Boko Haram is not a disease. It is a rebellious movement whose methods combine traditional military combats, suicide attacks, forced labor, and civilian subordination. Peoples of different backgrounds are today members of Boko Haram, a baby whose face concentrates the misery of Africa. Those in Boko Haram could be any African who at one time or another thought enough is enough.
I have seen people all over the continent searching for new ways to make a living for themselves and their loved ones. These ways are often extreme. All extreme ways are not alike. Boko Haram is an extreme way to make a living at other peoples' cost. Crossing the Mediterranean sea is another extreme way to make a living at oneself's cost. Serving as housemaid in the Middle East is yet another extreme way at oneself's cost to make a living. Many other extreme ways are hidden in every one of us. We have left behind us without always valid reasons aging parents, vulnerable brothers and sisters, and fragile societies. We have traveled miles for almost no impact. We are not as Europeans conquering America. We did not conquer a thing.
But who to blame for our misery, our quest for extreme to make a living of very little impact on ourselves and our community? Shall we blame our governments? Shall we blame Westerns? Since we are part of these constituted groups, it will be a shame to exclude ourselves for common failures.
Our education has one purpose: "live by standards." A life at extremes is not a standard life. Being part of Boko Haram is not a standard. Crossing the Mediterranean sea is not a standard. Travelling all the way from Ethiopia to Lebanon to work in-house is not a standard.
Extreme events will never be normal events. They are risky events with very little probability mass of occurrence. There will always be the lucky event among many events. It is the law of probability. The point to be made is that extremes are very costly for our continent. Losses through extremism are by far higher than gains. Extremism is about a person, standard is about common good. We must learn to live by standards.
I have seen people all over the continent searching for new ways to make a living for themselves and their loved ones. These ways are often extreme. All extreme ways are not alike. Boko Haram is an extreme way to make a living at other peoples' cost. Crossing the Mediterranean sea is another extreme way to make a living at oneself's cost. Serving as housemaid in the Middle East is yet another extreme way at oneself's cost to make a living. Many other extreme ways are hidden in every one of us. We have left behind us without always valid reasons aging parents, vulnerable brothers and sisters, and fragile societies. We have traveled miles for almost no impact. We are not as Europeans conquering America. We did not conquer a thing.
But who to blame for our misery, our quest for extreme to make a living of very little impact on ourselves and our community? Shall we blame our governments? Shall we blame Westerns? Since we are part of these constituted groups, it will be a shame to exclude ourselves for common failures.
Our education has one purpose: "live by standards." A life at extremes is not a standard life. Being part of Boko Haram is not a standard. Crossing the Mediterranean sea is not a standard. Travelling all the way from Ethiopia to Lebanon to work in-house is not a standard.
Extreme events will never be normal events. They are risky events with very little probability mass of occurrence. There will always be the lucky event among many events. It is the law of probability. The point to be made is that extremes are very costly for our continent. Losses through extremism are by far higher than gains. Extremism is about a person, standard is about common good. We must learn to live by standards.
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