AT this time, our leaders, irrespective of their respective ethnic, religious, or political leaning should be bemoaning the devious bombing of Abuja on October 1 – a day the rich and the deprived rolled out the drums to celebrate the country’s 50th independence anniversary. Our leaders ought to be asking why some kill-joy terrorists decided to kill and maim innocent Nigerians on a day that even the poor momentarily put aside their melancholy to participate in the many colourful events that governments, corporate organisations and even individuals staged to mark the country’s golden jubilee.
But they (our leaders) have instead decided not to muse upon that ugly incident and its implications for the political, economic and social future of the country. They have turned the unfortunate incident into a political game. A matter that has obvious implications for our lives, safety and corporate existence of the country has unbelievably been politicised if not trivialized. Efforts and energies that should be directed at uncovering the perpetrators of the terrorist act are being dissipated on name-calling, accusations and counter accusations.
This should not be the direction our leaders should go with respect to the act of terrorism visited on the country on one of the most memorable days in its history. The way to go is to make concerted efforts to fish out the perpetrators of the devilish act. What naturally follows is to mete out appropriate punishment to the culprits and, of course, plugging of the security leakages so as to prevent a repeat of the incident in any part of the country at any other time.
We know that the temptation to politicise the unfortunate incident is very high. With the 2011 elections just some months away, the incident provides itself as a good campaign, in fact, propaganda material in the hands of desperate politicians who will stop at anything to capture power. This is obviously what is happening now despite its clear consequences for the future of the country and the safety of Nigerians.
But we must sound a note of caution here. The mindless politicisation of a matter as serious as the bombing of the nation’s capital can destroy the country. We note that one can only become the president of Nigeria or occupy any other political office in Nigeria when the country is intact. For this reason, therefore, despite our selfish political pursuits, we must all work towards the unity and progress of the country. For, it is only when the country is united and is at peace that our political aspirations will be achieved.
The Abuja bombings tell more than the failure of internal security in the country. It is a clear indication of the infiltration of terrorist elements into the country. This, plus the Abdul Mutallab attempt to bomb an American jetliner last year are good enough evidence to prove to doubting Thomases among us that we now have terrorists in our midst.
Therefore, instead of engaging some politicians in a verbal war, government should rather face the realities of the moment and begin to overhaul and strengthen the security system with a view to dealing decisively with this emerging threat.
The threat must not be allowed to get out of hand like the kidnapping and other criminal acts which have made some parts of the country uninhabitable. Our progress as a nation and as a people has been very sluggish. If terrorism creeps into the country and joins forces with other criminal activities that we have been living uncomfortably with, we would not be talking of any progress at all. Therefore, necessary actions must be taken immediately to prevent terrorism from taking immediately root in the country.