A 100 Days Tarred By Terrorism [Editorial]

Again Jos, a beehive of vacation and tourist activities was in the news. This time a family of eight was brutally sent to their early grave. It is not news that this happened. But what is news is our government glaring show of weakness and perplexity in addressing the Jos quagmire. We keep seeing the impunity and the rape of Jos’s sanity again and again without any concrete approach to stop this ethno-religious cleansing, poverty-induced spoilage. We are miffed about this.

The government has set up several committees with reports lying shrouded in dust and cobwebs. In her recent pronouncement, it has given a shot at sight order to security forces patrolling the Jos metropolis and hinterlands. Also, our government has never stopped short of promising to deal severely with the heartless bandits who have raped Jos’s serenity and has made her a shadow of her reverend self.

It would seem that each time the state government comes out to make soothing pronouncement about how they have curbed the ethno-religious violence that is when this hoodlums will bounce on another community, leaving them wretched in pains and tears. The pathetic sight of a brutally hurting Jos is an eyesore to our National psyche. It points to our collective inability to drive the change that can usher in a new dawn for a nation in dire need of surgery.

First, lest anyone forget what has happened to those arrested as culprits in this killing? If after these individuals are caught; and suddenly they disappear into the thin to commit another crime, we certainly will never get justice. Then we are promoting the Hobbesian state of nature whether knowingly or unknowingly. We leaving the instrument of justice unutilized and inevitably undermine the destiny of our nation.

Second, the Jos issue throws up a huge challenge about the pocket of violence taking place around the country. It established the irrefutable fact that we are at war with elements who are not ghost but dwell in our communities and for one  reason or the other we terrible at the idea of bringing them to book. The state and the instruments of the state are capable of addressing whatever challenges these are to the security community.

Third, as FDIs decline in emerging economies like ours, issues like Jos, Boko Haram and others compounds our economy’s competitiveness and hampers investors’ moves to put in their hard-earned resource in our economy. It simply drives them to lands where there are minimal and understandable risk in comparison, where the state’s exercise sound control and management, where there are fine case of justice well done and above where the people understand the essence of keeping or sustaining the union.

We think this is the right time to revamp our moribund security apparatuses. Sacks and resignations are inevitable and highly welcome. This is in order to forestall future occurrence. The security bodies must look inward for moles and begin a cleansing process. It must rise up above ethnic and religious affiliations and so tinker with its ranks and files that hold such. Once again, we condemn the brutal killing of people, we see such as barbaric, needless, shameful, while we ask that good Nigerians should rally around this cause to bring the glow of Jos back.

Editor

Caesar Keluro