The first recorded act of terror was in the Bible when Joseph’s brothers captured the young lad and sold him to the Midianites (Genesis 37: 12-36). Corporate terrorism arguably began when Barrabas began to organize a group of outlaws to fight the Roman occupation of Jewish territory at the time of Christ. The Barrabas men morphed into the Zealots of Judea who were called the knife men or the Sicarii by the Roman colonizers. The Sicarii were a guerilla band of terrorists who killed Romans and fellow Jews who were seen to sympathize with the Roman occupiers.
The sect-based Assassins of modern day Iran and Syria followed after the demise of the Sicarii. They terrorized today’s Middle East targeting sympathizers to the then Sunni regime, intent on installing governments based on their own creed. This was between the 11th and the 13th centuries. It was the Assassins who introduced the mettlesome dimension of suicide attacks now associated with modern day terrorism.
Since then it has been tales of woe. A new dimension was even added to the menace of terrorism when it somehow became official policy of state. State terrorism was actually first acknowledged beginning from 1795 when quick and successive governments that followed the French revolution of 1789 were given the appendage of “reign of terror”. But it was Chairman Mao of the Chinese revolution who stamped state terrorism when he declared that it was only by guerilla warfare that a weak nation could defeat a strong one.
Since the early days of terrorism, the world has been ravaged by the menace. From the Organisation de l’armée Secrete (OAS) – the group of French terrorists who fought the French government in opposition to Algerian independence, to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – the Irish group demanding self determination for Northern Ireland, it is the same story. We have had all kinds of groups all over the world particularly from the two warring nations of Arab and Israel in the Middle East.
Here in Africa we had thought terrorism was only limited to parts of North Africa and perhaps East Africa particularly with the age-long terror that has ravaged Somalia eventually making it a failed state. No one ever thought that it would visit Nigeria, let alone become a phenomenon in the country. This is why the Nigerian government and security agencies have been caught napping, only to find that no one had prepared any of the security arms for a day as this. Though unfortunate, no one can be blamed for this.
This is why every Nigerian needs to pause and begin to appreciate the enormity of damage which the present state of terror holds out for the nation, and which we all must join hands and fight. First and perhaps the least is the fear and intimidation which may have been inflicted on the women folk of parts of the north. This factor, depending on how much it heals, could further frustrate education and enterprise among northern girls/women and widen the gap in this regard between the north and the south.
A more far-reaching consequence is the pending lack and spiraling inflation which the present terror state of affairs could cause. Hunger looms in the land as many of these northern farmers have either relocated to places they consider safer and have not farmed at all, or where they have farmed have completely abandoned their farms. The prospects in this light become graver when we consider the fact that most of Nigeria’s staple foods come from this part of the country. If terror is not subdued, the prospects of severe hunger and heightened destitution loom.
Closely related to this is the prospect of inflation relating to products of enterprises associated with persons from the southern part of the country. The pharmaceutical economy in the north for example has been severely hit what with the massive suspension of activities and in some cases total pull-out of operations by many firms owned by southerners in this area of economic endeavor. Apart from the impending lack, there are grave prospects of massive return of fake drug merchants at least in these parts of the country.
Down south the terror of kidnap holds out grave consequences. Many entrepreneurs who invest in factories and other forms of enterprise in the villages are increasingly getting wiser with the fear of kidnap. And these days incessant bombings in the cities are not making the latter safer. So while the cities are getting worse business-wise with the fear of attack from insurgents, the villages decay further with fast dwindling injection of business capital into the places.
Another issue that has adverse multiplier effects is the rubbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul syndrome which the pattern of government spending will now take. To prosecute the fight against terrorism needs huge sums of money and effort. This means that government will be bound to cut down on certain expenditure heads to be able to sustain and win the war. Already the government is asking to borrow $1 billion toward this war effort. Apart from productive and planned areas being deprived, money spent on the fight has no immediate economic dividend, save perhaps for the fact that winning the war will help ensure a stable environment for economic activities. Closely related to this is the enormous cost of rehabilitating terror-devastated communities and institutions.
Finally, I see a disturbing trend occasioned by the amnesty strategy which the government adopts toward arresting insurgencies. The amnesty program which has been used to contain terror groups of the Niger Delta in a way gives impetus to reoccurrence of terror in other parts of the country. Even as it is now some are of the opinion that the government should negotiate with insurgent groups of northern Nigeria. And it seems that why this has not happened is the fact that these groups have not accepted the offer. If we continue to ‘grant amnesty’ to terror groups, then we are inadvertently opening up a new line of business. Death business.
Chuba Keshi
