Femi Fani-Kayode: Each And Every Nigerian Must Be Prepared To Take Up Arms Against Boko Haram

In this photo taken Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. members of the "Civilian JTF " with cutlasses and clubs mount a check point on the street of Maiduguri, Nigeria. The battered old car, cutlasses and nail-studded clubs poking out of its windows, careens down the road and squeals to a stop. Its young occupants pile out, shouting with glee, and set up a roadblock. They are part of a vigilante force that has arisen here as a backlash against Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist network responsible for 1,700 deaths in Nigeria since 2010, according to a count by The Associated Press. (Photo Credit: AP/Sunday Alamba)

by Femi Fani-Kayode

When some people are so hell bent on taking power that they begin to bomb their citizens in order to achieve it one has to begin to question the continued viability of our much flaunted unity.

When some people believe that it is their right to rule in perpetuity and that if they do not get their way they must make the country ungovernable and kill as many people as possible one must decide whether or not we are really one nation.

When some people are prepared to use religion as a political tool, shed as much blood as possible and pervert the very tenets of the faith that they claim to espouse one must decide whether those of us that do not share their world view are prepared to remain in the same cage as those that are clearly nothing but ravenous beasts.

There is far more to the Boko Haram phenomenon than meets the eye and Nigerians just don’t get it yet. They are not prepared to hear the truth let alone accept it and, sadly, perhaps they never will. This is a nation that has an identity crisis and that still does not want to accept the fact that it is at war with itself.

They do not want to accept the ugly fact that there are some key individuals who some of them still literally worship and rever that are the ones actually encouraging, fuelling and funding Boko Haram and that are waging war against our people.

They do not want to accept that there is an international dimension to this matter which is beyond their knowledge, understanding or comprehension. May God open their eyes and help them to recognise what they are up against before it is too late.

Until that happens and each and every Nigerian is prepared to take up arms against Boko Haram and those that are secretly behind it our people will continue to be slaughtered and abducted.

Femi Fani-Kayode is Nigeria’s former minister of aviation. He is a member of All Progressive Congress (APC).

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.