My heart grief for the people who lost their lives and those injured in the unfortunate bomb blast of Monday morning in Nyanya, Abuja. Among them were men, women and children. Some were workers going to work, some were drivers of vehicles parked at the scene of the incident, some were food vendors, others were simply children strapped on their mothers back; but all were innocent victims of a society gradually going crazy under the leadership of a greedy, callous, insensitive and incompetent ruling elite. Whoever is responsible for this unfortunate incidence is definitely ungodly and bereft of all qualifications to be called human beings.
According to reports of the incident in the media, a group of people entered the Nyanya motor park in a vehicle, parked it in front of some BRT Luxury buses popular called ‘el-Rufai’ and disembarked the vehicle. When the bus drivers protested the blockage of their line of movement the driver of the vehicle claimed he was simply off to find some lower denomination of the Naira to off-set his passengers who owed him change. However, both he and his alleged passengers simply disappeared. Shortly thereafter the vehicle went off in a big blast.
All that was left of the scene were dead bodies, human parts, mangled bodies, injured persons destroyed vehicles and a big crater. As at the last count nearly 100 people had died with over three times that number as injured persons. The situation was pathetic. The scene was devastating. The sight was horrific. The whole nation rose in a united show of grief. Well meaning Nigerians from all works of life condemned the dastardly act.
The President of the Federation, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan promptly visited the scene cancelling a scheduled visit to Ibadan. He urged Nigerians to be security conscious, vowing that his Government will defeat insurgency and that the Nation will overcome these security challenges. The president said “Government is doing everything possible to make sure that we move our country forward, in spite of all the distractions that want to take us backward”, adding that, “we promise that we will get over it. The security services will continue to work very hard. God willing we will get over it”.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan condoled the families and victims of the incidence while calling on the people of Nigeria to be vigilant and security conscious. He charged Nigerians to report any unusual movement of vehicles and left-alone bags. President Jonathan said he believes that if people will become observant and everyone becomes security conscious particularly with respect to movement of people, such incidences like what happened in Nyanya will be averted. He pleaded with the Media to support the process of peace building. “We want to use this unique opportunity to plead with the Media and our great men and women to come up with enlightenment programmes for our people” said the President. The President’s prompt visit and the cancellation of the Ibadan trip are both commendable.
But then, in spite of the seemingly statesmanly disposition of the President of the country, the mindset of his party (PDP) which is the ruling party at the centre is still evil. In an apparent display of gross irresponsibility, callousness and insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians suffering from the yoke of insurgency and bad leadership, Olisa Metuh the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP came up with a spurious allegation that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC and their Governors’ were responsible for the Bomb blast. Nothing could be more unpatriotic than that. It really showed that the ruling PDP does not even know nor appreciate the enormity of the problems at hand.
There are only two possible explanations to the hasty statement by Olisa Metuh which is devoid of either substance or reasons. One of such explanation is that the PDP is engulfed in the very charge they often make, ‘desperation for continued leadership of the country regardless of the fact of their incompetence to deliver on the mandate’. They are therefore by the same token “desperate persons who seek to undermine and discredit” the opposition as if it is the only qualification for them to win the next election.
The second possible reason which is perhaps more sinister and dangerous is their desire to mislead security forces away from the real sources of the Bomb. This is even more plausible, because in a more responsible society Metuh would have been requested by security to declare his evidence or be arrested for giving false and misleading information on a matter as grave as the deaths of hundreds of Nigerians. Metuh’s and by extension PDP’s attempt to score political points using the current security challenges is indeed unfortunate. This is not a time for that.
It is important that the Government heeds the voices of reason from responsible Nigerians and Foreigners alike. Jen Psaki the spokeswoman of the State Department in the USA said “We are outraged by this senseless act of violence against innocent civilians”. She urged for a “full investigation to identify and bring justice to the perpetrators of these attacks”. The Britain Foreign Secretary spoke in the same vein. The Secretary-General of the United Nations equally called for full investigation. Elder statesman and Nobel Lauret Professor Wole Soyinka equally called for action. He said commitment and competence are the qualities needed to end the carnage rather than vain talks and empty prayers. He is dead right.
We talk too much, we pray too much but undertake very little positive action. We neglect those things that ought to be done undone while we make undue promises we hardly fulfill. The Socio-Economic Rights and Account ability Project (SERAP) a Civil Society Organization described measures taken by Government to contain insurgency as inadequate and ineffective. The Organization Said Government must take certain actions to end the orgy of violence and death across the country and that, “As a first step, the government must swiftly, transparently and thoroughly investigate the killings, make the findings public and bring anyone suspected to be involved to justice”. That is the bottom-line. No account of fluid, insensitive and irresponsible statements by people who have greater responsibility for leadership and governance in Nigeria should suffice under the circumstances.
Ahmad Sajoh wrote from Dougerei Jimeta-Yola
