“Hello there, old chum”
“Hello, my friend. What’s going on?”
“You mean beside the obvious fact that you guys won’t leave us alone?” Opalaba replied.
“Leave you alone? I am sorry, but I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Yes, of course, you do. First it was terror alert. Then it was travel advisory. And then it was departure of family and nonessential staff. And for us who have nowhere to go, what are we supposed to do? But we have God o.”
“Oh, I see. But really, my good friend, I don’t see the big deal in the matter. The United States Embassy doesn’t issue frivolous alerts or advisories. With constitutional responsibility for the safety and welfare of its citizens, it relies on good Intelligence to discharge its duty. Once it has the intelligence, it acts by alerting its citizens, and by extension, its hosts, including you, my friend. Or would you rather be in the dark? You don’t forget that “God helps those who help themselves”, do you? We learnt that verse in Sunbeam, remember?
“When elders pray that we may not become objects of ridicule, this is what they mean. You’re asking if we want to be in the dark, abi? Is there a darker situation than we are in now? Your people are warning us of terrorists attack. And they are not rendering any help to thwart it. But they are sending their own people away and warning others to avoid us. Doesn’t that leave us in darkness?” Opalaba retorted against my innocent remarks.
“I feel bad already, my friend. But, again, as the elders teach us, it is the baby who stretches her hands that the mother picks up. If you don’t seek help, how can it be offered? Even the holy book says “seek and you will find, ask and you will receive.” See, it doesn’t say “don’t ask and you will receive.” And talking about ridicule, isn’t it strange that the response of Nigerian leaders was to take offense and openly mock the US? I watched the IGP statement deriding the embassy. Ditto with the Minister of Defence. What’s that about?”
“They’re doing their job. They are hired to protect the image of the country. You guys cannot come to our country and rubbish us. We will defend our existence as an independent sovereign republic, you get that?” Opalaba responded.
I can see that my friend is quite worked up now. And when he gets to that point, he becomes irrational. So I try to get him to calm down.
“You are a great patriot, Opalaba, and I don’t blame you for standing for country. It’s in obedience to the scriptural injunctions. We must pray for our own Jerusalem and for those who lead us. But you are not the only patriot and we must bring the right perspective to bear on this matter. So, let us recap.
“US embassy issued a terror alert on October 23 in a bulletin titled “Elevated Risk of Terror Attacks”. The bulletin stated that “There is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja”. And it listed the possible targets as “government buildings, places of worship schools markets and shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organizations.” It informed the public that it will offer reduced services until further notice. It also suggested actions that the public, especially US citizens, for whom it has responsibility, may take.
“Frankly, my friend, I don’t see what the embassy has done wrong in this matter. If it had the intelligence and it didn’t share it, the whole world, including you, will blame the US. Remember the Libya debacle. And the Kenya crisis before then. Not only the lives of US officials and citizens, but also the lives of nationals of the host countries, were lost to terror attacks.
“Furthermore, it is not as if we don’t have terrorists inside this country. Our forests from North to South are the habitat of terror. As I type this, a video jumped in my device. Under Malina trees, a group of terrorists were bending over and parading stacks of weapons spread out in an open space. Where are they? Who knows?
“Concerned patriots have been damaging their vocal cords shouting on rooftops about this menace. As you know, other embassies from UK to Australia have corroborated the report and have taken steps to protect their citizens. And now, instead of us thanking these embassies, and getting our act together, we pounce on them because we irrationally see them as the enemy. In so doing, we let the terrorists out of the equation of our blame game.
“Even the appointed official responsible for advising the president also joined in the game. According to The Cable, the National Security Adviser (NSA) to Mr. President, says “the security situation in Nigeria does not warrant travel advisories and terror warnings from the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).” As the NSA offered this assessment, Nigerians were being kidnapped in droves. But we deny the obvious, concerned only for the image of the country, which may end up shredded in tatters.
“Now, the question may be raised how these embassies got their information. Distinguished Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, a celebrated internationalist zeroed in on this in his interview with Arise Television Morning Show last week. I have never seen Professor Akinyemi in such a heightened sense of alarm! Here’s an 80 year-old policy wonk breaking down in minute details how Western powers gather intelligence. And he warned our leaders not to joke with the information they have. And you’re still concerned only about image? Where would the image be when Abuja is overrun by terrorists shouting “God is Great” down to the Atlantic?
“It doesn’t even appear reasonable for anyone to question how the embassies get their information. They have intelligence agencies that scout far and wide for the security of their personnel and citizens across the globe. That’s what we should be doing as well. But we don’t get it right at home talk less of worrying about our citizens abroad. What is the capacity of Nigerian missions abroad in this type of activity?
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs appears to me to have a more balanced and thoughtful view on this matter. Instead of blaming the Western embassies or rejecting their intelligence, the statement coming from Mr. Onyeama is measured: “Now, the ministry of foreign affairs, as well as the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, have been working very closely to fully get on top of the situation, but also to engage with our foreign partners, first of all, to mitigate and blunt any threat that there could be from outside the country, but also working and engaging with the foreign missions within the country to ensure that whatever we do, whatever we say, is constructive and should not, in any way, cause unnecessary alarm, and in any way destabilise the country.(my emphasis).
“Let us concede that the country is naturally worried about the impact of such security alerts on the economy and political stability. People are leaving Abuja. Malls are being closed. Hotels are going to start worrying about patronage. Private businesses must be concerned about their bottom line. And with election season in high gear, who knows what can happen with such a reminder about our tenuous security situation? These are all legitimate and government should be concerned.
“However, you don’t solve the problem or meet the challenge by demonizing the foreign embassies for doing their job. What you do is acknowledge the validity of the alert based on good intelligence and make effort to mitigate and blunt any threat to the country. Then, you also engage with the foreigners to ensure a productive working relationship that gives you a heads up about any potential threat before it becomes public. But really, shouldn’t we also have our own intelligence that is reliable and responsive? We must not deceive ourselves into believing that foreign missions owe us a duty. They owe their citizens the responsibility to inform and protect.”