SIR,
COMBATING BOKO HARAM
I read in the papers that worried by the sadistic activities of the bloody Islamic sect, Boko Haram, the US ambassador to Nigerian Terence Mc Culley declared the willingness of his country in tackling one of the major root causes of insecurity, poverty. The ambassador told the Nigerian government that to reverse the trend, the US will work with the Nigerian government to alleviate poverty in the country.
The diplomat specifically urged the federal government to focus development on its impoverished North as well as step up security to bring to an end the deadly attacks of Boko Haram.
I feel this may not work out so easily because development begins with education and these Northerners abhor Western education believing that Arabic education is the ideal. Boko Haram insists that Western education is evil and must be avoided at all costs. This sect tends to hate non indigenes as their main ideology is to harass and force them to leave for their states of origin.
How then can development come to these Northern states with such anti social agenda? The North is today habitable for socio – economic activities because of the massive development of the built up areas by the Igbos and few Nigerians.
I think the American antidote to underdevelopment of these Northern parts of the country is not correct.
Nneka Obi
Owerri.
