Are Bombs Here to Stay?

2 June 2011

IS it possible government has decided to allow Nigerians to live with the bombs that have been flying in different parts of the country since last year? There are reasons to be worried about the attitude of government to the insecurity that have been pinned to the elections.

The situation preceded the elections and has persisted. From the bomb blast at the 50th independence anniversary last year in Abuja to the ones that have been going off in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Suleja, Jos, Bauchi and again in Abuja on Christmas eve, government’s reaction at most is lethargic.

The same statements about finding the bombers and punishing them are repeated each time they strike. Neither the targets nor the bombers will take government serious on these statements.

What has been done to stop the bombers since the independence celebration blast? Maiduguri and Bauchi have become regular blast points, will they remain that way? Have these places been conceded to the bombers?

How can groups of people, or whoever they are, continue making parts of Nigeria insecure and government watches them? What are Nigerians supposed to make of government statements that are now sounding like mockery?

They have never been re_assuring. Nigerians are tired of hearing the reactions of the security agencies. Is abandoning Nigerians to the risks these bombs pose the way to manage the situation?

Nigerians expect the government to be decisive about stopping the bombs. The security agencies have done a poor job of finding the bombers. Government appears satisfied with the job our security people have done. We are wondering the bases for government’s satisfaction with the handling of these persistent security problems.

In Bauchi and Maiduguri, the tactics of the bombers are mainly to frighten the security agencies, a ploy to highlight the fact that the people are not safe. They have moved from attacking soft targets like churches to police stations and army barracks.

After bombing the recreational spot in a market at the Mogadishu Barracks, in Abuja, the attacks concentrated at registration points, voting centres, and the Suleja distribution centre for electoral materials.

The attacks on security agencies in Bauchi and Maiduguri have been consistent, coupled with the practice of freeing prisoners and detainees. In both places, the Boko Haram sect claims responsibility and keeps making threats of further attacks, which it carries out at will. There has been no notable effort to stop the sect, which spreads its influence to other parts of the country.

If the attacks continue unchecked, the insecurity they create will disrupt the efforts of the President in his transformational agenda. As for the bombers, the more they succeed, the more they will continue the attacks and the more they will whittle the authority of our security agencies.

The President should deal with the bombs and other forms of insecurity that are ravaging the country. He needs security for a better grip on the country if he is to implement the development programmes with which he intends to transform Nigeria.

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