The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has described the Federal Government’s gesture to rebuild the bombed United Nations building in Abuja as a misplaced.
FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the bombing said, “Federal Government provided N3.2 billion to rehabilitate the UN House, made up of N2.6 billion to start rebuilding and N600 million for temporary accommodation.”
This is also in addition to promised refund of $580,000 spent on the treatment of victims. All these came on the heels of the promise made a year ago, shortly after the bombing by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Dr Asha-Rose Migro.
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of CPC, Engr.
Rotimi Fashakin reads in part, “Whilst we understand the feeling of anguish and colossal loss that the bombed facility caused to lives and property, it is our belief that before embarking on this expensive venture, there is the need to ascertain the appropriateness of this expenditure.
“Indeed, in its world-wide operations, UN has a comprehensive Insurance policy for its Buildings and a separate insurance for Terrorism! This is why we see the offer by the Nigerian Government to spend money on what was already provided for by the UN as totally wrong-headed and preposterous.”
Fashakin said, the September 11, 2001 terrorist acts in the US ensured that the different sectors of the economy got a fresh elixir in national preparedness. Indeed, a legal framework for terrorism risk insurance was laid with the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) of 2002. On the expiration of the TRIA in 2005, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Re-authorization Act 2007 extended the TRIA through December 31st, 2014.
In today’s Nigeria, terrorism is an uninsurable risk despite the national challenges posed by increased wave of terrorism with attendant wanton destruction to life and property.
“This vintage knee-jack response to national challenges by the Jonathan regime has made it imperative for us to ask: was the proposed expenditure of N3.2bn included in the 2012 appropriation act? With the daunting security challenges, what is the effort being made for providing the legal framework for Terrorism Risk Insurance in Nigeria?
“It is our belief that true nationhood can evolve through a structured, cohesive, and leadership-centered agenda of growth. The practice of designing policy to suit the whims and caprices of the helmsman at any time is unsustainable. We wholeheartedly reject this misplaced show of magnanimity by the Jonathan-led Federal Government.”