I did mention earlier on that I saw a glimmer of hope in the immediate aftermath of the Nyanya bomb blast. We will come to that shortly.
Meanwhile, on getting the news of the bomb blast, I had panicked, like thousands of other Nigerians, and immediately began working my phone, trying to reach out to friends and loved ones that reside in the FCT. As I reached out, I could not help pondering what could prompt someone to drop a bomb in a public space, with the sole intention of just killing anything around!
Though
unjustifiable, I could relate with the possibility that someone is unhappy that
a church or mosque was built here and bombed it; a school was built here and
you did not want it and so you bombed it; a security formation threatens you
and so you attack them; there is a defined target. But, when you drop a bomb in
a market or bus station, you kill men, women, children and babies, people of
all ethnic, religious and political persuasions including chicken, goat, just
everything around; people that go to church and those that don’t; people that
go to mosque and those that hate mosques; those that go to school and those
that don’t. You make a victim out of people that are already victims of social
injustice!
As
the nation shuddered at the horrific destruction that fateful morning, I braced
up for the mudslinging which I was certain was coming. The script has been
fairly unchanged in the past 3-5 years; only the ferocity has increased until
it has come to a dizzying height. I could hear, in my mind, the APC spokesman,
Alhaji Lai Mohamed, “The PDP government has once again demonstrated it gross
incompetence in providing leadership to the country… allowing innocent citizens
to be murdered in their numbers. The PDP and President Goodluck are to be
blamed…”
But
if I anticipated the bickering, I was actually jolted by what I got. The PDP
publicity secretary, apparently to preempt his APC counterpart, decided to take
the bull by the horn. Without any investigation, he announced to the whole
world that APC was behind the bomb blast! That was big! Didn’t anybody tell him
that as the party in government, he does not have the luxury of fighting as
dirty as the opposition?
Notwithstanding
this turn of events though, relief would soon come my way and those of other
well meaning Nigerians and that may prove to be the sunny side of the bomb
blast. For instance, on a visit to the victims by the APC governors, their
Chairman, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State while commiserating with the
victims and condemning the violence said among other things:
“We
notice that the increased blood shedding in our nation is becoming worrisome
and as leaders we believe that this is not a time to say what is wrong or who
is wrong. This is a time that we must all close hands to ensure the safety of
lives and properties. This is not a time to talk about politics with people’s
lives. While we urged all Nigerians to remain calm and prayerful, we pray that
we should unite at this moment to fight this evil. We shall also join force
with other democrats to ensure that this bad story ends as quickly as possible.”
Also
speaking on the occasion, Gov. Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa, advised Nigerians
to be vigilant and observe any unusual movement that was not in line with what
they see daily.
“My
advice to Nigerians is that we should be observant and vigilant. We should not
in any way leave the issue of security in the hands of security agencies alone.
Security should be everybody’s business; we should be more meticulous and
observant of any suspicious movement and report to security operatives to
complete their efforts of combating crimes,” he said.
Several
others, like Wole Soyinka, Muhammadu Buhari, etc joined forces in condemning
the violence, not fellow Nigerians, and calling for concerted efforts to defeat
extremism. The Security Council meeting that was earlier aborted subsequently
held with the APC cancelling their congresses to enable their governors attend
the meeting.
Could
it be that this tragedy would be the catalyst that unites us in a collective
resistance against terrorism and violent extremism? May be it might just occur
that these innocent souls lost become the ones to rouse us into positive action
against those that would want to curtail our freedoms and subject us to
perpetual bondage to fear. Can we sustain and build on this unity? If that were
to happen, then the blood of the innocent departed would not have been in vain.
Besides, Boko Haram may have unintentionally scored an own goal.
I
can picture the storm over, being replaced by sunshine!
Teamup
Africa!
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