3 May 2011
The Nigerian government must take note of the doggedness, as well as the tenacity of purpose, with which the government of the United States of America stalked and then disposed of the leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, a pursuit which lasted almost a decade. Starting with the then President, George W. Bush (he of the 'don't mess with Texas' mien) the Americans didn't just huff and puff and make pious declarations of intention, they walked the talk. The end result was the awesome manner in which the U.S Special Forces carried out one of the biggest counter terrorism missions in U.S. history. As former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty so succinctly observed, "Let history show that the perseverance of the U.S. military and the American people never wavered."
We must learn from their resoluteness in carrying out a stated objective. In contradistinction, on our part, in our rather dismal responses to thorny issues bordering on the nation's security, we have simply shown a disconcerting lack of determination in our responses. It is for this reason that in so many instances including the sad events, which followed the recent presidential election, our security mechanism simply did not show the pro-active strategic imperative required. For us, it ought to be instructive that President Barrack Obama who deserves a lot of credit for his intelligence and diligence in this matter had Bin Laden in his sight since August last year. President Obama sensibly stalked the prey until the moment was right. We must learn from this.
The death of Bin Laden is certainly not going to be the end of terrorism. Far from it. For one, it is debatable how much involved Bin Laden had been in military strategy over the last few years. He had increasingly become a figurehead and more of a public relations maestro. al-Qaeda has been operating more like a franchise or a rather loose confederation. It could hardly have been otherwise in view of the fact that they faced in the Americans a technological savvy and unrelenting foe. Therefore, there is no need to get carried away. Terrorism, to be realistic, is not going to fade out. We must be tough on terrorism and just as tough on the causes and the social conditions, which induces terrorist groups. This means there must be unrelenting investments in Education, Health as well as the physical and social infrastructure as the only way to create and enhance the long term sustainable jobs needed to provide the livelihood for those who might otherwise end up as potential recruits for terrorists groups.
Nevertheless, it was quite an astonishing feat. Presumably the head of the terrorist snake has been cut off. The manner of Bin Laden's demise also buttresses the age-old aphorism that he who lives by the sword inevitably perishes by it. There is also the biting irony that Bin Laden who personified a very authoritarian setup and mind set, bit the dust at a time of popular uprising in North Africa and parts of the Middle East. The popular participation and pro-democracy veneer of the events of the last few months certainly did not go along with the script al-Qaeda had in mind. For it represented a wave of enlightenment.
The responses of the Nigeria government to Monday's events must be a wake-up call to our intelligence services. There are, to state the obvious, lots of American interests in Nigeria. This is a time for extreme vigilance. In a possible response from al-Qaeda no one will be spared and no quarters given. We already know from the terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania as well as the attack on the American warship the USS COLE that there is nothing sacred about African soil. If a soft under belly is detected, the terrorists will simply go for the jogular. There are no sentiments in this sort of business. The Western nations have already issued travel alerts to their citizens and quite sensibly so. We must now up the ante. A security shield must be drawn around the citizens of the Western countries residing in our country. In addition, all perceived or potentially destructive groups must be kept under observation and infiltrated. Having been forewarned, it will be totally unacceptable if anything untowards should happen here.
There is a great lesson here for us as a people and as a republic. The Americans have shown that in a sensible country the life of every citizen counts. They have gone to tremendous costs to avenge the deaths of their innocent citizens. This is why the citizens are loyal to the
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