The West and Others

Boko Haram, Western media and Truth Dissolved

Video; courtesy CNN

Photo courtesy CNN

“Whether the Chibok schoolgirls are found or not, the US and western imperialist militaries will use the opportunity to seek a permanent base in the country, and play more roles in the internal security policies. With this will be deeper involvement of western imperialism in the politics and economics of the country. He, who controls the defence, dictates the pace of the politics and by extension controls the economy.”~~Kola Ibrahim

"#BringBackOurGirls masks the reality that Washington’s real mission is to protect corporate theft of Nigeria’s wealth.”~~Danny Haiphong

A couple of years ago, Boko Haram terrorists went on a rampage in Bornu State at the North Eastern part of Nigeria. It was reported that their mission was to destroy all telecommunication masts in that State in their bid to evade capture. They had come to the conclusion that those masts aided in pinpointing their location. In the end, a good number of these telecommunication masts were destroyed in the State and at other localities.

About a month ago, Nigerians had a rude awakening; an ever-changing number of Nigerian girls had been kidnapped from school as they sought to sit for their exams. Both the Nigerian government and witnesses reported they had been evacuated by Boko Haram terrorists into the dreaded Sambisa forest, a cave-littered stronghold and camp for these ruthless terrorists.

One of the girls who reportedly escaped told C.N.N these terrorists came in a convoy of seven lorries. A convoy of seven lorries is a very visible target, especially in the dead of night. It is noisy and in the North Eastern hinterland was sure to leave a continuous cloud of dust in its wake. The sound produced on approach would have served as sufficient alarm to the residents of Chibok and the numerous vigilantes that patrolled those areas.

Photos courtesy NoDisinfo.com
Watching the same C.N.N channel a few days later with my kids, my youngest daughter asked why the girls didn’t call someone for help. I naively told her it was because kidnapped girls don’t have access to telephones. Then to my utter surprise she said “But look, that girl has a black mobile phone!” And indeed she did! My daughter ran up to the TV and said pointing “And that’s another one that seems to be fiddling with a mobile phone too!” I froze as the implications of what had been pointed out to me sank in.

It was Nigeria’s First Lady who first called attention to the fact that perhaps those girls were not kidnapped at all. At the time, people felt she was insensitive and callous. She was shouted down all over the place but there is in fact evidence to suggest that she may have been absolutely right after all. If you can still find this video online, I urge you to take a careful look at the girl in the black hijab and also keep your eyes on the girl in the grey hijab squatting in front and to the right of her. She is the one with the black mobile phone featured on C.N.N.

Photo courtesy CNN
There is no doubt that those girls featured as Nigeria’s kidnapped school children had cell phones. Let us forget for a quick moment that they do not look harassed or stressed out and ignore the fact that they all looked exceptionally well-tended and at ease. The question that nags me most is does Sambisa forest have network service? Which telecommunication service provider would be so foolish as to set up service in the middle of that dense forest, especially consideration that Boko Haram had set about destroying telecommunications masts in Bornu State? Why would Boko Haram tolerate the presence of telecommunication masts in their stronghold and camps knowing as they did it could lead to their capture? Most importantly, why in the world would ruthless terrorists allow kidnapped girls the use of their mobile phones? It just did not add up, something sure smelt like fish.

These observations did not just cause me deep reflections but very serious concern as well. I wanted to know who benefits from all of this. What their motives were and where it was leading us. My country and people have been deeply traumatized by these goings-on. Kids fear for their lives on their way to and back from school. These terrorists have not only terrorized parents but traumatized kids as well.

Kola Ibrahim’s excellent article, Boko Haram and the West’s Military Intervention in Nigeria, brings to life all my suspicions. In it he states “The current messianic status being accorded western imperialist governments of the United States (US), Britain, France, etc as being expressed in major newspapers in the country and internationally, is misplaced and indeed dangerous. Of course, behind the latest imperialist intervention is Nigeria’s bankrupt, corrupt capitalist ruling class, through i[t]s rotten politics, which has failed Nigerians in all areas. While the western governments claim that only a few military and intelligence forces will be involved, the reality is that the country is in [fact] a protracted foreign military hostage.”

Mr. Ibrahim further states “Whether the Chibok schoolgirls are found or not, the US and western imperialist militaries will use the opportunity to seek a permanent base in the country, and play more roles in the internal security policies. With this will be deeper involvement of western imperialism in the politics and economics of the country. He, who controls the defence, dictates the pace of the politics and by extension controls the economy.”

The frightful reality that emerges from the above deduction is especially true if the girls are not found. Not finding these girls would prolong foreign interference and subterfuge in my country. It would create the excuse for these foreign interventionists to entrench themselves and expand their tentacles in areas that leave us open to foreign domination. The longer the search goes on, the deeper and far-reaching this foreign entrenchment becomes.

In another excellent article, “Bring Back Our Girls” Campaign: Reinforcing U.S. Imperialism, the Root of Terrorism in Africa, Danny Haiphong observes that “The #BringBackOurGirls campaign has become the loudest voice for U.S. imperialism and military domination of Africa. Its only message is that the U.S. “do something” – as if America is not already responsible for the death of millions of Africans in Congo, Somalia and elsewhere. #BringBackOurGirls masks the reality that Washington’s real mission is to protect corporate theft of Nigeria’s wealth.”

Mr. Haiphong maintains that “US imperialism is the real terrorist for African people and the root of terrorism in Africa… The rhetoric emanating from the mainstream, corporate campaign reinforces US imperialism in Africa, which essentially is a continuation of hundreds of years of Western colonialism, white power, and neo-colonialism on the continent.”

He notes that “US military intervention finds ideological justification in the Western worldview that claims Africa, and in this case Nigeria, is ungovernable without “aid” from US imperialism. Yet “aid” from US imperialist interests has been happening for years in Nigeria and all that has come from it is more poverty, internal conflict, and land theft.” and he concludes by insisting “So, while some may tweet #BringBackOurGirls, the movement we really need to build is one that demands US imperialism out of Africa all together.”

The claims by Western media that some parents have identified eighty-eight of those girls as their kids simply cannot be true. If it were true C.N.N reporters at Chibok would have been inundated with tribes of parents wailing in agony upon their arrival. When it comes to their children, Nigerian parents are fearless. If they could go into Sambisa forest in pursuit of their kids that fateful night with crude bows and arrows as reported by C.N.N, there would be nothing in this world to stop them from airing their frustrations to the media en block. Fear would never have been an issue.

What we saw were a few recurrent faces repeating the same narrative about government not doing enough to find their kids. Sambisa forest does not have network coverage because Boko Haram members know it is a tool that aids tracking them. Besides, it is unprofitable for telecommunications providers to waste resources mapping out such areas. Wild animals have no use for such facilities.

Clearly then, if these girls were texting on mobile phones, it must follow they were not in Sambisa forest. Also, if they had the freedom to use their mobile phones then too, it must follow they were under no form of duress or captivity. So, what’s going on here? Who are these girls featured by Western media as Nigeria’s kidnapped school girls? Are they even Nigerians? Where did people on the run, plodding ever deeper into Sambisa forest, find the time to make three hundred hijabs for ‘kidnapped’ school girls and sit them for recitals and photo ops? Look at all those girls, no signs of sleep deprivation or fatigue, no stress marks, no tears. In fact, they are as fresh as lilies by the river bed.

If you ask me, it’s all tales from Hollywood told to dissolve the truth.


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