In a sense, President
Goodluck Jonathan’s open and public
statement that the violent Islamic sect,
Boko Haram has infiltrated the federal
government the presidency, legislature
and the judiciary especially, is the
final indication that our security
forces have capitulated to the power
and intrigues of Boko Haram, a small
band of radical Muslims.
It is now apparent that
the President and his security agencies
heads, among whom are the inspector
general of the Nigeria police force, the
Director Generals of the State Security
Service and the National Intelligence
Agency cannot figure out how to deal
with the Boko Haram crisis.
The dreaded Islamist
sect, Boko Haram is continuously
recruiting any one that believes in
their absolute values—suicide bombing
mentality and explosive religious
temperament.
The sect believes in acts
of physical punishment, in the negative
control of others, and has a strong
rejection of collaboration and dialogue
with persons outside their absolute
convictions. And the Boko Haram
aggressors see goodness in punitive
religious behaviors.
Our National security
forces and other anti-Boko Haram forces
have continued to engage in heavy-handed
gunfight with the group, and the sect
members face continued raid and arrest
by security agents, yet the killings of
innocent civilians and burning of their
homes endures.
All along the Boko Haram
group is concentrated in the Northern
part of the country but now we are told
they in the government which means they
are everywhere across the nation.
The violent Jihadist sect
is still in its emerging state and
currently non-international in its
terror work. As an Islamic combative
group which seeks to establish an
Islamic doctrine in every place it
members find themselves, anything that
does not strictly adhere to its
interpretation of human behavior and
societal governance is null and void.
This includes the Nigerian Constitution.
To them the current
system of Democracy in Nigeria which is
patterned after that of the United
States of America is antithetical to
their faith and therefore sinful in its
entirety.
The only way forward for
the group is to have control everywhere
in which they are present, and use
violence in an effort to impose a strict
form of Islamic ideology.
At least within Nigeria,
the Boko Haram has established itself as
a domestic terrorist organization and
seeks to create direct and indirect
influence in common places within the
society and exert influence in
government leadership.
To begin to understand
Boko Haram believers and agents the
psychological profile of its dead and
living leaders as well as its students
within the country and Africa need to
emerge.
The sect appears driven
by a deeply-rooted psychological
positions and teachings marked with
massive oppositional, destructive,
manipulative, controlling, disguising,
possessive, submissive, retributive,
warrior, and deadly characteristics.
In order to begin to
safeguard our national security,
psychological testing and investigations
by non-psychiatrists but by persons
trained in doctoral level
forensic/clinical/social psychology will
be needed by the government.
There is needed in order
to introduce psychological personality
and investigations exam questions to
help assess already serving employees
and applicants for security and other
sensitive agencies.
Culturally appropriate
psychological instruments could be used
to learn more about the general or
specific facts about potential Boko
Haram interest and sympathizers.
Psychological instruments could help us
find out how they function, help to
predict their violent behavior and
functioning in the future.
Psychological testing and
its outcomes could contribute to some
decision making process to many security
problems currently faced by the nation.
John
Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D, is the
Secretary-General of the Nigeria
Psychological Association (NPA), Abuja.
Jos5930458@aol.com
Published
January 15th, 2012
