On war against global terrorism and our ideologies

While most of us sit back and relax in the comfort of our homes, our kinsmen across the continent may not have such luxury if we are to go by the news on different news networks. Worse still, Africa’s perennial conflicts date as far back or even before the imperialists imposed sectarian traits within our societies. To this end, sectarian conflicts based mainly on ethnic and religious differences rather than principle have taken a toll on us, totally oblivious to the fact that our tribes once shared a certain level of camaraderie and these religions bestowed upon us were very alien, if not; they still are. And as it is said, ‘when things get bad, remember they could get worse’; Africa still hasn’t been spared from degenerating into a worse position. The conflicts have sired other closely related epidemics that have claimed a fair share of innocent lives such as famine, poverty and disease, which are in most cases used as instruments of sabotage to induce the oppressed bow down in humble supplication to their oppressors. From almost every corner of the continent there is a terrorist group. In the last couple of days I have watched in awe the mysterious bombings in Mombasa and Nairobi in less than 24 hours; the assassination of a Somali minister and another just after 24 hours; the massacre in South Sudan; the enslavement of close to 300 girls by the Boko Haram in Nigeria and the continued split between Muslims and Christians in Central African Republic. What comes to mind is an arguably Adolf Hitler quote that perfectly defines such sporadic terror thus; “I want to raise a generation of young people devoid of conscience, imperious, relentless and cruel” from the book “The end of reason” by Ravi Zacharias. Could we therefore call Hitler the grandfather of terrorism? Even if we are to go by semblances of straight forward and peaceful manners; we cannot in the wildest of dreams wish to imagine what goes on in the mind of a terrorist. Some of the indoctrinations are instilled in them at a tender age and it is perhaps one of the reasons perennial conflicts still live the scourge on the continent. Therefore, by no means should we give terrorism audience. The attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa by Al-shabab are a very clear indication that these extremists are true cowards that either have access to security information or make calculated guesses and that is why they are always capable of infiltrating security organs to strike time and again. While we anchor in our comfort, we should remember that terrorism grows by the day and we ought to be vigilant lest it keep spreading. The regional security conference held in Kigali recently was of course one to help oust such occurrences within our region, but it is still our duty to provide the necessary help to our security organs to combat terrorism. That way, we shall grant ourselves a sense of security and peace. It is not so farfetched to think peace even when the world is arguably said to have only been peaceful for eight years since its existence. We can still be hopeful it will eventually come. Out of hope, we could all perhaps hide behind John Lennon’s Wisdom from the song – Imagine; “you may say am a dreamer, but am not the only one. I hope someday you will join us. And the world will live as one”. The writer is a social commentator based in Kigali