It is unfortunate that a group of Nigerians, some of them, so-called elder statesmen, would take advantage of the grave national tragedy that befell the country on her 50th independence anniversary celebration during which 12 people died and about 50 seriously injured, to play dirty politics.

Mallam Adamu Ciroma, leader of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) penultimate Tuesday gave President Goodluck Jonathan one week within which to resign, failing which he urged the National Assembly to impeach the president, over the twin bombings in Abuja during the celebration of the nation’s Golden Jubilee.

Ciroma, a former finance minister and his co-travellers, believing the story of renegade Mr. Henry Okah, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) associate and self-confessed sympathizer, that he was contracted by an unnamed presidential aide, to frame-up some Northerners in the bombings, said the president can no longer be trusted to be fair and just to the North, and therefore, threatened him with impeachment, if he failed to resign.

Now that the one week period within which the president should resign has elapsed, we wait to see the impeachment offences Ciroma and his cohorts will come up with. The first charge, no doubt, would be President Jonathan’s audacity to enter the race for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primaries to nominate a candidate for the 2011 elections.

It is uncharitable, even unstatesmanly for Ciroma and his clique to play politics with bombings, which like armed robbery, sectarian violence, and kidnapping, are symptomatic of the severe security challenges confronting the nation.

However, it is encouraging that about 23 eminent politicians of NPLF under the umbrella of G20, including Chief Solomon Lar, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Prof Jerry Gana, Prince Abubakar Audu, Maj-Gen Zamani Lekwot, Chief Paul Unongo, and Chief Bayo Ojo, among others, last Saturday, warned Ciroma and his group to desist from undermining the unity and stability of the country.

Whether Ciroma believes it or not, it is the president’s view that the reported claim of responsibility for the attacks by MEND was a camouflage by people in liaison with outside terrorists to destabilize the nation.

But the president not only challenged Okah to name his aide who spoke to him but also ordered high-powered security investigations to unearth those behind the attacks. It was, therefore, expected that Northern politicians anxious to do the president in because of politics, would exercise patience, decorum, and respect for his office, by awaiting the outcome of the security investigations into the unfortunate incident before jumping to conclusions.

Besides, the era when politics in the PDP was a do-or-die affair is over. This time around, whether it is Atiku Abubakar, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Aliyu Gusau, Dr Bukola Saraki, Mrs. Sarah Jubril or Dr Jonathan, who wins the party’s presidential primaries, it is within the house.  In fact, at the rate Ciroma and his group are going, all contestants for the PDP ticket, who are not in NPFL’s good books will be impeached, expelled or eliminated before the primaries.    

 Away from the political capital Ciroma and his cohorts are striving to make out of the October 1 bombings in Abuja, the tragedy is perhaps, the elixir Nigeria needs to evolve a 21st century security network for itself. The incident underscores the effect of years of lack of attention, planning and patriotism in the sector that has led to a total breakdown of law and order in the country. 

The spectacle of sectarian and political violence, kidnapping, bombing, armed robbery, assassinations, corruption and all manner of crimes have contributed to gross under-achievement of the nation in the past 50 years. Insecurity in the country has made it a herculean task for Nigeria to attract foreign direct investments. Indeed, the underdevelopment of the nation has been permeated more by the scourge of insecurity and criminality than the acclaimed lack of infrastructures and good policies, because policies do exist to fast-track the development process of Nigeria.

With information technology making the world a global village, stories of armed robbery, kidnapping and bombing in Nigeria actually, dissuade foreign investors from coming into the country to invest or put down money to promote business ventures.

Many companies, including banks, insurance firms and manufacturing concerns have also closed shop or moved out of the country’s flashpoints, especially Jos, Bauchi, Aba, Warri and Port Harcourt, owing to sectarian violence and kidnapping. This is why the perpetrators of the recent Abuja bombings must be fished out and brought to justice as a deterrent to others.

Also, those involved in the management of the prior alert system ostensibly triggered on the incident from British intelligence must be disciplined as 24 hours secret alert on the bombing, as was provided, ought to have been enough to abort it, where discipline, professionalism and patriotism were at play.

But beyond these, the latest incident affords Nigeria the opportunity, at this auspicious jubilee year, to evolve a security framework befitting of a potential world economic giant that Nigeria is.  In fact, government must begin to build on a security apparatus anchored on training, modern technology and professional best practices.  And, of course, qualification and competence must begin to count in the recruitment policy as against man-know-man. 

Again, the payment of a ‘living wage’ should begin to apply in recruitment and remuneration of workers in Nigeria. Security is a sensitive duty which does not admit compromises. Regrettably, the situation we operate is such that the take-home pay of our security operatives can hardly take them home, which leaves them no other option than to resort to accepting bribes, conniving with criminal elements to commit abominable crimes, including kidnapping, and yielding to other corruptive influences which compromise security.