THE body counts from the war against
terrorism are getting abnormal.
Whether the losses are on the part of
the security agencies or mere standbys,
like school children, it is becoming
clearer that government needs to do
more.
Terrorists may do all they can to make
the country unsafe, but government
has the responsibility to not only
protect us, it has to make us feel safe.
What we find more absurd is that the
seasonal killing of school children which
terrorists in Yobe State have made their
specialty, no longer shocks.
The condemnations have thinned. We
have moved on with obviously more
important matters like who becomes
whatever in 2015. We forget the killings
quickly in order to sustain the pretence
that the union is in sane state.
Nigeria has lost thousands of lives to
terrorists. Neither the numbers, no
those killed, appears to be important.
Lives, no longer seem to count, they
have become numbers, ordinary
statistics, kept for the records.
Which society watches its members
decimated in this manner without being
shocked into action? How can a society
be so unfeeling when it cannot protect
its young, its future?
Nigeria has failed to tell terrorists in
succinct terms, that their actions would
be punished. There are no examples to
deter them.
The choice of soft targets like schools,
markets, entertainment centres and
churches has become a trademark of
these attacks. The terrorists want
attention, and bigger headlines. Our
security agencies need to do more.
Failure of intelligence and armed
actions against terrorists is not as bad
as the unwillingness of many top
Nigerians who can exert pressure to do
so.
We cannot bring terrorists to account
when we place personal and political
considerations above millions of lives
terrorists place at risk. The lives at risk
could be anyone's as the indiscriminate
attacks have proved.
The war against terrorists cannot be
won when we are pulling in different
directions. Any group that can murder
children so mindlessly is a risk to
everyone, even its avowed supporters.
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