God bless Abubakar Shekau.

I am about to lose many friends and I, with this full blown, self-enlightened realization offer no regrets nor apologies for this seemingly eerie yet deliberate extenuation of what our human universe agreeably demonize. We are all now part of a global choir, rendering cantatas of uncharacteristic vilification in unprecedented dimensions and colourations of Boko Haram, a group of Nigerians with uncommon interpretation of their world and their earthly assignment. I am a part of humanity and thereby naturally assimilate advertised virtues of being human, rightly or wrongly, accurately or otherwise but find myself today questioning the rights that I have acquired and so brazenly exercise in the face of another man’s judgment or misjudgment. Understanding the world and its inherent tendencies remains a challenge to the brightest of human minds and leads me to the irrevocable conviction that the best of us can only do so much even if it fails to exceed ability to bath a new born.

Raised in a Christian family and in conscientious admiration of the advancements that the west have introduced to the evolution of human society, I have pursued every means available and otherwise unavailable to me - frontiers that facilitate a calibration of self and my values with the sole purpose of positively affecting my world and in subsequently making this world a better place. The credits of this humble life goal go to my parents who gave up their comforts for me to learn. This piece is however by no means an egotistic trip on the benefits of having a close knit African family but an affront on the deceptive prioritizations that mark our objectives as a people. This piece aims to deflate the over bloated egos of present day living Nigerians, a most undesirable path under the agony foisted on us by kin in the Boko Haram group.

It took Nigeria 43 years, post-independence to enact a law protecting the rights of children. The Child Rights Act (2003) was passed as a federal law under the Obasanjo administration but little has been achieved as the UN reports that 48 million children are living and working against their will in sub Saharan Africa, a vast majority of them from Nigeria. Till date, this law which required enactment by states Houses of Assembly has only been adopted by 23 states -  Nigeria has 36. If a law is passed by the National Assembly which at that time engaged in a little more work than the flagrant jangle over play our present crop of legislators are renowned for, why would it amount to such a herculean task,  getting  13 states to simply adopt legislation that protects children? Of the over 10 million children on streets in Africa, the world is demanding only 276 from Abubakar Shekau. If these girls were found, would we not again embark on another slumber till Brother Abubakar abducts some 500 boys from the streets of our Arabia, Abuja? It is one thing to be a continental rallying point for the fight against mindless acts of violence aimed at minors and another to be a continental laughing stock. We must act now to seriously address rights of children.

Why demonize Abubakar Shekau in a nation where, according to UN reports, between 750,000 to 1 Million people, consisting mainly of young women and minors are trafficked for sexual and economic exploitation every year in Nigeria? Are we ignorant of the fact that 47% of convicted Traffickers are from Edo State in Nigeria? Is Abubakar Shekau from Edo state? As it  is said in local street parlance, Shekau is just “a learner” if he can only be accused of less than 300 abductions in a nation where hundreds of thousands of young Nigerian girls languish in secret slave camps in France, Italy, North Africa, Spain, the Netherlands up to Austria and Norway. Was Abubakar Shekau involved in this international menace? The hard work of government in Edo State remains under significant threat of these syndicates that have almost perfected their art. The culturally endowed brilliance of the Edo people was almost tainted by a stigmatization that suggested Edo Sate as a transit camp for girls headed to Italy. The challenge of human trafficking is a national one and Abubakar Shekau has only by the condemnable abduction of young girls, citizens of our fatherland brought more need for a decisive tackling of the problem. This act will be the straw that breaks the back of the Boko Haram sect I equally believe. The war is on in Edo and other states of the federation where these anomalies are prevalent and must be roundly supported by all.

Pensioners die in their hundreds in Nigeria with no special media attention on these individual deaths which is occasioned by government stealing. Police pensions of about N32 Billion were stolen. Railway workers reported N1 Billion Naira of their pensions stolen. A convicted pension thief was released by a Nigerian court on bail of N750,000 for stealing N1.3 Billion Naira. Did Abubakar Shekau instigate these thefts that have left many senior citizens in untold hardship? Was he involved in the grand schemes reported in the civil service administration that facilitated such heights of stealing (not corruption please)? Does the fact that the hash tag campaign #bringbackourpension was never ran or popular diminish the pain and suffering of our senior citizens? Has anyone paid a visit to a Nigeria Police Barracks in recent times? It took the President to embark on an unscheduled visit to the Police College, Lagos to effect some level of sanity in what was little different from a sty – worrisome conditions that our police men and women were forced to live under. Where was Abubakar Shekau when men in positions of authority ran public funds into their private pockets with government overlooking such stealing? Corrupt lawyers, police, judges are Abubakar Shekaus in their own rights. They have sentenced many to early deaths and by their actions deprived millions of basic amenities.

Our universities were out of work for 6 months. Polytechnics and other tertiary institutions for about one year have also been on strike. Did Abubakar Shekau steal money meant for educational development? There is terrorism against educational aspirations of followers in Nigeria perpetrated by successive governments and while secondary schools in some regions of the north are shut on account of threats of violence by Abubakar Shekau on one hand, government has carefully ensured closure of sister schools in the south on the other!

Nigerian manufacturing companies have been engaging in partial shutdowns or complete shutdown of operations due to increasing costs of power provision. Just what organisation does not run on either petrol or diesel in Nigeria today? Power generation has failed to reach 5000 Megawatts of electricity for a nation of 180 Million people, for the 16^th year. Did Shekau steal our Mega Watts too? I have no recollection of how Abubakar Shekau contributed to the embezzlement of $16 Billion Dollars which we were told were expended for dealing with the challenges of power generation under the Obasanjo administration. I also fail to see how he has supported the wanton corruption oozing out of the NNPC and the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria. We may not have the figures but we know that we are giants in financial corruption and so, discounting the suggestion of the erstwhile CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi that $20 Billion Dollars cannot be accounted for might be at our own peril. While the grand prize for distracting the present national leadership goes to Abubakar Shekau, he cannot be held liable for continuous acts of financial terrorism that present and past governments and their representatives have nurtured, harnessed and cultivated. Our Ministers are terrorists who use offices to commission recruitment disasters. Our Ministers guzzle public funds like it is no man’s business. Our security chiefs engage in obscure procurements and disregard for staff welfare, how will Abubakar Shekau not arise?

Abubakar Shekau is undeniably a Nigerian, with rights under our constitution. If reports in the media, and the pronouncements of Nigerian military authorities generate any reliable truth, it makes sense to label the man Abubakar Shekau a specie with a half human core and the other half, awaiting christening by the Devil himself. I however would like to state that Abubakar Shekau is just one of us. Like millions others in Nigeria, he breaks the law. Like a million others, he disrespects authority. Like tens of millions others, engages in stealing of our gold and now our girls.  If as a nation we fail to hedge our future with the underlying realities of correcting financial terrorism, moral terrorism, NEPA terrorism and all the likes, how better are we than members of Boko Haram? Are we not terrorists to the future of our unborn children if we refuse to stop corruption in its tracks by those whom we supposedly elected? Are we not throwing bombs at the future when we remain silent, divided on ethnicity rather than common good? Are we not terrorists of morality when we deliberately exchange our traditional values of integrity and honesty for money and the things that it can buy? Is there not an Abubakar Shekau in every Nigerian pursuing government contracts? Abubakar Shekau only represents the worst of us but is in the same league with those friends of government that keep our medical institutions comatose, our roads potholed and homes in perpetual darkness.

Pray tell, are our sufferings not variants of terrorism? The results are the same – undeserved suffering and deaths of Nigerians, either in the hands of Shekau or in the hands of government – historic and present. Did Shekau blow up the EFCC office to render investigations into financial crimes ineffective to the point that hardly does the EFCC win any serious convictions under this government? Has he killed any Judge to the point that we are unable to have Judges face the truth and dispense justice in our law courts without favour? Did Shekau conjure a potion that made the House of Representatives self-serving political prostitutes with no interest in providing valuable legislative governance to Nigeria?

I am a Christian and I am taught by my Bible to bless Abubakar Shekau and his clones in government, it is the only way I know to heap coal, burning ones.