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Abuja Bomb Blast: The Politics and the Law

October 20, 2010

Several prominent Nigerians, including Mr. President, have spoken on the October 1, 2010 bomb blast, and there have been efflorescence and an array of newspaper editorials on the subject. All views were condemnatory of the attack but there was the blame-game angle which has made it quite complex for us to see through the maze or how indeed to approach the matter more objectively and dispassionately.

Several prominent Nigerians, including Mr. President, have spoken on the October 1, 2010 bomb blast, and there have been efflorescence and an array of newspaper editorials on the subject. All views were condemnatory of the attack but there was the blame-game angle which has made it quite complex for us to see through the maze or how indeed to approach the matter more objectively and dispassionately.

In reaction to Mr. President, rather than the bomb attack, several commentators have argued that Mr. President’s remarks were too hasty, that Adamu Ciroma’s views were inflammatory, and that Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida’s view were self-serving. The point here is that the bomb blast has wider implications and is susceptible to being politicised if not properly handled in a bipartisan manner.

The future of Nigeria will not be decided by the bomb blast, but the blast will determine the future of Nigeria in the significant sense bombs are now being externalised and targeted at the seat of power and those who wield power. This has moved beyond the traditional and localised or confined violence in the Niger Delta, or so-called ethno-religious violence of Jos, Bauchi, Kaduna or Kano.

The Abuja bomb blast was a task-specific violence symbolically carried out on a day that many foreign Heads of States and Presidents came to rejoice with Nigeria on our 50th anniversary. It does not matter what viewpoint or opinion is held by any citizen, on whether we fared well or not and whether the anniversary was worth marking at all. The truth is that Nigerians usually show courtesy, warmth and welcome to visitors no matter the situation. That is our character in tandem with our core values as a nation; but on October 1, 2010, some people chose to desecrate our values on the altar of cheap politics and crass populism.

There are several issues or matters arising from the bomb blast. The key being whether there is any international instrument to check or counter terrorism. To pose it boldly, why hasn’t Nigeria signed an Anti-Terrorism Act?  Second, whether indeed the Nigeria state believes that anti-terrorism is a project that needs to be addressed beyond the normal military operations and schedules. Third, how are we able to scientifically detect mere violent acts as separate or different from terrorist acts? Or is all forms of violence terrorism? Fourth, how are we able to onerously mobilise the country against terrorist acts?  In other words, how much time and effort we are able to invest in peace education and mobilisation for peace.

Nigerians must realise that we come with a baggage on the global scene, contained in the baggage is mindset, half-truths and untruths about Nigerians. This has kept Nigeria on the negative on all indicators and has as such criminalised every carrier of a Nigerian passport and every Nigerian citizen. Mainstream western media is quite happy to continue to project a criminalised image about Nigeria, in spite of the efforts at “rebranding”. We have not designed strategies to get Nigeria out of this mindset neither have we shed the baggage.

Beyond this baggage, there are real issues bordering on human and social security which have largely being ignored. Groups such as MEND and Boko Haram feed into this agenda and carry out activities that further undermine the international image of Nigeria. Many Nigerians are afraid and sometimes unwilling to voice their opposition to such groups not only because they are afraid of reprisal attacks, but more importantly because they feel that beyond the use of arms and violence, the social grievances being expressed by those groups are genuine; even though the use of violence is not justified. This explains why some of these groups have been sustained for long.

Investigation has commenced into the case of the bomb blast, again this seems to be politicised with the traditional divisions, rather than synergy and cooperation, between the Police, State Security Services and other units of the intelligence of the state. But that is one major problem that all interested in the security of Nigeria must address. Why our security and intelligence units are always giving conflicting reports on intelligence to Mr. President? Why don’t they work in a coordinated manner? Why must the National Security Adviser to Mr. President always be an ex-Military General? What is the state of development of our intelligence units?

Now, there seems to be clamour for CCTV to be installed all over Abuja. But what many people fail to realise is that CCTV merely assists investigation and does not say anything about intelligence. As such it cannot be a substitute for intelligence. There is the allegation that clues and actionable information about the bomb had been sent out long before the detonation of the bombs. Who was privy to this information and why did they refuse to act? Only a careful and painstaking approach to the matter will reveal this. It was too hasty for anybody to have commented or prejudged the investigation or its outcome. It was also too cheap for anybody to have seen the lapse as the personal weakness of Mr. President; after all he inherited the security apparatus only a few months earlier.

However, the main challenge of the bomb blast should make us ask for better security, better intelligence and a rethink of our social profile. By social profile, I mean social provisioning and our attitude to our youth. It used to be that people saw Nigerians as peaceful and peace-loving country. But our youth are aggrieved, everybody seem to be begging this question. The Amnesty programme is about youth not adults, Boko Haram is about youth, not adults. Olusegun Aganga told us a few months ago that over 40% of Nigerian youth are unemployed. That means there is over 50 million unemployed youth, everybody, every sector seem to be maintaining a conspiratorial silence over this. Youth violence and the youth question remains a fundamental challenge that is begging for answer, unless we squarely and decisively address it, we can not face up to the more important issues of nation-building and national development.

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Every form of development must start with the development of the youth; every form of investment must start with an investment on the youth. A healthy, roundly educated and informed youth will cultivate the culture and values of civility and decorum. Of course there are deviants and miscreants in every society. But when the ethos and culture of a society are threatened because of youth anxiety and alienation, it becomes a tough matter.

How do we address the bomb blast?  My view is let us play less of the politics and do more of the science. A thorough investigation will give us a clue as to who did it; it may not answer why they did it. However, we are debating ownership or claim of ownership, and by implication coming to conclusion about their motive. It is premature to talk of who did; rather I caution that we should be guided by the “weight of evidence”. Let us be led by the outcome of the investigation. Hence, all the key political actors locked in this debate comment and by implication come to a conclusion on something that has not been investigated and at the same time, it is also wrong to politicise a weighty issue involving the loss of lives.

That being said, it is high time Nigeria took the issue of anti-terrorism Act seriously and be on the same international template. To sign on the anti-terrorism template does not mean and is not to suggest that Nigeria is pro-United States of America or anti-Arabs, or for that matter anti-Islam. There is a lot of education and mobilisation that is needed over the issue of violence and anti-terrorism. It is about doing the right thing in accordance with international standards. As it is now, even if the people behind the bomb blasts are found and apprehended, under what law or Act are they going to be prosecuted since the National assembly has refused to pass the anti-terrorism bill?

Terrorism violates the enjoyment of fundamental human rights. It is not just an act, but the product of a deviant ideology that must be fought and eliminated.  That is why the onus of the responsibility lies with the Governments and its security agencies to confront and combat terrorism and apprehend terrorists anywhere they may be found or located. However, combating terrorism is a collective responsibility that requires the highest levels of cooperation and coordination among states security apparatus and complete readiness to exchange real time intelligence and security data as fast as possible among relevant agencies through secure means.

The UN Security Council resolutions 1267, 1373, 1526, 1540, and 1566 constitute a solid and comprehensive basis for combating terrorism by member Nations on a universal scale. These resolutions provide clear road maps for the steps that need to be taken and all countries including Nigeria are enjoined to take necessary measures in order to fully comply with the provisions of the above mentioned Security Council resolutions.

To this effect, the National assembly is enjoined to intensify work on the passage of the bill, titled “Prevention of Terrorism Bill” and whose objective is “to provide for measures for prevention of acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism in Nigeria and for the effective implementation of the convention on the prevention and combating of terrorism and the convention on the suppression of the financing of terrorism and to prescribe penalties for violating any of its provision was sent to the National Assembly by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009.

Aside from the Freedom of Information Bill, the Anti-Terrorism Bill which started from the administration of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and which also provides appropriate punishment for kidnapping, is yet another bill that has suffered unreasonable and untold delay in the hallowed Chambers of the National Assembly and no good reasons have been adduced for this inertia and lethargic behaviour of the law makers.  The U.S Department of State’s Country Report on Nigeria in 2009 expressed the delay more appropriately when its states that “Progress on counterterrorism legislation in the National Assembly slowed, however, due to reconciliation and consolidation issues between two rival terrorism bills and general legislative lethargy”.

 The Report states further that “Legislators merged a "private member" Senate bill based on the Commonwealth Secretariat's Model Legislative Provisions on Measures to Combat Terrorism, which passed its second reading on September 17, 2008, with an executive bill sponsored by the presidency. The hybrid legislation, which resembles more the later executive bill, currently awaits a third and final reading in the Senate, before the President may sign it into law. In an October 12, 2009 letter, Nigerian President Yar'Adua asked the National Assembly to pass the legislation to combat terrorism and kidnapping. The bill stipulates a maximum jail term of only five years for those convicted of terrorism”.

The importance of the Bill was also recently underscored by the current President, Goodluck Jonathan in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives where apart from requesting the law makers to hasten the passage of the Bill, he also added that “every provision in the draft bills presented to the National Assembly is consistent and in compliance with global instruments, which Nigeria has signed and ratified. International standards require all member-states to model their domestic legislation in consonance with global best practices” warning further that any further delay in the passage of the Bill “will frustrate and hamper legitimate international transactions flowing from Nigeria, some countries will not honour international financial instruments emanating from Nigeria; including letter of credit.”

However, despite all these pleas, the National Assembly has kept a mute indifference and has failed to demonstrate any sense of urgency on this vexed matter that has almost marred the image of the country in the comity of nations. One clear fact is that anybody can be a victim of terrorism. That much was seen from the October 1 bomb blast. Second, is that the violence does not achieve anything. Al-Qaeda violence has only escalated tension around the world, it has not reduced it. It has deepened schism and division in such states as Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. It has led to stereotypes in US and many parts of Europe. It has also deepened the prejudice and stereotypes about Nigeria.

Even though, the passage of the anti-terrorism act may not stop terrorism, it will help to register Nigeria’s readiness to combat terrorism and to express support for the international community in its efforts to combat terrorism; such a legal document will also serve to articulate Nigeria’s zero tolerance for terrorism. It will further reiterate Nigeria’s commitment to resolutions issued by the United Nations in the fight against terrorism, which call upon the international community to condemn and combat terrorism by all means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations in view of the fact that terrorists’ acts threaten world peace and security. 

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