A bomb blast was averted at ECWA church, Tudun Wada, Jos by a private
\nsecurity guard on Sunday, 12th July, 2015. The guard had spotted the
\ndevice where it was strategically planted by the entrance of the church.
\nHe quickly picked it and threw it away from the church premises. The
\ndevice on hitting the ground, caused a massive explosion that was heard
\nmiles away across the city.<\/p>\n
The magnitude of the explosion showed that if the plan to bomb the church
\nhad succeeded, the carnage would have been unimaginable. The loss in terms
\nof lives and property and the psychological trauma the tragedy would have
\ninflicted on survivals, relations of the bereaved and every human being
\nwith a sense of empathy would have been immeasurable. With every such
\nattack, we feel a collective sense of loss as humans. Our dignity is
\nassaulted and our psyche is haunted. Whether or not we share any form of
\ndirect relationship with the victims, we feel a personal sense of loss, so
\nlong as we have our humanity intact. So that attack would have inflicted a
\ndeep wound not only on the victims and the people of Plateau state, but on
\nall of us as one body of humanity.<\/p>\n
We are at war and it has been one long and extremely difficult war which
\nwe have no idea when it will end. Since his inauguration, President
\nMohammadu Buhari has consistently promised a new approach that will see to
\nthe defeat of Boko Haram. That is as far as the military offensive is
\nconcerned. The recent appointment of new service chiefs and the NSA has
\nbrightened our prospects in the military aspect of the war. But fighting a
\nwar takes more than a military offensive and I am afraid we are yet to get
\nit right on other fronts of the fight, such as the psychological warfare.<\/p>\n
My worry is our cold attitude towards our heroes of this war and our many
\nother wars. They are hardly ever acknowledged, let alone celebrated. We
\nare only excited about the tragedy of victims and never about our heroes
\nbecause our media tells only the stories of lives that have been lost and
\nthe property destroyed. Those are the stories that sell because of the
\nelement of sensationalism that they bear. When a bomb blast is averted, it
\nhardly makes serious news.<\/p>\n
How can a nation at war record only victims, when it has won several
\nbattles? Perhaps we have become so accustomed to tragic news that when the
\nnews is good, we seem totally uninterested in it. Initial reports of the
\nbomb blast at the church had claimed that lots of lives were lost and
\ncitizens escalated it within minutes, especially on the social media. When
\nit turned out there were no casualties, there was a sudden lull which
\nshowed the initial interest in the incidence was lost since it did not
\nclaim lives.<\/p>\n
I searched through all the media outlets that reported the story and I
\ncould not find the name of the guard in any of the reports. He is nameless
\nand faceless, the nation does not recognise his bravery. If he were an
\nassailant that had killed scores of people, we would have known his name
\nand made him a celebrity. We are a nation that celebrates criminals and
\ndespise honest and selfless people. The media and the government are the
\nbiggest mongers of this strange culture we have of undermining our true
\nheroes and making false heroes of criminals. No medium, to my knowledge,
\nhas made any effort to tell the nation who the guard is and the story of
\nhis gallantry. In other climes, for days, all the major news outlets would
\nhave focused on the young man and made him the trending news and the
\ngovernment would have honoured him. Private organisations would have also
\nreached out to him with gifts that would reward his sacrifice. This is how
\nnations win their wars. They celebrate their heroes and inspire others to
\ncontribute their own bit to the victory of the society.<\/p>\n
This is one opportunity we have to re-write our story and turn the
\npsychological tide of the war in our favour. Unfortunately, we are missing
\nout on it and I hope we don’t let it happen. It is not too late to act on
\nthe matter of the security guard and various individuals and members of
\nour security forces who have harnessed their bravery to save lives. The
\nNigerian society must cultivate the culture of rewarding excellence and
\nsacrifice. It is the right of those who exhibit these virtues to be
\nrewarded.<\/p>\n
We cannot undermine the action of that security guard. He saved us pain
\nand grief. He saved lives and the destinies of children and dependents
\nwhose breadwinners were worshipping in the church that morning. Perhaps
\nthere was an only child in the church whose death would have brought
\nunending grief to the parents or a young couple who just got married and
\nwere looking forward to raising a family and pursuing their marital dreams
\nand he saved all of them. If we look at the human angle of that incidence,
\nwe will better appreciate the action of the young man. He wrote a
\nbeautiful episode of our story and it is our responsibility to tell it to
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
We always condemn the western media for telling only negative stories
\nabout us, when we do not care about our good stories. We do not only have
\nbombers, we also have people who risk their lives to save others from
\nbombs. And we must tell their stories.<\/p>\n
This era of change is a good time to begin a new chapter in our attitude
\ntowards our good citizens and the security guard who saved lives in Jos is
\na good starting point. The nation must rise to his ovation and honour his
\nbravery. The device could have detonated the moment he touched it. He
\ncould also have simply ran away from the scene to save his own life. But
\nhe made a decision to stand on the side of humanity and risked his life to
\nsave all the others in the church. It is a matter of right for him to be
\nhonoured and Nigeria owes him a debt of recognition and reward. He did not
\ndo it for a reward and he is not demanding for any appreciation from us,
\nbut it is in the interest of our dignity and reputation as a nation to
\nhonour him as an encouragement to others. We must make this statement that
\nwe are a people that value and reward sacrifice.<\/p>\n