On Monday, April 14, 2014, an explosion was heard in Nyanya, a busy suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The worst fears of Nigerian citizens had resurrected again; the enemy had left the confines of Borno where they had been rampaging, they were in Abuja, the seat of power, they could be anywhere.
The news filtered in via social media as pictures were shared and update after update revealed just how much damage had been done. The attackers had targeted the Monday rush hour, the time of the day when most people were going about their business and boarding vehicles to
various destinations around the city. They had aimed for maximum casualty and they had succeeded.
The nation was again reeling from a terrorist attack that struck at its very heart and the life that had become the stark everyday reality for citizens of Maiduguri had been announced home and abroad. As mangled human bodies were evacuated from the scene of the blast, foreign news outfits reported the story highlighting the image of Nigeria as a new hotbed of terror.
Even before the blast, citizens of countries around the world have been issued warnings whenever they wanted to step foot into Nigeria. The United States of America regularly updates its travel warning for Nigeria and the most recent one reads:
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Nigeria and recommends that U.S. citizens avoid all travel to Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states because of the May 14, 2013 state of emergency proclamation for those three states by the Government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. The security situation in the country remains fluid and unpredictable.
U.S. citizens should be aware that extremists could expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to other areas of the country. Boko Haram, an extremist group based in northeast Nigeria designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Department of State, has claimed
responsibility for many attacks, mainly in northern Nigeria.
Its members have killed or wounded thousands of people during the past four years. Boko Haram has targeted churches, schools, mosques, government installations, educational institutions, and entertainment venues in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, the Federal Capital Territory, and Yobe states. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have been displaced as a result of violence in the north.
This is the impression that the world at large has about Nigeria and unfortunately, it is an impression that the country has continued to strengthen due to the insecurity currently plaguing it.
The 24th World Economic Forum on Africa is billed to hold in Abuja from May 7 – 9 and it is expected to feature stakeholders from all over the world. Considering the fact that the event is less than a month away, there is no gainsaying that delegates would be hesitant about coming into the country as a result of the recent blast.
The WEF is the foremost gathering on the continent, the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa will bring together regional and global leaders to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments that can sustain the continent’s growth while creating jobs and prosperity
for all its citizens.
As the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria is expected to lead the way in all developmental indices including security, a task which the Jonathan administration has proved unable to tackle.
The current situation is reminiscent of the Miss World riot which occurred in Kano in 2002 as a result of plans to hold the beauty pageant in Nigeria. Agbani Darego had won the contest in 2001 and as was the custom, the next edition was billed to hold in her home country. Unfortunately however, this didn’t happen. The lives of the contestants and participants in the contest were too precious to be put at stake for a risky sojourn in Nigeria. Thus, the Miss World pageant and all the opportunities it entailed were moved elsewhere.
The blast in country administrative capital will no doubt have planted a negative seed in the hearts of the organizers of the World Economic Forum, a fact which the government is no doubt mindful of going by its hasty assurances of security to the delegates expected at the forum.
It was a subdued and unconvincing Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that spoke to the global economic community on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 of the country’s readiness to the host the world’s elite economic shapers.
“Our security planning for the World Economic Forum on Africa is already well under way and will be the largest security operation ever mounted in this country for an international summit,” she said.
However, the question on the minds of many Nigerians and friends of Nigeria is that the Jonathan administration has so far been unable to secure the lives of its own citizens, how would it secure the lives of foreigners?
The physical vibration of the bomb blast in the dusty suburbs of Nyanya was felt throughout its environs but the psychological and economic ripples is being felt the world over.
