How prepared are colleges in case of terror attack?

 Are school administrations engaging students in emergency security drills?

At about 3p.m. on Tuesday afternoon this past week, a lot of us - comrades - were probably just seated in class or having lunch or minding our own business, totally oblivious of anything happening anywhere else in the world.

When, all of a sudden, a bomb went off at 14 Riverside Drive in Westlands. Three cars went up in flames. And then gunshots rent the air thereafter. Loud incessant gunshots.

We were to later learn that four terrorists had stormed the Dusit complex and were shooting around at innocent civilians haphazardly. As at the time of writing this article, the government had reported 20 people dead; that’s 20 people who, probably, were enjoying meals with their families and some who were trying to earn a decent living.

Scores more were left injured and blood appeals were trickling in from various hospitals in Nairobi.

That attack reminded Kenyans of the 2013 Westgate siege where 62 people lost their lives. But, as a comrade, it also reminded me of the April 2, 2015, terrorist attack at the Garissa University where we lost a whopping 148 young souls after another 4 armed gunmen stormed the school premises and opened fire. And so questions must be asked.

Something has to be accounted for. Something has got to give. How did we let this happen? How did we let armed gunmen into these institutions? Why did it take us too long to neutralize the threats?

I will not talk about the Westgate and 14 Riverside attacks today. I want to talk about the Garissa University attack first because this is our platform, as comrades.

I want to know a few things: How prepared are our colleges and institutions for, god forbid, another such gruesome terror attack? What lessons did we learn from the Garissa incident that we can apply to make sure no comrade ever loses their life in such a tragic manner again? What security measures have we put in place to thwart such future attacks?

Are school administrations engaging students in emergency security drills? Safe drills, not careless drills like the one at Strathmore University where students were admitted with broken knees after jumping five floors.

If most of the answers to these questions are in the negative, then we need to seriously reconsider our priorities. Because education is important but security is important-er. We cannot get proper education if we’re constantly afraid of being attacked.

This is an appeal to college administrations and all relevant bodies; Boost security in our schools. Introduce new protocols. Initiate safety procedures.

Because, no matter how painful the Garissa attack was, and no matter how bitter what I’m about to say is, another attack will probably come. And when it does, the only question will be, how prepared are we?