T he launch of the Terror Victims Support Fund, chaired by General T.Y. Danjuma is not only timely, but necessary, given the spate of bombings and other evil atrocities being committed by enemies of Nigeria. Terrorist activity has disrupted the lives of millions of our innocent citizens for many years now – and the pledged funds will hopefully provide some sort of succour to those affected. However, despite the noteworthy amounts that have been – and are to be – donated by well-meaning Nigerians and corporate bodies, long-term ideas and solutions are still needed to combat terrorism. We cannot finance our way out of this insurgency. Money cannot solve all our problems.

T he launch of the Terror Victims Support Fund, chaired by
General T.Y. Danjuma is not only timely, but necessary, given
the spate of bombings and other evil atrocities being
committed by enemies of Nigeria. Terrorist activity has
disrupted the lives of millions of our innocent citizens for many
years now – and the pledged funds will hopefully provide some
sort of succour to those affected.
However, despite the noteworthy amounts that have been – and
are to be – donated by well-meaning Nigerians and corporate
bodies, long-term ideas and solutions are still needed to
combat terrorism. We cannot finance our way out of this
insurgency. Money cannot solve all our problems. The terror Victims Support Fund should not be seen by Mr.
Pesident and his team as an impetus to take the brakepads of
the gas. It should be seen as a last resort – a measure aimed
at enhancing the lives that have been affected by the failure
to secure the lives and properties of many Nigerians.

In a similar regard, the $1 billion dollar loan request – for
additional funding in the fight against Boko Haram – that the
President made to the National Assembly a few weeks ago,
must be critically examined by our legislators – and approved
only if credible action plans and strategies are accompanied
with this enormous funding request. Our long term strategy in
this endeavour must be reactionary only when it needs to be.
However – for the most part – we must adopt proactive and
preventative measures.
To begin with, we must look into pervasive social and economic
issues like corruption, poverty, access to education, and
unemployment in order to truly curb terrorism. Our servicemen
and women may continue to work hard on the frontlines to take
out insurgents, however, these insurgents will only be replaced
by younger and fresher radicals – who stand ever-ready to
fight and die with nothing to lose, if the terrorist recruitment
pool is not drained.
As flawed as it may sound, many of these radicals go through
with their evil deeds because they are brainwashed into
believing that their actions will correct the skewed-justice in
our society.
So, first and foremost, we must tackle the issue of corruption.
Boko Haram has directly and indirectly stated that one of the
reasons it fights, is to rescue Nigeria from corruption. The
blatant nature of many of the corrupt practices in our society
– especially with the wealthy and well-connected – is enough
to provoke the poor and downtrodden into wanting to take
radical action. Embezzle N1 billion in Nigeria, and you get a
N10 million fine and get hailed in the streets as a “Great
Man”. Steal a goat to feed your hungry family in Nigeria, and
you get called a thief and receive a jail or death sentence. This
is unacceptable and unsustainable for our security and
democracy.
In addition to fighting corruption, we must educate the
younger generation early. We must teach them about nation
building, and instill in them a sense of pride and responsibility
– by making them buy into furthering the Nigerian project. To
do this, more schools must be built, and our educational system
must evolve to accommodate the varied cultural-settings and
constraints posed by the diversity of rural and urban Nigeria.
For example, the Federal Government-sponsored Almajiris that
have been set up in Northern Nigeria, need to be replicated,
multiplied, and kept properly secure – especially in terrorist
recruiting hotspots and villages, so that our children have
better access to teachers – who will hopefully serve as role
models before the terrorists come along spewing their gospel of
hate and violence.
A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to education is no longer
sufficient in Nigeria. Children must be taught the basic
subjects that they need to know in this fast-paced world.
However, they must also be taught the relevant issues and skills
that are germane to their immediate environments. If they live
in areas with high agricultural activity, our children must be
taught the benefits, and best-practices of farming in their
schools. If they live in areas with high petroleum activity, they
must be taught about the economic and social effects of
mining petroleum. Therefore, if they live in areas with high-
insurgent activities, they must be taught the practical skills
needed to survive in such environment. Teach them to detect
manipulative and brainwash techniques early, and they will
resist the recruiters when they come along. Teach our young
men self defence, and in the absence of security – they can
rally to hold the forth in their communities before help arrives.
As pragmatic as this sounds, what we need to do is to augment
the theoretical education of our youth with knowledge that will
help them survive in their respective societies. Our security
apparatus is already stretched thin, and we cannot afford to
only focus on affected communities when they become victims.
In the absence of credible and permanent measures against
this insurgency, the government needs to arm these
communities with practical defensive training.
World Bank figures puts the number of Nigerians living in
poverty somewhere around 100 million. Figures available from
the National Bureau of Statistics pegs youth unemployment in
Nigeria somewhere around 20.3 million. As a country that
boasts about being Africa’s largest economy, we must enhance
our preexisting efforts at cutting down the unemployment and
poverty rates in the country.
Empowerment schemes like the Federal Government’s YouWin
program must be made to impact more Youth around the
country – not only the literate ones. We should understand
that not every Nigerian that has a credible business idea, can
write a proposal that would make him or her a beneficiary of
the empowerment scheme funds. Because of this, we must aid
in the setting up of hyper-localized community banking
systems that will give the skilled but illiterate members of our
society access to funding for their ideas.
Like security (or a lack thereof), unemployment is everyone’s
business. This is because historically, the correlation between
the two has always been strong. If we provide more
opportunities that will get the younger and more likely-to-be
recruited groups off the streets, and into work, they will be
less likely to engage in self-destructive activities. Access to
education, employment, and poverty alleviation programs have
been proven to be some of the most effective ways of
combating gang-recruitment, and in turn – gang violence. And
for all intents and purposes – with its modes of operation and
recruitment – Boko Haram is nothing more than a well-armed
gang.
Moving forward, ideas must complement funding and funding
requests – especially when it comes to security. Big blank
cheques will not solve our problems. Well thought out ideas will.