VOA标准英语2011--Nigeria Moving to Confront Boko Haram Terrorism

Nigeria Moving to Confront Boko Haram Terrorism

 

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan says the military is moving to fight and defeat what he calls the evil of the militant¹ Islamist sect² Boko Haram. The sect is being blamed for more than 100 deaths across the northern states of the country this month. A presidential committee named to open talks with the group says there should be less confrontation³ and more dialogue.

President Jonathan says Boko Haram attacks are a “temporary setback” testing the nation's character and should deter⁴ neither Nigerians nor foreign investors⁵.

"Anybody who does not want to come and invest in Nigeria now because of this instance of Boko Haram will really regret it," he said.

The president told foreign investors in Abuja that he is initiating⁶ a "rapid and robust⁷" military response to combat the Boko Haram threat.

"Let me reassure⁸ Nigerians and indeed the world in general that even with the limited technology we have, the Nigerian security services are doing fairly well," he said.

Nigeria's military says Boko Haram carried out coordinated⁹ attacks on police stations, churches, and an army base in small towns across the north earlier this month. The group claims responsibility for bombing United Nations headquarters in Abuja in August.

A Nigerian soldier secures the area at the United Nation's office following a suicide car bomb attack in Abuja, Nigeria, Aug. 27, 2011. (file photo)

The militants¹⁰ say they are fighting for the creation of a Sharia-led nation in the north, and do not recognize the authority of Nigeria's constitution or President Jonathan.

A special security fund for joint¹¹ military task forces to put down the violence moves the government away from the recommendations of a committee the president established to consider opening talks with Boko Haram.

Borno State Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume was on that committee. He says the problem can not be solved militarily.

"As far as the use of force is now going, it is just like guesswork. You don't even know who is your enemy. So you don't know who you are even attacking. So the military is just, they thought that the presence of the military can bring law and order. But it has not succeeded," he said.

Ndume says the violence will continue as long as Boko Haram feels it is not being heard.

"Dialogue in this case is very necessary, especially when you are dealing¹² with a group that you can not easily identify. So first we say there should be the initiation¹³ of dialogue. First to identify the leadership of that group. Two, to know what they want and then see if there is possibility of negotiation¹⁴ because we know historically that insurgencies can not be solved by force. It can only be solved by dialogue," he said.

Ndume says part of addressing the Boko Haram threat is addressing the underlying¹⁵ social weaknesses of poverty and unemployment that have fueled its growth. Photographer John Oku says there are longstanding grievances¹⁶.

"The government should look into the remote cause of the problem rather than the proximate cause because the group actually did not start today. The agitation¹⁷ has been there all along, just like the Niger Delta¹⁸. They have been there protesting, agitating¹⁹. The government will not do anything about it until they took to violence," he said.

President Jonathan says there are no "sacred cows" in the drive to expose those behind Boko Haram, no matter how highly-placed those sponsors might be. Economist²⁰ Prince Ohini believes the group's backers include northern politicians opposed to Nigeria's southern president.

"This group we are talking about is masterminded by political powers, those who are in power. They sponsored these children, gave them guns to fight for their political interests," said Ohini.

Unlike the fighting over resources in the oil-rich Niger Delta, businessman Andrew Adebisi says most Nigerians do not understand what Boko Haram wants.

"Boko themselves, I think, they are not sincere," he said. "They should come out and tell us what their fight is. When the people in the Niger Delta fought, we knew what they were fighting for, and we understood their plight²¹. But for Boko Haram, we don't understand their plight."

Senator Ndume says that makes it all the more important to open talks with the group because he believes Nigerians will not support a sustained military operation unless they believe the government has exhausted²² all other efforts to resolve the conflict.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

3 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

4 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 initiating   

v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员

参考例句：

• He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything. 他善于创建项目，但难得坚持完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only the perchlorate shows marked sensitiveness and possibly initiating properties. 只有高氯酸盐表现有显著的感度和可能具有起爆性能。 来自辞典例句

7 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

8 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

9 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 initiation   

n.开始

参考例句：

• her initiation into the world of marketing 她的初次涉足营销界
• It was my initiation into the world of high fashion. 这是我初次涉足高级时装界。

14 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

15 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

16 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

18 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

19 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

20 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

21 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

22 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。