Article published in The Nation Newspaper
30/12/2009
Congratulations and God Bless those on the Amsterdam– Detroit Delta flight for their successful intervention in the termination of their flight by a 23 year old Nigerian Farouk Abdulmutallab. Many others would have fled from the flames with devastating results. A few more seconds, or indecision, and we could be mourning the loss of 278 passengers and 11 crew, a serious thought and thanks to God who put smart ‘action people’ on board. As for the man, Abdulmutallab, he has interfered with or ruined the Christmas holidays of thousands of security and support staff and families worldwide. He has cost millions of dollars in investigations, travel and communications and an extra two hour delay for millions of passengers to the USA and visa refusal for thousands in future. While some rebrand, he and terrorist accomplices brought the reputation of Nigerians low, triggering an anti- African and Anti-Nigerian backlash in jobs, education and social opportunities throughout the West. Every Nigerian will now be made fair game for extra intrusive scrutiny, suspicion, abuse and discrimination. And this in spite of the tremendous good work done by thousands of students, intellectuals, professionals and other Nigerian workers abroad.
Such a cost is unquantifiable in monetary and esteem losses and in opportunities for achievement of goals. So what can justify such an act. From his flat in a nearly $4m UK address and the banking credentials of both parents, he is not poor and has no baggage of poverty, suffering, repression, temptation with money or even love as a motivation for mass murder. So what pushed him over the edge this Christmas –family difficulties? Eventually we will be told after the investigation in three continents whether he was/is mad, on drugs, being forced or actually a religious fanatic. Suicide is an uncommon Nigerian phenomenon especially young suicide. It usually accompanies depression, school examination failure or drugs. Abdulmutallab does not fit the profile as he had a life of luxury by his birth, success in education and family wealth. This is very frightening as it means that he must have fallen under the malignant influence of powerfully persuasive forces that are still recruiting and still with the powerful persuasion instruments to convince young Nigerian and other adults that it is okay to give up their lives in a fiery painful explosion taking hundreds of innocent people, Christians and Moslems, young and old, with them. Anyone with a child in school or university is a potential target for recruitment and must take much more interest in the activites and exposure the child is facing. This man’s father reported Farouk Abdulmuttab for ‘increased radicalised views’ –a bold and painful move. Our thoughts are with the parents as their family name is dragged through the microscope of security investigation and the biases and sensationalism of press and public opinion. However parents cannot be fully held responsible for the actions of their adult children.
This should remind Nigerians that we are living in a fool’s paradise when, in Nigeria, we irresponsibly call ‘youth’ those between ’18 and 35’ years old. Nonsense! In this incident, no international press referred to the 23 year old as a ‘Youth’. He was called ‘Man’ and he is ‘man’, legally, medically, intellectually and by responsibility. He can legally vote, drive, have sex, be a father, join the army and die for his country. He was not even called ‘young man’. The war in Afganistan is returning 18 year olds in coffins to their distraught families in the name of national service and ultimate sacrifice. Though they are young, they are men, not youth! Nigeria should grow up, force its young adults to step forward and remove the title of ‘youth’ as a cover for condoning their irresponsibility and postponing their participation as equal adults in the ‘adult playing fields of life’. Farouk Abdulmutallab is an adult, not a youth, and will be interrogated, charged, tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult.
The charge will be ‘attempted murder/ attempted blowing up a plane’. This is wrong as he had every intention of actually blowing up the plane and was only thwarted by passengers and God. We must make the distinction between a ‘murderer who failed due to personal incompetence or divine or human intervention‘ and would still have murdered ‘all things being equal’, and ‘a murderer who fails to pull the trigger or diverts the devasation’ due to a last minute pang of conscience. A murderer whose incompetence in bomb-making burns his own trousers and legs and sets fire to part of the plane instead of the legs and trousers of 278 others is still a murderer. Why should he be rewarded with a lesser charge of ‘attempted mass murder’ just because he misread the destructive instructions or did not carry enough chemicals or was thwarted by agile, brave passengers. A murderer whose knife breaks in a rib instead of the heart is not an ‘attempted murderer’ but a ‘murderer who failed to murder’. Why should he be rewarded with a lesser charge of ‘attempted murder’ and therefore ‘lesser sentence’ just because he failed to kill the heart? The law is an ass.
What manner of 2010 for Nigeria? Happy and ‘terrorist and terrible politician free’ New Year, HNY, as we CountdowNigeria@50-274 amid Nigerian ‘political terrorists’, no less deadly than this one, who cannot provide Nigerians ‘common’ electricty, water and 70,000 libraries for schools!