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Nigerians have been
subjected to several years of autocracy, misrule, and serial abuses
these past 50 years of flag independence. The Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other groups have said that
Nigeria has no reason to mark this “jubilee.”

MEND did not only
make the point that there should be no celebration, they went ahead and
set off bombs that snuffed the lives of over a dozen Nigerians and
maimed many others. That was certainly a strong way to make a point –
in broken bodies, spilled blood, shattered families, and stunning the
nation to boot.

People have reacted
in different ways to the Abuja bombings, a remarkable escalation of the
sense of insecurity in a nation where kidnapers do not care a hoot
about taking kids, journalists, pastors, oil workers, and just about
anyone into captivity. This is a nation where citizens are abandoning
their homes, villages, and towns for armed groups to take control and
turn them into camps for their “armed struggles.” Meanwhile, the
security organs are out on roadblocks asking “wetin you carry?”

The idea of not
marking national days in the country crept into the national psyche
from the years of military misrule when the dictators did not wish to
promote the assembly of peoples to discuss the national state of
affairs. It became fashionable to tell Nigerians that occasions such as
independence anniversaries, children’s day celebrations, and others
were moments for sober reflection.

This was actually a
way of camouflaging the fact that the leaders were utterly bereft of
any ability or inclination to reflect on much other than their piles of
loot. Over the years, this neglect became accepted as times to stay in
our homes, mourn and recriminate the death of dreams built on the
“labours of our heroes past” that are now threatened to have been in
vain.

By neglecting to
mark days such as that of national independence, the remaining threads
that give citizens a sense of nationhood kept being pulled out of our
multicoloured national social fabric. Soon, we consolidated our sense
of apartness, each looking more to our ethnic nations, regional
cleavages, and political cabals.

It is in that
trajectory that we read the unfortunate order from MEND that no one was
to go to the Eagle Square for the national day celebration. They were
kind enough to say that people should avoid dustbins and cars. Pray,
where were those who eat out of dustbins going to get their meals from?
Or had MEND dropped extra packages for them to gather?

Of all the
responses, the one that is perhaps the most poignant is that of
President Goodluck Jonathan. In the chorus of voices condemning the
assault on all of us, our president reportedly said “What happened
yesterday was a terrorist act and MEND was just used as a straw; MEND
is not a terrorist group.”

By his leadership
position, Mr. President certainly has more information on security
matters than us ordinary citizens. Two disturbing issues arise from his
assertion. The first is his conclusion that “MEND was just used as a
straw.” The first assertion is more alarming than the second one which
claims “MEND is not a terrorist group.”

Perhaps, MEND is a
political party or an extension of the Nigerian Army, Mr. President? Or
is this an exercise in socio-political engineering to mend MEND?

Straw or pawn?

We return to the
first assertion, which suggests that MEND is naive and lent itself to
be used as a straw. In trying to read the president’s lips, we assume
that he was using the word straw here to mean “pawn”, referring to
someone used or manipulated to further someone else’s purposes.

If MEND is being used to further the purposes of someone else, then we have reasons to raise more concerns.

The first is that
that someone has to be unveiled. Another concern would be to
fundamentally question the rise of armed groups in the Niger Delta
allegedly fighting for a number of things, including more oil and gas
revenues for the region. Have there always been puppeteers behind the
scene if the armed groups do not have agenda for their activities? This
is disturbing because many came to see MEND as one of the more
politically coherent groups that chose the way of violence to make
their points.

If MEND is a straw,
can we assume that scenario planners, who have predicted that Nigeria
will blow into pieces within a short space of time, have an interest in
the escalation of violence and insecurity in Nigeria? Are we to say
that the violence in the oil fields has not secured sufficient foothold
for foreign armed assistance and this needs to be extended to the
entire nation and possibly put Nigeria on the path to becoming another
Somalia or even Sudan to a degree?

If MEND is a straw,
at what point did they metamorphose into this, or were they straws
right from start? If the group is a straw or can be used as a straw,
what are/were the several others who embraced the amnesty programme of
the government? It is time to rethink the amnesty programme and extend
it to the damaged environment of the region and indeed of the nation
through a national environmental emergency plan.

The president’s
assertion requires serious interrogation. With the background that some
armed groups began as bands of political thugs, we need to know if this
assault on poor Nigerians is linked to the fight for space and
displacements in the run for the forthcoming elections. In other words,
were these explosions the hands of politicians but the voice of MEND?

What we have here
is a deep failure of our security systems and this requires quick
action by Mr. President, and not quaint definitions of what constitutes
terrorism.