Satellite Constellations

I'm disappointed that Nigeria's Defense Minister, Bashir Salihi Magashi, expects rural communities like Kagara to do what takes logistics (i.e. defense intelligence; weapons; and manpower) to combat raids and mass kidnappings.

"I don't know why people are running away from minor, minor, minor things like that," he said on Feb. 19, the day of the kidnapping. "Let these [suspected bandits] know that even villagers have the competence and capability to defend themselves." 

Then again, I remember Goodluck Jonathan took a few weeks before his public acknowledgment of the missing Chibok girls. His wife dismissed the protests after they reached Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital.

"You are playing games," she said. "Don't use school children and women for demonstrations again. Keep it to Borno, let it end there." 

But how could they? The day of the abduction, a bomb blast killed 75 in Abuja. Like the Chibok girls, it was blamed on Boko Haram.

The timeline was a bad look for Nigeria, perhaps the top destination for direct foreign investment in Africa.

• March 2014: Nigeria acknowledged as Africa's largest economy
• April 2014: Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 schoolgirls in the north
• April 2014: Bomb kills 75 people in Abuja the same day
• April 2014: Jonathan's wife quoted in stank remarks
• May 2014: Abuja to host the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa

I believe the abduction of school kids is intended to elicit a response beyond the village itself. Apart from Boko Haram and intercommunal violence, however, these raids seem to target human capital or assets that compel a ransom, including the increase in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

Satellite constellations will fight mass kidnappings for the same reason they'll end 5G where available. If any benefit to more hardware orbiting the Earth, satellite constellations can connect any rural or remote community to the internet and thus telecom services like VoIP; GPS; and streaming broadcasts.

In regard to Nigeria, its use for security assumes continual manpower and accountability from a regional force of West African states. Search-and-rescue units; helicopters; and surveillance drones can deploy in no time, and international news agencies can confirm reports from local governments and NGOs in real-time.

With stability efforts aided by satellite constellations, Nigeria can streamline its recovery from record economic contraction and, hopefully, development for its rural, northern, and Niger Delta communities.

A comment on "Negotiations under way in Nigeria to free abducted children" (AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES).

"NASA Earth's Light" by NASA Goddard Photo and Video. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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