December 31, 2009
On Christmas Day, 25th of December 2009, the world was shocked by the news of 23-year old Nigerian al Qaeda trained terrorist attempt to ignite an explosive device in a Northwest Airlines Flight 253 plane from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, after shouting about Afghanistan. The explosive materials had apparently been sewn into his underwear.
People where more shocked to learn that the alleged suicide bomber is a mechanical engineer, a graduate of University of London (UCL); and the prestigious British International College in Lome, Togo. Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the suspect, was indeed a privileged son of a very influential Nigerian technocrat. Typically, one would think that suicide bombers are the talakawas; uneducated very vulnerable people who had nothing to loose.
Many concerned Nigerians and friends of Nigerians, especially the hard working professionals and students in various parts of the world were extremely appalled and disgusted at this infamous act due to the knowledge of the consequences to the already battered image of Nigeria and Nigerians, particularly the issues of advance free fraud popularly called 419 and corruption, which they have to live with unfortunately. Frequent Nigerian travelers with Nigerian passports are also aware of the negative impact of this act, especially at the international airports.Even the Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, described the incident as embarrassing and likely to further damage the already battered Nigerian image in the international community.
As a consequence, there have been conceited efforts by the Nigerian government and some very much concerned Nigerians to salvage the ever increasing embarrassing image of their dear nation, through condemnation and disassociations. A social networking website, Face book, presently has a group, with the title,” we condemn Umar Farouk AbdulMutallib, Nigerians are not terrorist” as of today (31st December, 2009) the group has a total number of 53,077 members and still counting. There are really justified reasons to be concern; the consequences of this terror act will be far reaching. However, different acts of terror, including killings, maiming and destructions of properties which apparently are acts of terrorism are everyday happenings in Nigeria without much ado; there are no public outcries, nor presidential condemnations, why are we less bothered by the numerous horrific terrorism acts in our country?. Why the shock with this particular incident? Didn’t we see this coming? Is terrorism in Nigeria not a commonplace? Or is terrorism and acts of terror more unlawful when it is on international scale or directed to foreign nationals and countries? Are we totally indifference to the faith of certain group of people, particularly the so called minorities, the ordinary Nigerian?
As of present time, there is no known internationally agreed definition of terrorism, however, terrorism, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion, in other words, terrorism is the use of violence and threat to achieve religious, political, ethnical and ideological significance and aims. It is therefore very surprising and to say the least hypocritical, to see the level of shock and bewildment by many and the Nigerian government on the recent terrorist act by the Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab.
The high level of armed robbery and kidnappings in various parts of Nigeria, particularly the southern Nigeria, are acts of terror and should generate equal or even higher condemnation. Foreign nationals, expatriates and politicians have police and military escorts to their beck and call, the same can not be said of numerous Nigerians. Are the Nigerian police and the federal security outfits not meant to serve, secure and protect all Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, stature or political affiliations? Further, the Amnesty International has maintained that the police in Nigeria are involved in hundreds of extra judicial killings, and only those that have money to bribe their ways out are spared of torture and safety from execution.
Let us therefore remind ourselves of the horror of the numerous brutal invasions of the police and the military in the Niger Delta regions, both during Obasanjo and the present administration, these as well are acts of terror; it has left countless innocent Nigerians dead, paralyzed and if they are extremely lucky, homeless, yet, Nigerians nor government are not blinking an eyelid, the president is not loosing sleep, and there are no investigations nor holistic programs to bring to an end these terrorism acts.
Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallib, a devout Muslim, was driven by his religious belief; apparently he was radicalized by al Qaeda, and was convinced to cause an act of terror on United State of America (USA), the 300 passengers and crew aboard the transatlantic flight. This has led to world wide criticisms and most importantly to the realization that Nigeria is embedded in terrorism, both national and international, the irony however is that we are still in denial. Truth be told, we have all refused to accept the harsh reality on ground; al-Quaeda and religious extremism is real in Nigeria and it is not a recent development, but the government chose to be nonchalant as long as it does not affect the Federal Capital, Abuja nor the oil wells in Niger delta.
In less than two years, we have had numerous religious crisis in northern Nigeria, the recent Boko Haram crisis left more than 300 Nigerians dead including their leader Mohammed Yusuf and their alleged sponsor and financier, Alhaji Buji Foi, strangely, Alhaji Foi was a Commissioner for Religious Affairs during the first term of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, and before then, he had served twice as Chairman of Kaga Local Council, among other top public offices in the state. Further, last week, in Zango, Bauchi state another religious crisis erupted and left more than 38 people dead (Including their leader, Mallam Badamasi) and numerous properties were destroyed by the Islamic religious sect, kala kato. In a related development in Plateau state this week, the Police Commissioner, Atiku Yusuf Kafur, has reported the arrest of 20 suspects made up of nine adults and 11 minors in connection with religious extremism. The list goes on, yet we remain in denial.
It is therefore high time we searched our conscience as individuals and as a nation, it was Shehu Usman Dan Fodiyo the founder of Sokoto caliphate (1754-1816), that said, “conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal”. It is rather very shameful that the government and security agencies in Nigeria where less bothered by the impending doom, despite being informed by the terrorist suspect father, Dr Mutallib, a former CEO/Chairman of Nigerian banks, a Federal Government Minister and a leader of Presidential Committee, of his son’s sudden extreme religious views. Despite all the leads, the panty bomber was able to successfully pass through all the security checks at the MMA Lagos with his bomb unrestrained. I reckon they didn’t envisage that the terrorism act will be on an international scale; otherwise they would have made use of all necessary governmental powers to stop it. If there was a bombing or bomb attempt in any part of Nigeria that did not affect oil and gas facilities, it wouldn’t have generated this much publicity; hence, this might be a blessing in disguise, hopefully, from now on the government and international community will take a closer interest in Nigeria security operations and intelligence. Terrorism and various acts of terror are real in Nigeria, and hopefully, our dear brother master Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has given us a wake up call, God bless Nigeria!!
Emmanuel S Emelogu
Institute for Innovation, Design, and Sustainability (IDEAS),
The Robert Gordon University Aberdeen,
UK
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