The Awful Horror That is Boko Haram

It’s a silly name isn’t it? Boko Haram? Apparently, according to the internet, it means “Western education is forbidden”. Recently, a Boko Haram suicide bomber dressed up as a schoolboy, walked into a school assembly in North Eastern Nigeria and detonated himself killing many young children whose only ‘crime’ was to be attending school in order to get an education and make their ‘way in the world.’

Boko Haram, like ISIS or ISIL or whatever the mad bastards are called, is an Islamic fundamentalist organisation. It appears that the biggest threat to these organisations is the education of the young. That isn’t really a surprise is it? After all, if you receive even a moderate education you quickly learn that strapping explosives to yourself and blowing yourself, and others, away is not really a good idea.

Boko Haram kidnapped 200+ schoolgirls a while back and they are still ‘missing’, They kidnapped a few more not long ago. The Nigerian government is clearly incapable of doing very much about it as the northern part of Nigeria is virtually a ‘no go area’ if you aren’t a member or supporter of Boko Haram.

I strongly suspect that the problem is very much due to government corruption. Nigeria is notorious for corruption. A pal of mine flew into Murtala Muhammed International Airport a couple of years back and found that he could only get himself through Nigerian customs if he ‘greased the palms’ of the customs officers. Further ‘palm greasing’ ensued in order for him to collect his luggage. Bribery and corruption is, frankly, a ‘way of life’ in Nigeria.

The Nigerian police and army quite frankly couldn’t care less about the missing schoolgirls nor even the recent suicide bomber. They would care soon enough if Boko Haram started to make progress further into the country and threaten their lucrative bribery culture in what they perceive as their ‘safe’ bit of Nigeria.

The Nigerian government couldn’t really care less about the missing girls either. It makes the necessary ‘noises’ to the international media of course – well it has to really doesn’t it – but, in reality, the Nigerian government is populated by politicians who make ours in the west look like Mary Poppins.

That is, in my view, why we should continue to be very worried indeed by Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic fundamentalism exists everywhere but, at the moment, is thriving in corrupt and virtually ungovernable countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan and Iraq. These countries are ungovernable quite simply because their regimes are corrupt to the core and will remain so as long as they, the politicians of these countries, are living in luxury whilst their people are being kidnapped, blown up and even beheaded by Islamic extremists.

The security of the entire world is at stake and the people on the real ‘front line’ are Nigerian, Pakistani and Iraqi politicians to name but three.

Oh dear.

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