Much Ado About Bomb Blast

The much publicized- and unarguably extravagant- 50th Independence Day anniversary has come and gone, but its memories linger on. While some of us will remember the occasion for the uncoordinated distribution of 2 million bags of rice, and the 70-something million naira birthday cake, none of us will forget the bombing incident that occurred a few metres from the Eagle Square while the ceremony was going on. The bomb blast reportedly killed eight Nigerians and left several others injured. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast; the President has ordered the SSS to fish out the perpetrators, some arrests have been made, and Raymond Dokpesi has been quizzed. Although I can readily imagine where the issue would end, that’s not my concern for now.


Friday’s bomb blast has worsened my fear about security in the country. Before the blast, I had little faith in the country’s security system, but that faith has been completely eroded. If a group could threaten the federal government and was able to successfully carry out the threat, then nobody is safe! Secondly, Nigerians are clearly getting fed up. They are getting pushed to the wall, and their retaliation may be worse than imagined. A colleague of mine was particularly angry that there was no bomb planted where the politicians sat. If a God-fearing Christian could say this, it simply confirms how terribly things have gone wrong. Come to think of it, isn’t it subnormal that a nation which has about 75% of her population living below $1/day could spend N6 billion on an anniversary that millions of Nigerians watched on television- courtesy of power generating sets?! I seriously think that the bomb blast and the hacking of the National Assembly website are just an indication of what frustrated Nigerians can do- and pray it doesn’t get to that dreadful stage.

While the federal government is busy chasing the bombers, shouldn’t someone in government begin to think about dealing with the cause of the people’s anger and frustration? We are tired of hearing billions but not seeing the effect; of spending years in school but remain unemployed years after graduation; of the fear of driving on our roads because of their state of disrepair; of dreading the police who claim to be our friend; of hearing ‘vision this, vision that’ without proper framework in place; of getting our emotions messed up because of dashed hopes. We are tired of the continuous financial, material and moral rape this country has been subjected to. The only reason we were ‘suffering and smiling’ was because we had hopes of a better tomorrow. Unfortunately the much talked about tomorrow is here, and there’s nothing to show for it.

The smile is fading; anger and frustration are setting in. The government may be interested in dealing with the bombers, but Nigerians are more interested in preventing further bombings- and the earlier the government realizes this, the better.

I rest my case.