The battle began, for the survival of a nation at war with itself. Cloudburst sounds all over the sky. Citizens wail. At the battlefield, victory is being announced. A party in the war wins. Yes! Victory. Years gone, the war never ends, the opposing sides are fragmented. With maximum chutzpah, the victorious says it will stay on for 50 years. 50 what?! The citizens cry. Agonies and pains. All expect transformation, though not miraculous but in deed and in truth they wait to see. Disappointment speaks. The homeland of tears.
The divided oppositions try yearly to offset the balance and strength of the massive firepower employed by the victor. Though seemingly poorly trained in the art of statecraft, soldiers in the victorious wing understands the esoteric undertone of stirring the water to catch fishes. Divide and Rule; victory is assured. It sets up different tiny and minute groups within the opposition, funds them and deploy them as a veritable too of distraction.
The only alternative is the voice. The united voice of the oppositions. Though all animals are equal in crime and the anomalies combating the homeland but some are more reasonable than others. Soldiers trapped in the trench call out loud. They clamour for change over the loss on the battlefield. They echo the cries of the homeland. They are all culpable though for the destruction but some soldiers are better of. They have their Armoured Personnel Carrier packed in the thick jungle of war but cannot get there because they lack the voice.
Selfish and vainglorious interests impede change and charge. The only way to counter the trenches and 'formidable' fortress of the winning and victorious side is the deployment of the APC and its monumental missiles. The missiles of the people. The undaunting voice. The commanders of the different units have never agreed on any single line of action but the APC smiles from afar in wait of usage. Covered with dust, it seems the last option otherwise the entire homeland will blow up beyond repair. Critics and foreign rapists already pray for that.
Here comes the armoured personnel carrier, a dancing golden weapon of war. The stealth of fear and perplexity for the victorious party. A drone with a political mission. The soldiers are the same but the mission is of the people only if the people will look at the years of pains and inhumanity. They have to rise. The APC must shield all from the bullets of the ruling party. It must break the trenches of warfare already planned. All must be able to queue at its back for utmost protection. All the landmines of poverty must be uprooted.
The nation the APC is about to lead to battle is the trigger of Africa. Africa waits for Nigeria. If Nigeria divides, Africa falls. Neo-colonialism will assume an unprecedented dimension. The launchpad of the APC should not be personality attacks. The warheads should not be abuse and senseless unethical views. Arguments are for advancements. Arguments must occur but it must be for developments not who gets what, when and how. Arguments must be about Nigeria not Hausa, Igbo, Niger Delta or Yoruba.
The APC must be a guardian angel. Internal Democracy must be the prism through which all arguments and discussions shall be viewed. The people not only cry of the battle but also because their homeland lacks any concrete ideology. Programmes and course of actions must be explicit in the new theatre of political war. Being tired of the ruling and winning party is not the main headache, the main morass is being led without focus. The people are led blindly. We have indigenous acts before Europe, the dynamism of the APC on the battlefield will be the marriage of history and modernism.
The principle of soldiers in an APC is always 'All for One, One for All.' Soldiers in an APC fight together as one for surviaval and victory. None looks for personal glory. If one falls, others weep. Need and aspirations must be based on societal demands not personal aggrandizement. Soldiers in the APC must learn to SACRIFICE for the people not SACRIFICE the people like the Boko Haram and various unknown gunmen as well as militant events. The people must SPEAK through the APC.
Global Affairs on Africa's Prism
Showing posts with label Niger Delta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niger Delta. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Piracy in Africa: The End of a New Beginning
Maritime insecurity in Africa, particularly in connection with acts of piracy, has constituted an important field of study for security researchers in recent years.
It has also frequently made local and global media headlines. Despite this trend, the focus in recent reports is starting to shift away from alarm towards detailing the diminishing threat of piracy around Somalia. Large-scale pirate activities there appear to be on the wane, but in what ways can we reasonably expect 2013 to be different from the past, in East Africa and elsewhere?
So far in 2013 the most notable event has been the increase in piracy incidents off the West African coast, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. This continues the trend in 2012 noted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) where, despite a sizeable drop in the number of attacks in East Africa from 237 in 2011 to 75 in 2012, a total of 58 incidents were recorded in attacks off the West African coast in 2012, compared to 49 in 2011.
Increased naval patrols and capacity and the adoption of lessons and practices suitable to passage through these sea lanes and areas can account for the drop in attacks and might prompt hopes that piracy will eventually pose an insignificant security threat.
However, the attacks off West Africa differ from East African incidents mainly due to one factor - violent criminal acts are now connected with the movement of oil. The most recent attack took place off Côte d'Ivoire on 21 January 2013 when a large oil tanker named ITRI was hijacked, also demonstrating that the problem is not geographically limited to the Gulf of Guinea.
Crews in such cases are often assaulted while illegal oil bunkering occurs - a practice whereby the ship is drained of oil, which is subsequently spirited back to shore and either sold or refined.
This could result in oil spills, particularly around the already ravaged Niger delta. Offshore oil platforms, often seen as a means of avoiding land-based political instability, are now potential targets and frequently beyond immediate aid. Terrorist attacks on vulnerable installations could also occur, further prompting increases in the number of operations in partnership with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Many of these acts will be reported as being criminal rather than piratical, as they do not all occur in international waters but rather within the sovereign borders of states, which are set at 12 nautical miles offshore, and are thus subject to countries' own laws and legal systems, rather than being subject to international law as is commonly the case off Somalia.
Meanwhile, that of Nigeria is gradually gathering international attention though it is still largely localised. If the menace is not check appropriately, West Africa might degenerate into another Somalia just as the Islamists are allowed fertile grounds.
It has also frequently made local and global media headlines. Despite this trend, the focus in recent reports is starting to shift away from alarm towards detailing the diminishing threat of piracy around Somalia. Large-scale pirate activities there appear to be on the wane, but in what ways can we reasonably expect 2013 to be different from the past, in East Africa and elsewhere?
So far in 2013 the most notable event has been the increase in piracy incidents off the West African coast, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. This continues the trend in 2012 noted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) where, despite a sizeable drop in the number of attacks in East Africa from 237 in 2011 to 75 in 2012, a total of 58 incidents were recorded in attacks off the West African coast in 2012, compared to 49 in 2011.
Increased naval patrols and capacity and the adoption of lessons and practices suitable to passage through these sea lanes and areas can account for the drop in attacks and might prompt hopes that piracy will eventually pose an insignificant security threat.
However, the attacks off West Africa differ from East African incidents mainly due to one factor - violent criminal acts are now connected with the movement of oil. The most recent attack took place off Côte d'Ivoire on 21 January 2013 when a large oil tanker named ITRI was hijacked, also demonstrating that the problem is not geographically limited to the Gulf of Guinea.
Crews in such cases are often assaulted while illegal oil bunkering occurs - a practice whereby the ship is drained of oil, which is subsequently spirited back to shore and either sold or refined.
This could result in oil spills, particularly around the already ravaged Niger delta. Offshore oil platforms, often seen as a means of avoiding land-based political instability, are now potential targets and frequently beyond immediate aid. Terrorist attacks on vulnerable installations could also occur, further prompting increases in the number of operations in partnership with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Many of these acts will be reported as being criminal rather than piratical, as they do not all occur in international waters but rather within the sovereign borders of states, which are set at 12 nautical miles offshore, and are thus subject to countries' own laws and legal systems, rather than being subject to international law as is commonly the case off Somalia.
Meanwhile, that of Nigeria is gradually gathering international attention though it is still largely localised. If the menace is not check appropriately, West Africa might degenerate into another Somalia just as the Islamists are allowed fertile grounds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)