June 15, 2011 will forever be remembered as a day Nigeria joined the league of nations haunted by terrorists (suicide bombers). The inauguration took place at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, the nations capital.

In the first suicide bombing attack, the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, narrowly escaped death, but not many people who lost their lives. And as usual investigations into the incident were ordered by the federal authorities.

But just as Nigerians were rueing the bombing of the Force Headquarters, another blast occurred on August 26, 2011. This time the United Nations building in Abuja was the target. 23 lives were lost. Again as it is characteristic of us, investigations have commenced.

But the mind-bugging question on the lips of many Nigerians is what has come out of the investigations into similar incidents in the past? Investigations into crimes of this nature and magnitude ought to terminate with results. But in the case of our country, why are the results not heard? The answer is simple. Politics.

This nation plays politics with everything under the sun. In other climes, impunity attracts severe sanctions. National security is a no go area. But not here. Never. In the end we pretend that all is well. We live under an illusion, a lie. We have decided to play the ostrich game. No. We cannot solve problems in this way. Rather they will fester and exacerbate.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for most of the major bombings in the country including the two recent suicide bombings. If this is anything to go by, the authorities need not beat about the bush.

Boko Haram is not new. The radical Islamic sect has been with us right from the ill-fated regime of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, when it made its debut. How was it treated? Yes, it was treated but with kid gloves. Like a snake whose tail has been cut off leaving it with its body.

Like a rogue snake, the radical Boko Haram  sect that challenged late Yar’Adua has become more dangerous and deadly which is the one President Goodluck Jonathan is confronted with. And I dare say that this infirmity will be worse if it is handled in the common ‘Nigerian way.’

Yes, many have suggested amnesty or outright appeasement to solve the problem. These are no solutions. If anything the Nigerian state must brace up to this challenge and defend its citizens and  sovereignty.

The Boko Haram threat shows that we have been living in shadows and under falsehood. We botched several attempts by the West at branding us a terrorist state, particularly following the aborted endeavour by Abdul Muttalab to blow up an American bound plane. Prior to Abdul Muttalab’s attempt, several terrorist acts had taken place in the country yet, we ended up actualizing them and rendering diverse euphemistic renditions of the acts instead of taking stern measures.

Whoever thinks Boko Haram is not a threat to the corporate existence of the country must be living in a fool’s paradise. The sect recently declared that it had trained 100 suicide bombers who just arrived the country from Somalia and that more persons were undergoing training in different acts of terrorism. These indeed are no mean threats. What it means is that we should expect more bombings. Can we cope with the impending Armageddon?  I don’t think so. Not with the present way we do things.

But one may ask how we got to this excessively depraved state? Again, the answer is simple. Corruption. Corruption defines the nature of the average Nigerian. In Nigeria, one can bribe one’s way through anything and everything. Take for instance, our security agents  i.e the Police. They often line up the road, but we know they are not there to secure anyone, but to enrich themselves. No wonder these bombers pay their way through police checkpoints on long distant trips and arrive their targets.

Since corruption has become so endemic in Nigeria, who then is free from it? All our institutions are weak and corrupt. The church, the mosque, the public service and indeed the private sector are corrupt. Truly, we live, move and have our being in corruption.

See what goes on in other climes. Since the end of the Second World in 1945, the major actors in the war are still being sought for. And a US Special Force killed Osama Bin Laden recently, ten years after his terror attack on the US. But these would have been forgotten cases if it were Nigeria.

The Boko Haram scourge is the price for inept leadership. And if this threat is what we need to reckon with probity and decency, so be it.

Arnold Alalibo