BOKO HARAM AND WHAT CAMEROON CAN DO

BOKO HARAM AND WHAT CAMEROON CAN DO

There is no doubt that the threat posed by the Nigerian religious fanatical sect, Boko Haram, has reached geometric proportions. It has got to a point where leading world powers have now taken note and are lining up to offer assistance in one way or another.

The most difficult task in tracking down Boko Haram is that it is largely and enemy without a face. Unlike other fanatical groups we have known, it has not pushed any single person to the front as its leader or spokesman, so to speak. It has no fixed address , let alone a telephone number on which it can be contacted. Although Abubakar Shekau has been named as a possible leader, not much appears to be known about him. When the group makes contact with the public, it does so sporadically and at a distance and thus renders it impossible for security forces to track it down.

Although it has been stated that the sect’s base is in Borno State of Nigeria, that account is very vague and irresolute. The group’s ambitions appear to be the islamisation of Nigeria, the elimination of the modern state and the institution of Shariah Law. Even so, there are Muslims who have distanced themselves from the movement on account of the extent of its bloody atrocities. Although Boko Haram has operated in Nigeria only since a couple of years, the damage it has done so far is enormous.

CNN reported recently: “Boko Haram's modus operandi is all too clear: brutal and indiscriminate killings of both Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria, the bombings of churches and suicide attacks in the federal capital, Abuja, including the devastating car bombing of the U.N. compound in 2011. Recent attacks in the northeast, mainly in rural areas of Borno state, have left dozens dead. Victims are shot at point-blank range or stabbed and mutilated. Some attacks have lasted hours without any police or military intervention. In the first three months of this year, Amnesty International estimates, Boko Haram was responsible for the deaths of more than 1,500 people.”

Faced with this big threat, it has become clear that the state of Nigeria has failed and is helpless. It is difficult to explain how in a territory where there are police and the armed forces in full alert, such killings and kidnappings can still happen. The latest incidents, of course, include the deadly car bombings in Abuja and the kidnapping of over 200 girls from a boarding school in Borno state.

As the government of Nigeria throws open its doors to western allies coming to help with finding the abducted girls and even getting rid of the sect, Abuja would do well to involve its neighbor, Cameroon, in the efforts.

Although this may not be known, Cameroon has a lot to offer Nigeria in terms of territorial security and peaceful coexistence. This is significant because Cameroon is more naturally bonded to Nigeria than is any of Nigeria’s neighbours. The two countries share one very long frontier that runs from the oil-rich south to the far north.

Cameroon knows every part of its national territory – even the thick forests – and what obtains there. The same cannot be said of Nigeria where Boko Haram is said to be hiding in the “thick forests of the Sambissa reserves” which are portrayed as impenetrable even to government forces.

Cameroon has a system of administration which is gainfully stratified from top to bottom and closely monitored. This includes the governor at the level of the region, the Prefect at the level of the Division and the Sub Prefect at the level of the Sub Division. The government does not only appoint the officials but moves them around the country so that by the end of the day, they have worked in many different regions and learned lessons from those regions. None of the officials is immovable and government policy is such that any of them can be appointed to head an administrative unit in any part of the country, regardless of whether they are from that region or not. Because of that policy, people from different religious (including Christians and Muslims), linguistic or ethnic groups live and work together peacefully. That is why although religiously and ethnically, the northern part of Cameroon is constituted like that of Nigeria, the Muslim-Christian clashes we observe in northern Nigeria are rare in northern Cameroon.

Another point is that for decades now, Cameroonians have instituted the policy of national identity cards for its citizens. These carry details about the holder, parents details, place of birth, age and occupation. Although it may sound like an infringement on individual freedom, the national identity card is like a passport in the wider context. Nigerians are not known to have any such national identity cards, which make it difficult to identify them from one another and even from the foreigners who freely enter and leave their country.

Cameroon has one of the most efficient security systems in Africa in terms of speed and accuracy in tracking down, fishing out information and transmitting it to the right quarters. Cameroon’s security forces, especially the Police are bilingual in French and English, if at all there is need for such skills. The armed Forces including the Police are also relatively quite disciplined.

I believe Cameroon has a role to play in seeking a solution to the current security crisis rocking Nigeria. However, the taste of the pudding lies in the eating.