WHO WILL LOOK AFTER US?

SIR: So many comments have been made as regards the recent bomb blast in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on the eve of Christmas Day 2010. And the reactions of government officials have all been in the usual direction, 'we shall fish out the perpetrators.' This is the same thing we hear after such dastardly act. Nigerians have become so used to this statement, and its other connotations, that they no longer trust the government when such situations arise. It is bad enough to have human beings still living in the 21st Century who think that the only way to make whatever point they want to drive home, is only by destroying lives.

It is worse to have a government at every level, whose response to such acts is at best trying to console the casualities (those still alive) or to pacify the affected families. Maybe investigations go on underground, but Nigerians never hear anything specific about where it leads. This is the reason why others who plan such acts are further convinced to carry out their devilish plans, since no one who does such is brought to book. Where is the security promised to Nigerians during the campaigns?

No one is safe anymore, anywhere. Those who bear the physical resemblance of the 9/11 perpetrators walk on the same streets with the innocent, yet we are busy with campaigns toward another election. The civil society is at the mercy of a government which makes promises of security without lifting a finger of seriousness in that direction and that of group(s) to whom human life makes no meaning, destroying it at will, yet with all impunity and in the name of God.

Who will look after us? Let the government beef up security in our country. Let preachers in Churches and in Mosques teach again and again the sacredness of human life. Let teachers in schools emphasize respect for human dignity. Let parents take care of their children well enough not to become miscreants. We all have a part to play.