A proverb says, a coward is always in the mood to fight when he sees someone he can beat. That is also the definition of a bully.
The bandit may howl, may tout a gun, may swagger and harumph.
But he is a tyrant without a heart. So, when they invaded three churches, one a Catholic and the other two Cherubim and Seraphim, they only glorified a faintness of heart.
Why did they choose to strike in Kaduna? It is tempting to say that it is a violence tinged with or even inspired by ill-will.
For the past two and half years, the state under its Governor, Uba Sani has steadily steered away the pivotal northwest state from a stereotype of blood and fear.
So bad was the state under its previous administration that when the then candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited one of the hotbeds of terror, it was not a mere campaign stop. It was like an army division rumbling into Giwa, one of the underbellies of bandits.
Today, the place, including other areas of the state, including Kajuru where the depraved souls struck, have become neon of quiet after eons of violence. Today, Giwa is pivotal to Kaduna’s good times, with loads of lorries shipping cattle down south every day.
When the story of the strike happened, it must have jolted even those who maintain peace in the state because it might have ruffled an atmosphere of confidence, of immunity. That can happen when you take peace for granted.
Perhaps, without excusing the police authorities, that may have led to the tentative acceptance and affirmation of the Kajuru abductions.
I recall the same happened in the quiescent era of then governor of example, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN of Lagos State. Robbers rumbled into town and laid waste a portion of the city. It was a shock even to the elites of security of the state.
Residents were taken aback, and reminds one of the lines of the Caribbean writer George Lamming, who wrote: “something startled where I thought I was safest.” As they say in security parlance, you only need to be wrong once for disaster to happen. That sort never happened again under Fashola or since.
Why I suggest that Kaduna kidnapping might have resulted from envy is simple. Kaduna State has served as an island of peace in a turbulent region.
There are those in the politics of the state and with partisan umbrage over the repeated stories of tranquility in the state.
They had over the past year been posting narratives to undermine the new trend of security.
Some of them were reporting the recent abduction not because it was true but as an opportunity to gloat.
They were not thinking of the children and babies snatched from the belly of their God.
They were not lamenting the women who had left home with pious songs on their lips and peace for their Sundays. They were not contemplating how that breach had turned an outback village off its balance.
They did not wonder how fear had paralysed their fellow citizens.
The coordinated attack on a Sunday makes one wonder if it was not just a mere bandit assault but a sponsored political act of brigandage.
That might have accounted for why Governor Sani said he was not interested in politics or numbers but the effort to rescue the citizens.
The target of churches may also raise the spectre as to whether the sponsors wanted to ratchet up an American doubt about government efforts to beat back the bandits and reinforce fantasies about Christian genocide.
If that is true, then the sponsors, if there were, must be very naïve. It is easy to understand that someone, somewhere does not have peace in their desperate hearts over the rebirth of peace in that land.
Being an island of peace comes with a price.
In a recent address at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Governor Sani had stated that some flashes of violence his government has observed came from other states.
Could that have been the case with the church abductions? It was observed that the churches were located on the border of forests that abut on highways.
As a writer stated recently, what happened in Kaduna State is a breach, not a norm.
The media, in a hurry to report the event, has not put in context the calm of the state in the past couple of years, which must have raised questions as to whether it was a breach taking advantage of police and intelligence complacency, or the work of cohorts with political mischief. Or both.
It indeed is a matter for investigation. In Shakespeare’s great play of plots and intrigues, Julius Caesar, a character says, “There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar.
If thou beest not immortal, look about you: security gives way to conspiracy.” We cannot ignore the words of the bard. To investigate is to emphasise vigilance. As Joseph Conrad noted in his novel: The Secret Agent, “protection is the first necessity of opulence and luxury.” The first line of protection is to watch from the tower.
Governor Sani, as a man with a human and civil rights pedigree, understands that security is not the only solution to insecurity. Hence, as the move to release the abductees continue, he scored two major infrastructure goals. One, with unveiling of the Durum – Kuruntumawa road, leading to eclat and jubilation in Makarfi Local Government Area, a feat the locals say they had not seen in close to a generation.
Another is the Audi-Kako asphaltic road in Zaria Local Government Area.
He has also attacked the issue of unemployment with over 2.5 million citizens empowered with cash for investment. He has also established the largest hub for artisans and training in the subcontinent.
Efforts like these ensure that to improve security means not thinking about it as security alone.
It is the work of a governor to ensure the communities work together. That sets the foundation. Security forces take over from that.
The synergy ensures success.
Hence Sani over the past two years has stressed this cooperation with Abuja. It should continue. Gov Sani has always stressed the idea of inclusion, and one of his latch keys has been religious harmony.
He is beloved of southern Kaduna today because he has brought them back into the Kaduna commonwealth. One of such symbolisms is the Christmas Carol services. It does not take away his Muslim fidelity. It shows he is at peace with his faith. He is also showing he is governor of all.
But what is important for now is to bring home the innocents from the clutches of the cowards. That will be in spite of the Shakespeare line that “security is the chief enemy of mortals,” especially partisan mortals.
