By Kunle Oyatomi
Bomb scares have  become a new phenomenon on our already dangerous political space. That is the obvious conclusion to make from events of the last couple of weeks as people were made to scamper around in Abuja shortly after the Eagle Square blasts on the 50th Anniversary celebration.

The Abuja scare, coming so close after the Eagle Square blast was bad enough, even if one might blame it on lingering fears from the trauma of what happened earlier. However, with bomb scare in Zamfara, arising from a specific threat from “MEND”, targeting President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to that state, everything has changed.

The message here is not lost on close observers of unfolding political events arising from the resonance of the Eagle Square bombing: Bombing civilian targets for political reason is a possible danger to look out for in the days ahead. We don’t need a specialist lecture to understand that the stakes of political violence in the coming election have been radically raised.

Now, apart from thuggery, assassinations, kidnappings and other political violence, we would, in addition, have to contend with the mass murderous possibility of bomb blasts in the coming elections.

At least one has gone off with fatalities, but the others have remained as threats not effected. What has effectively registered in our consciousness though is that bombing of rallies are possibilities in the coming elections, and the targets promise to be high profile. The federal establishment was targeted in Abuja, and Mr President was the obvious focus of the Zamfara threat.

Bomb scares are not kiddies hide and seek. If unheeded and they are allowed to go off, the bombs will kill, maim and destroy. So what would be the purpose of a bomb  scare if not a notification for  murder?

The good thing is that both the security agencies and Mr President also sent a message, and a very clear one indeed, that nobody is going to be scared off his/her wits by threats of bombs being planted around areas where political gatherings are scheduled to take place. By attempting to raise the spectre of violence to a frightening level ahead of 2011 polls, those bent on discrediting that election are saying that they will stop at nothing to frustrate democracy, if they don’t get what they want from it.

The balance of terror should not favour criminals; that is why we expect a lot of vigilance not only on the part of the security forces but also on the part of civil society because for every success recorded by these bombs merchants and political desperados, many  civilian lives would be lost and at great risk of being severely damaged.

That will be pushing the cost of democracy too high for a helpless society like ours. The implications of these for our fledgling democracy are grave and can impact negatively on national unity.

Already the first taste of the bitter pill,  the heightening of  violence could bring to us,  is the response of the Federal Capital Territory police to the Abuja bombing. Arguably the ban on political rallies, public procession and walk shows impose by the FCT police may appear to infringe on people’s rights under the constitution. But there is a bigger picture to look at here. Desperation on the part of politicians is increasingly putting lives of citizens at risk.

Therefore the police can argue that it has a duty to protect the public against the horrible consequencies that political desperation can cause. Over a dozen lives lost to the Abuja blasts is bad enough. The police and security agencies could be held accountable if more lives are lost in further blasts.

That is the dilemma. For Mr President, security may be available and dependable; but for the others, where would they find the private security apparatus to protect themselves? And if people are not free to give expression to their opinion and participate unhindered in the political process, wouldn’t that compromise fairness and impinge on the credibility of the process?

That is the new challenge which bombing and the threat of it has introduced into the system. Like kidnapping and assassination, it starts so unsuspectingly that the scare of bombing may soon take the centre stage and negate all the efforts to fix our political process. If we can’t nip it in the bud, the reign of terror will so soon take over the political space.

Goodbye Fafunwa
When his death was announced, and I later watched the burial in Lagos of Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, I felt sorry that one of education’s greatest promoters in Nigeria was bowing out at a time the country needed him most. But I sank into near depression when it again occurred to me that we’ve had him all along, and yet his presence couldn’t stop the decay that diminished both the infrastructure and standard of education in the last four decades.

This is part of the inexplicable tragedies of this country – in spite of our wealth in manpower and resources, we have tragically allowed our institutions to collapse. And to worsen matters, one after the other, we are losing those giants in our society who had spent their lives trying to build these institutions:
Isn’t it pathetic that this great educationist had  to die right in the middle of a struggle to save the education sector that he and others helped to build.

Professor Fafunwa  was not part of the “wasted generation” of Nigerians; but he is part of that class of Nigerians who had to watch helplessly as the edifice he  built was being pulled down by powerful people whose mentality is insufficient, (or rather ill-developed) to add value to the structure or sustain it. These are the kind of people who have destroyed education in the country. They would be having a great laugh as Professor Fafunwa was buried.

However the consequence of the collapse of education in Nigeria today is affecting everybody and sinking the country. It is one of the powerful factors that is leading to all kinds of collapse in the country. That is why the loss of a Fafunwa at this point in time of our educational melt down is perhaps one of the greatest losses the country has suffered in resent times.

May the good soul of the Prof rest in peace.