Niger Delta: the slipery slope of a wider theater of war.

Events since Buhari was sworn in as president is self-evident the country is teetering on to the path of self-destruction. It is like a banana republic imploding within, with political players each carrying a mini-atomic bomb. Since Buhari moved into Aso Rock, he has demostrated his distaste for the rule of law, civil institutions, other democratic norms and ethos. Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult for the silent and suffering majority to voice any say about how his leadership affects their lives. Increasingly, Nigeria is transmutating to be like North Korea where a self-anointed leader is worshipped like a tin-god.

In the post-presidential elections Nigeria, it has become routine for the army and paramilitary forces to openly shoot at prostesters or street demostrators. Buhari sees demostrations as a challenge to his leadership and a tabu to his status as a reincarnated military despot of the 1984 era. For him, dialogue is the last resort and iron-fisted reactions with guns blazing from uniformed troops is the only antidote to quel dissent. Once again, Buhari is acting to type and reaffirming those pundits who predicted that in ex general Buhari, old soldiers never go away. The results of hundreds of Shiites killed and buried in Zaria, by the army and hundreds more IPOB demostrators killed at Onitsha, Aba and elsewhere speaks for itself.

Given the above synopsis as backdrop, it is no wonder that Buhari is leaving no stones unturned at rolling in military hardware into the Niger Delta as a show of force and gunboat diplomacy. Buhari cannot believe a pesky outfit called the Avengers can challenge his unlimited presidential power. Unfortunately, this kind of mindset from a leader can hardly be a uniting force for a diverse society like Nigeria and her further implosion into explosive smithereens cannot be helped.

For the Avengers who have promised to go down fighting by destroying every vestige of oil and gas industry in the region, they seem to wellcome and relish in Buhari’s gunboat diplomacy. And the indication is that they are going to help Buhari destroy the country so it can be restructured, if that’s what is needed to effect mutual respect of the diverse entities in the country. To that extent, the Avengers won’t mind to acquire all the latest state of the art gadgets in military hardware, including drones capable of bringing down fighter jets, portable shoulder-held surface to air stanger missiles capable of bringing down low level flying hellicopter gunships, etc. This is an opportunity for a carthasis the militants won’t mind to fully embrace.

Beyond that, this could also give them the confidence to expand the theater of war to include but not limited to such nice places as Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto and other sundry targets in between. This will be their way of speaking truth to power and the fact Buhari and the northern establishment do not have a monopoly of violence, trigger-happy and war-mongering citizens. With the events currently playing out in the Niger Delta, the message is that the region is sick and tired, tired and sick of Buhari’s idea of one Nigeria. The Avengers have therefore decided to go for broke to end that vaunted but false sense of political invincibility and all that jazz.

As Nigeria seems to burn from every direction, the senate of wimpish politicians have not helped to reaffirm the desire of a better and restructured Nigeria. How many more innocent IPOB demostrators must be killed by paramilitary forces, how many more women in the Gbaramatu Kingdom must be killed and raped by invading soldiers before the lawmakers either call Buhari to order or impeach him? That seems to be the tragic situation facing not only the Niger Delta, but the whole of Nigeria. One Nigeria, or whatever is left it is in the balance.

               __________ Ebi B Asain