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IT is tragic that it has taken the abduction of 300 schoolgirls by the militant Islamic Boko Haram group for the world to sit up and notice the atrocity unfolding in the northern part of Nigeria — itself considered an African powerhouse. It is even more tragic that the plight of the girls is now an international incident requiring the intervention of the world superpowers specifically the United States of America.
Boko Haram has been operating in Nigeria for many years and committing gruesome atrocities with the world turning a blind eye. Africa is even more complicit in allowing the group to have a stranglehold on Nigeria on its watch. But the biggest letdown has been the Nigerian government itself which as allowed Boko Haram to grab swathes of northern Nigeria and impose its ludicrous brand of Islam which is backward and barbaric to say the least.

According to the group, its followers are influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: “Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors”. Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it “haram”, or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society. This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers.

The group’s official name is Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad”. Boko Haram, loosely translated from the local Nigerian Hausa language, means “Western education is forbidden”. Nigeria has been accused of responding very slowly to the kidnapping of the girls from a boarding school in Chibok on April 14 and even of ignoring a forewarning that it was imminent.

The government of President Goodluck Jonathan appears to have been caught unawares by the spotlight that has been cast on their country by a campaign spawned by the twitter hashtag Bringbackourgirls — a message that has resonated with millions of people across the world. Nigeria’s military capabilities have been exposed by this incident and an avenue for Africom — the US Africa Command forces — has been opened for it operate in that part of Africa.

The commander of US forces in Africa General David Rodriguez held talks Tuesday in Nigeria with that country’s top military brass as the US confirmed it was flying manned surveillance aircraft over the country and sharing commercial satellite imagery to aid the hunt for the abducted girls. The United States already has deployed a team of 30 specialists from different agencies, including 16 military personnel, to help in the search for the kidnapped schoolgirls, according to the AFP news agency.

Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa and recently it overtook South Africa as the continent’s largest economy. Huge multinational corporations operate in the country and these are mainly from the US and Britain.

Elaborate security measures have been put in place by these cash-rich companies to protect their pipelines some of which are found in the north where Boko Haram is active. It is instructive that the US and other Western powers have invested so much to ensure that they exploit Nigeria’s vast oil resources but have done virtually nothing to assist establish a stable government in that country.

It appears they benefit more from an unstable situation and weak pliant regimes in Abuja allow them to siphon that country’s riches for nothing. They seemed to thrive under successive autocratic and corrupt military dictatorships and the current civilian authority is being undermined by Boko Haram and other groups.

Under the circumstances, there is nothing to celebrate about the US’s offer of assistance as this will only allow it an entry point into Nigerian internal affairs.
The operationalisation of the African Union Standby Force — a multi-disciplinary peacekeeping force with military, police and civilian contingents, should be expedited so that it deals with situations such as those in northern Nigeria. The Standby Force was supposed to be launched in 2010, with contingents based across Africa, but the date has been postponed repeatedly.  The AU now wants the force to be operational by next year.

In the meantime, some African nations inspired by the 2012 crisis in Mali have called for a temporary rapid intervention force that would respond to conflicts until the Standby Force is ready. This is welcome and we also call on the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to urgently intervene in Nigeria and assist the government deal with the Boko Haram menace. It is time Africans realised that they can only rely on themselves to resolve conflicts on the continent. The plight of the Nigerian schoolgirls is sad and brings shame to Africa which should unite to bring back our girls.