WE have a two pronged challenge to the Boko Haram, BH, war. First is to ensure the total decimation of the BH movement so that it does not rear its ugly head again. The second is a total resettlement, rehabilitation and re integration of the victims. Both of these measures are very important to the peace and stability of the nation, especially in the north eastern parts of the country. The question  is: Should we tackle them simultaneously or take  one item  at a time?

It would seem that the Buhari government has decided on the later that is why they decided to inaugurate the Theophilus Danjuma committee. As a matter of fact, this will not be the first time that this committee will be put together. At a very well advertised forum during the Jonathan administration, billions of naira were raised for the implementation of this project but we do not know as at now, how many of the pledges were redeemed or fulfilled, such is the way of Nigerians, when you are out of government, everything about you is forgotten, except the negatives as is the case with Goodluck Jonathan.

The set up of the TY Danjuma committee to rehabilitate the north east region must have brought euphoria and hope to the people of that region. The committee is to rehabilitate infrastructure and resettle internally displaced persons in the north east sub region. In the course of inauguration, the President said “ he had compiled a list of damaged infrastructure, including schools and bridges and handed it to the leaders of G7 and the United States.” Premium Times January 1, 2016.

But we must look beyond the euphoria. Has the committee really sat down to look at and analyze the enormity of the task given to them? Is the timing right to rebuild infrastructure? What areas should the focus be? What measurable indices are in place? And, above all, are we totally free from the Boko Haram threats? If we are to carry out rehabilitation, re settlement and  reconciliation, have we been able to identify the Boko Haram leaders? Are we assured that they will not strike again? For us to be totally free from the Boko Haram harassments, we must totally suppress them, the way the Sri Lankan army did to the tamil tiger separatists. That way we will be assured that whatever infrastructure that is been put in place will stand the test of time.

That is the challenge of the Danjuma committee. The question is: should we face the rebuilding of infrastructure that will be threatened by the insurgents who do not have regard and value for properties or do we concentrate on rebuilding the Internally Displaced Persons (IOD), beginning from their mental frame of mind?

In other words, should we build infrastructure that will be threatened by the insurgents or we concentrate on building the people and prepare them to be able to withstand future threats from the insurgents?

For me, I believe we should first concentrate on the people before the infrastructure. The people must be mentally prepared for Boko Haram onslaughts. Their self esteem must be rebuilt to a very high level and the way to this is making them  understand their self worth. It is important for them to know that, without their co-operation, the battle to annihilate Boko Haram is useless, because, they are the ones on ground and the ones who know the nooks and crannies of the region. In addition to that, it is their culture and existence that is been threatened. Cultures that pre dates them and their fore fathers. So, what is to be done?

They must be taught and empowered with the equipments to defend their motherland. That should be the starting point for the committee, empowering the indigenes. Once their security is assured, any other thing can follow. So, how do we make them to stand and defend themselves? They must all be made to undergo various forms of security trainings; weaponry, espionage, counter insurgency, effective communication and community relations. Every able bodied person in the land must undergo defence training.  When the  insurgents realise that the people will stand up to them, they will have a re think about attacking them. In Kurdish Iraq and Syria, the people have realised that unless they take the battle in their own hands, nobody will do it for them, so they have formed vigilante and security forces, which have succeeded in keeping the ISIS at bay, with the active co-operation of the United States and allies.

This is what I propose here,let government empower the people militarily so that no insurgent can over run their land at will. The land mass in the north east is too large for our army to completely occupy, so vigilante forces can take care of the loose ends. One must emphasise the need to adequately secure the area militarily before infrastructure can be successfully put in place.

Training for the IDP’S, their children and other indigenes of the land should be the focal point. The training must include the ability of the people to defend themselves and secure their boundaries. They should also be sensitised on how to fish out the undesirables from their midst. They should also be empowered in the area of economic self sustainment, that centres on entrepreneurship, using what they have in their land to generate income for survival.

There must be total peace in the land before any reasonable infrastructural development can take place.

I hope the Dajuma committee will  heed this advise.

By Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.