LET REASON PREVAIL

This time last year bombs were still dropping in the northeast of Nigeria. Towns were being over-run, territories captured, communities sacked, people killed in their hundreds. There was massive exodus out of the northeast even as Boko Haram installed their authority in fourteen local governments.

But everyone knew it was only a matter of time, for all the terror sect had done was to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve

Twelve months later, captured towns and villages have been liberated, Boko Haram torrorists have been sent scampering to all corners, Boko Haram-held terroritories levelled and the exodus is now back into the northeast as displaced people return to their homes.

The collateral damage to the northeast would take many many years and billions of dollars to rebuild.

But while bombs have stopped dropping in the northeast and life gradually returning to normalcy, the Niger Delta region is fast becoming the new theatre of war as militants continue to bomb oil installations. It seems no lessons have been learnt.

War is never made of rose water. it is easy to start a war; to end it however is a different ball game. More often than not, the party who started off a war is often not the winner. Check history.

Indeed, there is never a winner in war. What you often end with in a war situation is the party who lost the more. It is a matter of degree of loss. There is never a gain; never really a victory. Inevitably, all parties lose.

 The emerging scenario in the Niger Delta portends grave danger for everyone.  But while the government would lose nothing other than money in the long run, the nation would lose, the people would lose and the Niger Delta region would lose even more. The damage that would occur would take decades to repair.

Let reason prevail. There are better ways for political negotiation