THE global community is still celebrating, understandably, a milestone reached early in the month in the war against terror. That unprecedented crackdown in Pakistan and the eventual elimination of chief terrorist Osama bin Laden by the United States, truly signposts a safer and better world, in the words of excited President Barack Obama. However, the hard-won victory should be the beginning of an intensified assault on terrorism, if the war must be won completely and the world would be totally safe for all nations.Bin Ladens death certainly may not mark the end of Al-Qaedas deadly assault on a peaceful world. Already al-Qaeda has threatened reprisal actions over the incident. There is therefore an urgent need for increased vigilance by the international community. Deservedly, Osama bin Laden suffered an inglorious end for the atrocities he ordered that left thousands of people dead across the world, spanning more than a decade. Save for his diehard followers and colleagues, the general consensus is that bin Laden died without a vestige of sympathy.Osama bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has ever seen, including the tragic 9/11 terrorist bombing in New York in 2001; the July 7 deadly bombings in London in 2007; the blasting of an early morning commuter train in the Spanish capital claiming 200 lives; the explosions at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and many more as claimed by Al-Qaeda.A 10-year massive manhunt following on intricate and painstaking intelligence leads had set up bin Laden for elimination by the U.S special Navy force in the early hours of May 1, in his sprawling hiding place in Abbottabad in Pakistan. The mansion, which arguably harboured the terror chief for at least five years is ironically located a few meters away from a Pakistani military training academy.The location is enough to fuel U.S. suspicion of a cover-up by the Pakistani authorities, a claim that has been vehemently denied by the Pakistani president who insisted that the U.S. could not lay more claims to fighting terrorism than Pakistan. But that suspicion was strong enough to result in a surreptitious incursion into Pakistani territory by the U.S. to finish off bin Laden without a word to Pakistan. The point has been well proven that there can be no hiding place for terrorists anywhere even as the United States used the operation to assert its might as a superior global power.Osama bin Ladens has appropriately generated much excitement across the West and in other parts of the world. As Israeli President Shimon Perez put it, it was a great piece of news for a free worldthis man was a mega-murderer of people (who tried to murder nations). It is worth noting however that Osama bin Laden and his colleagues saw themselves as freedom fighters defending the cause of Islam. But their approach is wrong. Islam promotes peace whereas they turned themselves into architects of pain and violence. Whatever bin Laden did or propagated was against the cause of peace and by deduction, that made him an enemy of the free world.As the world celebrates his exit, the message of bin Ladens deviousness must not be lost on the world that injustice across the world (against which he claimed he was up in arms) still need to be addressed. It may be true that in handling the Osama bin Laden operation, the United States acted unilaterally, and embarked on a revenge mission, but what has been better signposted is the quality of leadership that President Barack Obama and his team have put on display. The average American feels reassured that his or her interest has been defended. This should serve as a lesson to other world leaders.The Nigerian Government in particular, can learn from the tenacity of purpose that the United States has displayed in the Osama bin Laden case. Local security and intelligence agencies should ensure that the country does not provide a safe haven for terrorist organizations and their agents. The United States, in putting an end to the Osama bin Laden menace ten years later, has sent a signal that no one can violate its national integrity and get away with it. Nigeria should learn to act with such resoluteness in strengthening its internal security systems, and in relating with external stakeholders.
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