The good news is that a ceasefire has been announced between the Federal
Government and Boko Haram and the girls may well be released very soon.
This came as a consequence of the fact that the Nigerian military
finally managed to acquire the weapons that they so badly needed to
fight Boko Haram and, having done so, they were able to bring the
terrorists to their knees.
My counsel has always been that the Federal Government ought to crush
Boko Haram utterly, beat them to a pulp in the field of battle, force
them into retreat, decimate their defences, eliminate their leaders,
bring them to justice and, after all that has been achieved, the
terrorists would have no choice but to come begging through their
numerous friends and surrogates.
This is precisely what seems to be happening today and I wish that the
Jonathan administration had set this process of ‘’getting
tough’’ with the terrorists as far back as three years ago. If they
had done so many lives would have been saved.
Yet, as they say, it is better late than never and I am delighted with
the latest developments and our apparent string of successes and
victories in the war against terror.
It appears that Nigeria has survived yet another civil war and that
those that sought to turn us into a 6th century caliphate, ISIL-style
Islamic state have failed in their insane, ignoble and thoroughly evil
endeavor.
The official military wing of the opposition have lost the war, they
have been put to shame and Nigeria has prevailed. Next year, when the
presidential and gubernatorial elections are held, their political wing,
the APC, will also lose woefully and finally meet their waterloo.
This state of affairs and unfolding set of events provides telling
evidence of the veracity of the biblical assertion and age-old spiritual
truism that says ‘’darkness cannot overcome light’’. In Nigeria
the light is breaking through and the darkness is on the retreat.
The servants of satan and their misguided minions, emissaries,
associates and political allies are crawling on their knees. They have
tugged their tail between their legs and they are on the run whilst the
sons and daughters of the Living God are on the rise and are witnessing
a new beginning and resounding victories.
The night was dark and full of horrors yet joy, saddled with God’s
unfathomable mercies and blessings, came in the morning. We prayed for
peace, we yearned for victory, we cried for mercy and in the end the
Ancient of Days, the Lord God of Hosts, the El Shaddai, the Elohim, the
Adonai and He that is known as the Man of War answered our prayers. He
has done His bit by breaking the ranks of the terrorists and now it is
left for us to do ours.
My prayer is that Boko Haram honors the terms of the ceasefire
agreement, that they cease all hostilities, that they stop killing our
people, that they drop their arms and surrender and that they release
our girls and all the other prisoners of war that are in their custody.
If that happens, and I pray that it does, it will not be simply as a
consequence of the efforts of the world-wide ‘’Bring Back Our Girls
Campaign’’ but as a direct consequence of the prayers of the
Nigerian people and the supplications of millions of others throughout
the world. It will also be as a consequence of the efforts of President
Goodluck Jonathan, his National Security Adviser, our intelligence
agencies and the Nigerian Armed Forces .
Our nation defeated the ebola virus even though our detractors never
thought we could do so and now we are on the brink of defeating Boko
Haram even though our foreign friends and partners put obstacles in our
way and refused to sell us arms. For this we must give thanks to God.
Now is the time for us to heal our wounds, to forgive one another, to
preach peace and unity and to put the evil behind us. Now is the time to
put the past behind us, to put our hands to the plough and to build a
great nation.
Now is the time to ask God to bless Nigeria and to shame all those that
collaborated with the enemy, that joined forces with the demons of hell
and that shed the blood and tormented the souls of our people.
The declaration of the ceasefire is indeed a thing of joy but that in
itself is not victory: it is only one step towards achieving it. Given
this I cannot help but to be swayed by the words of Mr. Nnamdi Egbudi
when he wrote the following on my facebook page. He said,
”Reaching a ceasefire agreement with a terrorist group that killed
thousands of Nigerians and slit the throats of our Military personnel is
not my own definition of victory neither is exchanging the abducted
Chibok school girls with terrorist commanders anything to be proud of.
For me, the terrorists with all their commanders should be exterminated
from the face of the earth as there are no half measures in the quest
for peace and security of a Nation”.
I am compelled to agree with this young mans insightful assertion.
Nevertheless the fact that a ceasefire is now in place is cause for
cheer. They say that a journey of one thousand miles starts with one
step. With this ceasefire in place we have just taken that first step.
May God see us through to the end of the journey and may all those that
killed our people at will, terrorised our nation, abducted our children,
raped our women and maimed our men be brought to a terrible end.
Permit me to conclude this contribution by pointing out what I would
describe as an instructive sequence of events. General Muhammadu Buhari,
the leading APC presidential aspirant, the man that wishes to ”spread
sharia law to the south” and the man who once said that ”an attack on
Boko Haram is an attack on the north” declared his Presidential
ambition on wednesday, bought his nominaton form on thursday and Boko
Haram, the terrorist organisation that he has consistently sought to
protect and that he has often expressed some sympathy for, entered into
a ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government on friday.
Is this interesting sequence of events a mere coincidence or is there
more to it than meets the eye? I guess that only God knows the answer to
that question but whichever way we view it we can all agree on at least
one thing: the plot seems to thicken by the day. God bless Nigeria.
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