By Muhammadu Buhari
Sinister
terror and hatred have again reached from the shadows to steal the lives of
innocent Nigerians. In Nyanya, seventy-two people were killed by a
car bomb. Hundreds more were injured in the devastation.
Their
killings served no purpose except for those who exalt in evil. The bomb blast
quickly came and went like the deadly thief it was; but we shall be left to
endure the pain and loss from this terrible act for a long time to come.
What
the nation lost is irreplaceable. The number 72 seems like just
another grim tally among the death statistics that have become all too
common. But what occurred is much more than that. We must really
stop and take notice of where evil is attempting to drive us to. The
abduction of over one hundred school girls is unacceptable, condemnable and
saddens me greatly.
We
cannot allow these merchants of death to make us numb to the tragedy they
manufacture. Those who were killed were not merely numbers on a
page. They were human beings, made of flesh and blood body and soul like all
the rest of us.
They were someone’s father or mother, brother or sister. They
had parents; they were someone’s child. They were husbands or wives,
neighboring friends and colleague. They had dreams and hopes. They were loved
and loved others in return. Now, life has been taken away and those who cared
from them must bear a grief no person should be asked to carry.
These
people committed no wrong. Their only crime was to be ordinary working class
people seeking to eke out a livelihood and tend for themselves and their
families. For this, they were killed.
They
represent the backbone of the working people. Not many of them lived an easy
life. Most worked hard and long for modest wages. They lifted themselves up
every morning to earn their daily bread. They faced the many social and
economic challenges and obstacles our society poses, yet they worked not to
destroy but to make this a better place by bettering the lives of their family
and loved ones.
These
people lived anonymously and died the same way. We do not yet know their names.
But, in a fundamental sense, we know who they were. They were part of us. They
shared the same aspirations we all do. We seek an improved fate for our
children and hope to leave them a better life.
We want to work and live in
dignity and respect. We want a life of peace and harmony with our
neighbors regardless of religion, ethnicity or background. We seek prosperity
not poverty. We seek brotherly understanding not strife. We seek peace, not
bombs.
It
was not just 72 people who were taken in this depraved assault. Each
of us lost something that day. Yet, despite the loss and suffering, we must not
cower in fear, and let the purveyors of death believe they have scored a
victory over us.
Those
who committed this act have declared war on all that is decent and good. They
have declared war not against the state or even the government. They have
declared war on Nigeria and all Nigerians because this murder took men and
women, old and young, Christian and Muslim alike. In trying to scare, frighten
and divide us, the evildoers committed injury to their own cause. For they have
shown us that we all suffer inhumanity in the same way.
No
matter our religion or place of birth, we all bleed and are wounded the same
way by injustice. Decency runs through the teachings of each religion and
ethnic group that comprise the people of Nigeria.
We
may have our differences, but the vast majority of Nigerians stand united
against the appalling violence committed in Nyanya and other places.
These
acts have no place in Nigeria. Those who commit them have no place in our
country. The perpetrators may look like human beings. They may have
limbs and faces like the rest of us but they are not like us. In killing
innocent people, they have become inhuman. They live outside the scope of
humanity. Their mother is carnage and their father is cruelty.
They have
declared war against the people of Nigeria. They have shown that they do not
want to liberate the people. They want to kill them. Yet, with all the energy
of their evil and ignorant hatred, they shall fail. The good people of Nigeria
shall triumph.
Such
a wicked mission shall not succeed. We have gone too far in our journey to
nationhood and endured too much to allow these terrible acts to divert us.
Not
only have these agents of death killed innocent people, they also abducted over
100 young women from their school. Why abduct school girls? Whatever they plan,
they should be ready to face the wrath of Nigerian people. They should release
these young girls unharmed. Anything else would be an abominable crime.
We
all must take close heed at this moment and recognize the severity of what is
upon us. A small minority seeks to bring the nation to its knees through
terror. Thus, we must stand tall and united. We can ill afford to allow their
crimes to go unpublished united.
I
call on the government to improve and redefine its strategy in the light of
this expanding menace. Clearly, its intelligence gathering needs to
be improved so that it can break terrorist plots before they
hatch.
Moreover, it needs to enact greater social and economic
reform in the blighted areas of the nation to win the hearts and minds of the
people. Give the youth a viable alternative and they will not be
duped by the lure of extremist dogma. A major initiative with immediate and
long-term strategies for mass employment should be introduced right away.
Nigeria
must and will overcome this scourge but it cannot do so merely by wishful
thinking. We need wise and decisive strategy.
As
for me and my party, we deplore and condemn these and all such attacks. Those
who commit them must know that the nation stands four square against them.
While
we are engaged in tight political competition against the ruling party, we
shall not play politics on this issue so vital to our national survival and
wellbeing.
We
pledge ourselves to the unity and safety of this nation and shall do nothing to
undermine national security. We seek no political advantage from
this calamity and wish the present administration success in fighting it.
We
stand ready to help in any meaningful and productive way to fight this battle
against evil. We extend our hand and earnest offer of cooperation in
this regard.
Nigeria
and Nigerians have suffered enough. Those who now lead the nation and those who
would lead her must overlook political differences to find whatever ways we can
cooperate to make this a safer, more secure nation for all.
Thank
you and May God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
General
Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, (retd.) was one time Nigerian
Head of State and a former presidential candidate.
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