In the final analysis, terrorism becomes an instrument of the oppressors against the oppressed majority. Over the years the Nigerian ruling elite has maintained its grip over the country on the basis of the old and tested method of divide and rule, a method inherited from the past colonial masters and perfected by the Nigerian ruling elite.
The fact is that the ruling elite is scared of the growing unity of the Nigerian masses as they embark on yet another general strike. The ruling class understand correctly that once the Nigerian workers and poor are united, ending the corrupt rule of the present elite would be just a matter of time. All the local ruling elites are united at the top, but they use every trick they can so that ordinary working Nigerians are sharply divided along both religious and tribal lines.
Boko Haram’s action is becoming more and more divisive. [Note: Boko Haram an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation based in the north east of Nigeria] With its action, it has emboldened the present regime and provided with the excuse it needed to allocate N921billion for security, obviously not for the purpose of fighting terrorism but to fight the Nigerian masses that are presently on the move. Every one of their actions directly coincides with the interests of the Nigerian ruling elite. The masses have correctly drawn the conclusion that their liberation and freedom lie in their unity across the religious and tribal divides. However, this drive for unity is constantly coming up against the actions of these fundamentalists and various other charlatans, whose purpose is to divide the people.
This regime sheds crocodile tears in public, while its real wish is for Boko Haram’s bombing campaign to continue and thereby further divide and distract the working people from the real issues. We should not forget that the ruling class in Egypt sponsored their agents to pose as Muslim fundamentalists and got them to attack the Christians in an attempt to derail the revolution by fomenting ethnic and religious conflict! If the Egyptian ruling elite tried this once, the Nigerian ruling class will do it ten times over based on their antecedents. The workers of Nigeria need to be more vigilant and independently verify any claims made in public statements of the police on the bombings and shootings by Boko Haram.
Mass action is the most potent force that can genuinely shake an oppressive system to its foundations and not the cowardly actions of a few extreme terrorists and suicide bombers.
Mass action in Kano has already shown the way forward. Let it be followed by similar actions in Jos, Gombe, Borno and Adamawa. The Nigerian working class has a lot to do in this regard. The Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) remains the most powerful forces available to lead the Nigerians in unity against this series of attacks, while maintaining the unity of all Nigerian working people.
Source: Workers' Alternative (Nigeria)