi and other Shehus that followed. I wanted to swim in Lake Chad and I wanted it to be on record and I was dissuaded; but I was compensated with an elaborate boat trip with police and other security agencies and Bornu State government officials, I was in the best of spirit. I was only bothered with rapidly receding Lake Chad. I started tasking myself mentally on how to revive and restore our lake back to its former glory without delay and no matter the cost. God gave Nigerians heaven but we have virtually turned it to hell. There is no country like Nigeria in the world with the kind of enormous resources God has given to us. In Maiduguri, I saw truckloads of fish being carried away from the Lake Chad and I was glad to see the resources God had endowed us. Do you know Nigeria is that Garden of Eden God drove out Adam and Eve for committing sin against him? And because God is sometimes partial and He is a Nigerian, He has thus so far tolerated us by not casting us out when we have desecrated the heaven He has given to us. Nigeria potentially is a super power. There is no place like Nigeria in the world if we can do away with our individual mega greed that promote and sustain mega corruption. You cannot say that the minimum wage should be N30, 000 and some state governments say it’s too much for them to pay. In fact, many pensioners and state government workers are being owed several months of their salaries and in the same public service, some persons who are privileged are comfortably going home with N12million monthly. I learnt in our history that somebody who had a brief encounter with us concluded we have the mindset of animals. Among other things, he said we enjoy power but we do not seem to take along the responsibilities that go along with power. He went further to say we lack the power of organization and that we are clearly deficient in management and control of men and business. This explains why this part of the world experience Trans Saharan slave trade in which our leaders hunted down our unfortunate ones and sold them to Arabs for total de-humanization and slavery. A similar thing took place in the south were our leaders hunted the most unfortunate ones and sold them to slavery in trans-Atlantic slave trade. It’s the same mindset in the present state of affairs in which Nigeria is not an exception. Mega individual greed does not allow for equitable distribution of the common wealth thereby promoting mass poverty and crime. You can imagine some Nigerians running away from the artificial lack in our God given heaven for servile jobs in Europe, sometimes by hazardous journey across the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea.
How does this cause crime?
Somebody once said the poor cannot sleep because they are hungry; the elites – the rich cannot sleep because the poor are awake. The police/security agencies and the rest of the society cannot sleep because the poor and the rich are awake. To have a decent law-abiding society devoid of rancor and insecurity is not by gunning down all the criminals. Fair and equitable distribution of resources, the common wealth, promotes much harmony, peace, general and individual well being. The black man occupies the richest portion of the world; yet, he is the poorest. This is because he is not honest and deceives himself always with plenty of excuses rather than mobilizing the abundant God-given resources to move to the next level. If we get it right in the area of security and corruption, then, all the roads in the world will lead to Nigeria al-bet, Africa, even much more than it is with China. Once we do away with greed, corruption, tribalism, nepotism and we conduct ourselves with utmost sincerity, transparency and rule of law rather than rule of man, we would be ushered into our God-given heaven on earth in Nigeria. At this time, you don’t need military force to evacuate Darul-islam sect because they will no longer pose a threat to security. Mind you, Boko Haram, widespread banditry, Niger Delta militancy for resource control, Bakassi boys, and rampant kidnappings will all be things of the past. In fact, you will not have IPOB and the likes. All these security challenges are caused by mass deprivation, poverty, lack, and hopelessness in our society that has denied our various governments of credibility.
