By Bisi Lawrence
Me, I am frightened. It was reported, at first, that the vehicle which carried a live bomb into the National Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, was driven by a man who was programmed, and content, to die in the explosion. Then the statement was retracted.

The truth is that every member of the Boko Haram is virtually on a suicide mission, anyway. He has to be, to engage in such a venture which has no alternative purpose to the wreaking of destruction on innocent people in a decent society.

He cannot do that and get away with it unless the citizens have given up their rights as the people of a nation, and have lost, or never had, the ability to defend those rights. Do we still cherish our place within the Nigerian society, especially if we belong to the geographical sector below the Niger?

The answer to that question, in the fear of what it might turn out to be, is the root cause of my fear. What if vast numbers of Nigerians are beginning to believe that they are no longer safe in their own country, or as part of a nation in which they no longer believe?

It is truly frightening because of the aspects of life that would be disrupted, apart from being actually lost: there would be so much displaced that could never be replaced, and so much mislaid that would never by regained; there would be such upheavals in societal existence, in vengeance inflicted and alliance denounced. In fact, there could be war, all-out war, at the end of which we would declare no victor, no vanquished, but the victims would be there, sucked into the vortex of statistics in groups of bland figures.

It could all start with a single section, or part, of a nation seeking to impose its desires and beliefs, indeed its entire image on the whole entity. The resistance to such an attempt to dominate the entire environment invariably leads to bitter confrontation, or capitulation.

What we have said so far relates to specific situations that have emerged in the passing scene of our beloved country recently. A considerable number of Nigerians are now openly declaring that they no longer feel safe as citizens of this country, within the country. The reprehensible exploits of the Boko Haram, they protest, expose their lives to constant danger in several parts of the country. It is now well over six months since the conflagration in Jos.

It was not the first incident of that horrible nature in a city in which people from various parts of the country always felt at home. Its antecedents, which are ethno-political, predate the operations of Boko Haram. But the appearance of the incendiary participation of the Islamic group has added a dimension of revolting bloodshed to the issue.

However, since the Christmas Eve visitation of terror on Jos, unfettered violence has continued to hold sway throughout the North, including the Federal Capital, Abuja. There have been attacks on Borno, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and Zuba not far from the FCT. Attacks on Maiduguri have become almost routine. Lives are lost. In the Jos incident, no fewer than thirty-three people were reported killed. On the whole, it is estimated that some sixteen thousand citizens, including elements of the police and armed forces, have lost their lives to the scourge of the Boko Haram.. Of course, they were neither proclaimed as the victors nor the vanquished – just declared as the hapless victims.

But, asserts Boko Haram, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” The organization thumbs its nose at our security apparatus, demanding that our police organization be dismantled by ordering the removal of the Inspector-General of Police, and then disdainfully announcing that it is going to expand the base of its operations.

The response has so far not appeared to be adequate. In the wake of the attempt on the IGP’s life, the police declared an all-out war on the terrorist group. Several arrests have been subsequently made, but the nettings seem to have been only of the “foot-soldiers”. Only the capture of a kingpin would, of course, make any mark on the obvious efforts of the security officials who seem to be at sea in the matter of getting to the root of the problem. One of the leaders was arrested but, unfortunately, he was killed in what was described as a “judicial murder”.

Now some police officers are on trial for the alleged execution of the man, following the strident outcry against what is, indeed, no less than a criminal act, whichever way you look at it. The police definitely shot themselves in the foot, and have compounded their own investigative processes. Now in desperation, help has been summoned from overseas, and one of the significant facts that have come out is that the name, Boko Haram is phoney. Perhaps uncovering the real name may bring us closer to knowing more about the truth of its existence.

Now the element of time has come into reckoning with the reaction of Nigerians to the killings, and the insecurity thus signified as they affect the citizens personally. At first, it was the resentment at the murder of the Youth Service Corps members that gave expression to the decision to keep away from certain parts of the North. It mostly affected the postings of the “corpers” then, and no one could fault it.

The security authorities gave assurances of their ability to provide protection, as usual, but many people remembered that the slain NYSC members were practically offered to the murderous horde of the Boko Haram from a police station. Now that the personal feeling is becoming official, several states are evacuating their indigenes from the North. This is not France evacuating Frenchmen from Cote d’lvoire, or the USA recalling her citizens from Iraq. This is a section of Nigeria forsaking another section of Nigeria. I tell you, it really frightens me.

If the situation does not improve drastically, other sections may follow suit. If the situation deteriorates further, it may congeal into a virtual split-up of the country, and not necessarily peacefully.

In fact, that may not be distasteful to some people. Already, a group that identifies itself as the Niger Delta Liberation Front, NDLF, has renewed the call for a Sovereign National Conference, SNC, to determine the creation of the Niger Delta Republic, among other important issues.

The NDLF has a ready-made backing of the situation in the North, though it is not on all fours with the case of the Boko Haram. So would a further blending of the LOOBO States to form a distinct region that could easily wriggle out of an unsafe federation.

I am also terrified by the fact that the additional dimension of the danger to the unity of the country as a whole is not prominently projected as part of the official stance by the leadership of the nation. The inclination towards seriously considering the issue of palliatives, like “dialogue” or “committees” is grievously erroneous. People who preach from that text are either dishonest or thoroughly hoodwinked.

The truth is that there is no basis for dialogue, and the deceitful proponents know it. The Boko Haram will not yield its position unless it is removed from it. As for the naive proponents of dialogue, they believe they are proposing a line of action that is reasonable, believing that they are confronted by a situation that can be affected by rationality. They know very little about a religious cause which, in this case, is only slightly wrapped in some ethnic material. That is what Boko Haram is. Rationality cannot touch it.

It is terrifying, really. A nation that no longer believes in itself as one, has lost its footing in human existence.

Time out.