ABUJA BOMB BLAST AND ITS AFTERMATE MATTERS ARISING

ABUJA BOMB BLAST AND ITS AFTERMATE MATTERS ARISING
BY
AYIRI EMAMI
FIRST, let me join Mr. President and millions of other well meaning Nigerians in condoling the families of all those killed and severely wound by the October 1, 2010 dastardly bomb blast, it was indeed a bad outing for the nation that stands condemned by all right thinking persons. The action is whole heartedly barbaric and I condemn it strongly in its entirety.
But again, we must Endeavour to trace where this obnoxious act of bombing took its roots and what went wrong then and that is what the nation is today paying dearly for because it was an action that could have been nipped in the bud.
When the Warri crisis starts like a child play in Delta State in March 1997 and Itsekiri were being massacred like chicken and their villages devasted and reduced to rubbles with Itsekiri crying for help, nobody listen to them. The Ijaw war machines rode roughshod over the Itsekiri nation with all Nigerian feeling unconcerned. That was the painful and pathetic situation the itsekiri people found themselves ourselves for good 7- years until Almighty god came to our rescue. It was as if there was no government in place.
Today, all Nigerians are painfully savouring the inpleasant, painful, inordinate and insatiable desires of a section of the ijaw agenda of annexation and perhaps, cessation as represented by MEND action in the numerous bomb attacks, including the Independence Day disgrace to the entire country on October 1, 2010.
As a person, I whole heartedly condemned the bomb blast as barbaric. And for MEND to gleefully claim repsonsiblity for the dastardly action, speaks volume of their intention especially when it is noted that no Ijaw notable personality has cried out to condemn MEND.
Again, it is highly regrettable that government officials are saying that those died in the bomb blast died in the service of the nation. The truth of the matter is that they were killed by a terrorist group. Whose members should be fished out and persecuted. Their action shows that Nigeria is unsafe and the security system ineffective and comatose.
The president should stop chasing shadow as to who are the perpetrators are. They have identified themselves and are still doing so on foreign TV stations across the globe. They are the president’d brother and he knows it.
What is needed now is the will to outrightly apprehend these hoodlums abd make them face the wrath of the law.
With due respect to Ijaw nation, I wish to say that what MEND is doing amounts to blackmailing all Nigerians into submission. And it is this blackmail that brought president Goodluck Jonathan to the Presidency and the highest office in the country. But the question remains; now that they have gotten the Presidency, what else do they want that they are throwing bombs and killing innocent Nigerians and causing unwanted pains to families? These unbecoming actions are sign of the devastation Nigerians are set to witness in the years ahead unless a strong leader emerges to put an end to these shenanigans.
One wonders what the situation would be if President Jonathan do not clinch the PDP presidential ticket and, worst still if he fails to win the election no matter on which political party platform in 2011.
For the purpose of reminder, it would be apt to recall the various act of economic sabotage to the our common wealth during the incarceration of MEND leader, Mr. Henry Okah until government was forced to release him from detention in spite of his criminal activities.
I have the conviction that the Abuja bomb blast has no political under tone. If former Governor James Ibori is from the Ijaw nation, economic sabotage would have forced the government to release him unconditionally. But because his people do not throw bombs, he is currently gnashing his teeths in detention with nobody caring a hoot.
I remain vehemently committed to my conviction that the bomb blst would continue unabated during and after the forth coming elections.
My greatest concern for now is that those claiming responsibilities for all those criminal acts fished out and punished according to the law so that we can have some of peace, security and safety in our country.
But I doubt if this is achievable because the President is both an umpire and participant in the political chess game of the 2011 election.
In fact, can we even talk of credible, free and fair election in the circumstances we find ourselves today? The level of insecurity in the country demand a strong Presidentcy that would be able to take decisive action to contain destructive tendencies that threatens the unity, stability and economic interest of the country, the features that are sine-qua-non for the nation to move forward.
This bring me to the amnesty issue where those who took up arms against the Federal Government and killed innocent citizens are today being rewarded bountifully with millions in cash and contract award while those who ensured peace, stability and ethnic harmony are not being accorded any form of governmental patronage.
It is very painful to note that the government’s action in rewarding violence through the amnesty package is capable of attracting more idle hands from the barrage of jobless youths in the region into crimes. Consequently, government at all levels is advised to, in the interest of justice and fairness, to urgently design a welfare package that would accommodate the interest of the peace lovers in the Niger Delta region
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria
Mr. Ayiri Emami