BOKO-HARASSED: ASO ROCK IN THE CROSS-HAIRS?

For many, it was the familiarly ominous sign of a hostile takeover. When the first rumors of a “war” in or around Aso Rock first hit the news waves, discomforting emotions filled the air with their pungent emissions. Cyberspace was clogged with innumerable wonderment. Many wondered what was going on. However, when the foggy air dissipated and things became clearer, the sense of relief was enormous, instantly infectious. It was, after all, merely a few medieval miscreants attempting a jailbreak.


Yet, it wasn’t that dismissively simple. Boko Haram’s audacious attempt to break out of the DSS’s jailhouse fortress in Abuja reveals a forest of insights. First of all, we have seen how easily a few medieval idealists can overrun a supposedly impregnable prison yard built to make such a sacrilege inconceivable. We have seen how cheaply our “security operatives” can be disorganized and terrified for their own security. It smashes to smithereens the oft romanticized myth of DSS invincibility. Never mind the conflicting accounts of what really happened, it is abundantly evident that a deep flaw in the chain of guards was cleverly exploited by people who are presumably mentally inferior to those jailing them.

Second of all, it demonstrates how perilously close Boko Haram can get to Aso Rock, if they want to, and dislodge the country’s sense of peace by seeming to threaten the base of presidential power. At least, it was enough for the British government to warn its citizens about a possible evacuation. Despite Reuben Abati’s wishy-washy, “no cause for alarm” effort to minimize its significance on Jonathan’s personal safety, it is evident – ironically, by his own unwitting admission – that there was panic inside the presidential villa. Boastfully, he says, “there was no attack on the Presidential Villa.” Well said. Yet, that does not answer the nagging question of “what if Boko Haram chose to harass Aso Rock by any means, even if for the fun of it?” What if they decided to drive a full truck-load of TNT into its gates? What if they decided to imitate al Qaeda and crash a hijacked plane into its yard?

The big lesson Aso Rock should take home from the DSS breakout is to fortify its own defenses against a band of irrational medieval malcontents, whose capacity for bloody outrages is limitless. But it is ludicrous when Abati says that, despite all the hullabaloo in the neighborhood, Jonathan was never “whisked away” to safety. How dumb! Using that as a point of valor is enormously laughable. In matters of state security, the president cannot be presented to the public as a hero. His personal safety is paramount. So, while all the shooting was going on, the first logical plan of action was to move the president to a safe haven, until things became clearer. During al Qaeda’s sickening madness of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush was whisked away on an endless flight on Air Force One across America. It was the only reasonable thing to do.

By Darlington_Ehondor