Boko haram resurgence and the state of emergency

Whether we admit it or not it is now indisputable and indubitable that the joint task force[JTF] in its current formation cannot guarantee the security of life and property of nigerians from the grave and existential threat posed by boko haram. Boko haram have so flexed their muscles they dont seem to go after civilians in churches and mosques anymore but after the security agents that are supposed to secure lives. They have been emboldened by the sophistication of their weaponry that they now take the battle to the doorsteps of the army, airforce and anybody who stands in their way. On the 2nd of december boko haram terrorists numbering over 300 attacked an airforce base in maiduguri with heavy artilleries which included rocket propelled grenade launchers[such is the level of their sophistication] The defence headquarters issued a statement in which they said boko haram only managed to destroy some de-commissioned aircratfs but you and i know that is a face- saving lie. To show that the airforce base attack wasnt a fluke or a one-off scenario boko haram again attacked the military barracks in bama,maiduguri in the early hours of friday the 20th of december, as usual the defence headquarters in its reposte said the attack was "repelled" If boko haram can attack an airforce base and a military barracks with impunity then how secured is the average nigerian?where will their help come from? One factor that has made mockery of our fight against terrorism is the failure to gather sufficient intelligence about these terrorists intelligence gathering is central and key to fighting terrorism and our security agencies have failed in this regard. If they had been more proficient in intelligence gathering we wouldnt have been in the morass we are today. In 2009 boko haram was a 'local' terrorist group with crude, incendiary bombs and locally made rifles. We had the opportunity to continue the onslaught on this group after the death of their founder yusuf muhammed but the security agencies thought it was uhuru and gave them ample time to regroup only to come back stronger. A yoruba adage says "kekere la ti pa eka iroko tori to ba dagba apa oni ka" meaning it is better to trim the branch of an iroko tree when small because when it grows it would be impossible to do so. When president jonathan declared the state of emergency in borno, yobe and adamawa states it was applauded although long overdue. Few weeks after the declaration reports indicated that the terrorists were fleeing across the border because of the increased firepower of the JTF. At that point intelligence gathering should have been stepped up to gather enough information about the modus operandi of this group but this wasnt done and now 7months after we are back to square one, the terrorists are back with a bang! The fight against terrorism is one that shouldnt be done intermittently, whenever the security agencies have these vicious monsters on their heels everything should be done to keep that advantage. If one thing is clear in all these it is the fact that the state of emergency or whatever tactic the jonathan administration has employed is futile and counter productive. Albert einstein defined madness as "doing the same thing and expecting a different result",now is the time for president jonathan as commander-in-chief to summon the security chiefs and re-examine strategy to devise better ways of countering boko haram's menace. Relieving the service chiefs of their duties shouldnt be out of the question Let us continue this conversation on twitter @mofesola_