By Patrick Cole

IT was about 1 pm. We were transfixed to our Television as we watched unbelievably as one plane plunged into one of the Twin Towers in the World Trade Centre in New York. People thought this might be a trailer for a new action thriller film. An hour or so later another plane struck the second Tower in the World Trade Centre. People stood around, watching. The Television newscaster could hardly believe what they were reading and seeing. It was eerily true.

The United States was under attack; commentators had never seen anything like it and began comparing this incident with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. After the initial shock and numbness the Mayor and Governor of New York swung into action. Fire and emergency Crews, ambulances, other emergency workers, all went into action, saving the injured, sending them off to hospitals which by now were on full alert: every available doctor was at the hospitals. Still in this state of shock another plane landed in the Pentagon, the biggest building in the world housing the US Defence Department; another plane was flying towards the White House, its intention to hit the residence of the President of the United States. The passengers in that plane managed to overcome the hijackers and crash landed the plane somewhere in Pennsylvania, about 35 minutes to the White House, killing all those aboard the plane.

2. For two years or so seven Saudi Arabians had studied to be pilots in the United States and on that fateful morning, all boarded various planes intending to cause mayhem by going for the jocular of the United States.

3.A nation is characterised by how it responds to national emergencies. On 7TH July, 2012 the London underground was blown up by a suicide bomber on the Central line in Edgware Road; another bomb was detonated on top of a double decker bus in Tavistok Square, near the centre of the University of London. The British swung into action, pulling people out of the underground, rushing others in Central London to hospitals and in a constant barrage of news kept its people informed, asked them to remain calm, stay at home while this mess was sorted out.

4.In Madrid the underground train was similarly attacked by six Moroccans in the name of Al Qaeda. The response of Spain was equally robust, and adequate. In all of this the thread running through the response in New York, London and Spain was to burnish a nationalistic sentiment of defiance- to say to the terrorists that you will not defeat us. We will get through this and be absolutely sure of this, we will get you, and we will get to the bottom of this. Our spirit is strong, stronger than yours. We are organised to deal with vermin like you. We will get you. There is no place to hide.

5.It would be tedious to repeat other examples of terrorist plots and the answer of those nations which is similar; – In India there was the attack on the Taj Mahal by Pakistani terrorists, in Nairobi by Somali terrorists at the shopping mall: India and Kenya were defiant; they dug deep into their national spirit to find the strength to fight these terrorists. They always believed that their spirit was invincible and superior to that of the bombers. They spared no resources to encourage resilience, willing to sacrifice even more to tell their enemies that they possess an inner strength, a belief in life which no acts of terror can diminish: that they are united in this single purpose of national survival and that they will survive and overcome, no matter what. Their Leaders were resolute in the belief that they must lead their countries not out of the fear which these faceless cowards were trying to impose upon them but out of strength.

6. Nearly two years ago another group of terrorists – Boko Haram – went to Chibok and took 246 Nigerian girls and seemed to vanish into thin air. Before that, Boko Haram had terrorised our nation – bombing the Eagle Square in Abuja while we were celebrating independence, we watched shamefully as our visiting Presidents and Head of State scurried like frightened rats into their planes and left our country. The terrorist bombed Police Headquarters and other buildings in Abuja, Niger, Kano. They spread mayhem all over the North East, seized territories where our governments could not go. But let me return to Chibok.

7. The whole world in solidarity with us put on “#Bring back our girls.” Even our President, security, Chiefs etc. without shame or appreciation of our utter humiliation put on #tags if not for Chibok for some other terrorist attack. When we tried to sympathise with France for the terrorist attack, our sympathy was thrown back to our face: we should solve the Chibok problem.
Where was the political leadership, the nationalism, the spirit shown in the moment of a national calamity? Where is the defiance to tell Boko Haram, that our spirit is stronger than yours, you cannot beat us, you cannot hide, and we will get you. In London, New York, Paris, Brussels hundreds of thousands came out on that day to express their defiance at the terrorism.

8. Our response to that calamity puts all of us to shame, we scurried like frightened rodents and cockroaches into the nearest hole we could find, throwing one blame after another to confound our weakness and shamelessness. Indeed so pathetic has been our response that people have begun to believe that Chibok never existed; never took place, that it was a political conspiracy to win an election. Pathetic. We have had more reaction over the alleged abduction of a 14 year old girl who ran away with her lover than we have had in Chibok for our 246 girls. Eruese’s mother knew what was going on, even if she did not encourage it. She put her daughter in harm’s way and is complicit in the so called abduction. Her father is less than useless if he did not know what was going on in his house: he should have.

Continues tomorrow.

•Dr. Cole, OFR, a  former ambassador,  wrote from Lagos.