First things first, I am exceedingly thankful that no harm came to the passengers of the Northwest Airlines Detroit bound flight that was the target of Friday’s foiled terror attack.
However, I am sure the events of December 25th, has put a damper on just about everyone’s Christmas holiday — especially at a time when there has been a renewed sense of consciousness about the image that Nigeria projects internationally. Information regarding 23-year-old Nigerian terror suspect, Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been pouring out over the past 24 hours in spits and fits. Abdulmutallab, son of a former First Bank chairman, is not your run-of-the-mill Northern rioter. Having studied Mechanical Engineering at the University College of London, he planned to complete a second degree in Dubai, but informed his family that he instead wished to relocate to Yemen for religious training (Source: CNN).
Last month, I linked to FP Passport’s, Educate Boys, Or They’ll Go To War, which presented the World Bank finding which demostrates that that countries with a low rate of secondary school attainment amongst young males are more likely to be conflict-prone. I automatically assumed that such applies to the the global phemenon of religiously-inspired terrorism. Nigeria is no stranger to such attacks as we witnessed earlier this year with Boko Haram, which translates to “Western education is a sin.” Shortly after the September 11th attacks, several have suggested that increased foreign aid and increasing levels of education amongst youth of developing countries could help to curb violent terrorist attacks.
While Abdulmutallab defies this stereotype, it has been well-established that a reduction in poverty may not necessarily correlate to a decrease in terrorist tendencies. A significant portion of international jihadist participants tend to be more well-educated and wealthier in comparison to the general population. Additionally, the educated and wealthy are more likely to view international terrorist attacks as “justified.” In response to NigerianCuriosity’s latest post, I argued the proliferation of child beggars in Nigeria could serve as a breeding ground for future conflicts and by extension, acts of terrorism. While this may hold true for local acts of terrorism within Nigeria’s borders, international attacks, such as that of December 25th, warrants a new paradigm.
The link between political instability within the country of origin of the terrorist and proclivity towards international acts terror may be a stronger one (see here and here). Abdulmutallab is thought to have some connections to Yemen. Dubbed as the next failed state, the Yemeni government has little power beyond its capital, Sana’a. As of April 2009, more than 40% of all Guantanamo Bay prisoners are of Yemeni origin and currently, Al Qaeda maintains a strong footfold within the country’s borders.
Performing even worse than last year, Nigeria ranked higher than Yemen in the 2009 Fund for Peace’s Failed States Index. Interestingly, Muttalab’s attack comes more one month after Yar’adua went Missing In Action from the Nigerian presidency. Almost 50 years post-independence, Nigeria remains rudderless in a sea of political instability that threatens to overtake us. Well, with such a trajectory of leadership (or, err, lack thereof), we Nigeria may become the latest frontier for the launching of future international terrorist attacks.
Thanks for finding words to write this post. I have none.
Mutallab strikes me as spoiled rich kid who happens to have had the means may play at fanatical causes. His poorly considered action only serves to distract attention from real problems in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world.
The link between political instability within the country of origin of the terrorist and proclivity towards international acts terror may be a stronger one
I agree with this point you made above because the ‘profile’ for lack of a better word just defies belief. Most Nigerian 23 year-olds are trying to feed their families or trying to graduate from college where we all know the educational system is broken. As for the rich ones among them, parties and hanging out are what occupy their time both in Nigeria and abroad. Who has the mentality to do this?
It’s just such a shame cos the way the press has been screaming Nigeria every second the past few days, visa and traveling issues for Nigerians (and Africans by extension) have just worsened to the point of no return.
On a lighter note, I guess ignoramus Americans will now be forced to separate Nigeria the country from Africa the continent…lol.
I forgot to add that these educated and wealthy ‘agents’ at a fundamental level just have issues with the Western way of living (i.e. education & culture) and that seems to form the core of their ‘battle’. It’s unfortunate that religion is also used to justify the acts but that ideology is clearly at the root of their mentality. It just seems like they’re fighting for a new world order (but seeking to do it by bombing everything to submission). Sorry if this is getting all political sciene and IR-like sha.
I keep hearing people say this is a one-off situation, but it won’t remain that way for long. MEND, militancy, kidnappers, Boko Haram, vigilantes in the West, the signs are clear and Nigerians cannot afford to continue ignoring them. The fact that this boy was rich was nothing more than a travel reality — a poor Nigerian Muslim/northern male would be incapable of receiving travel documents. Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ keeps coming to mind. Specifically the theme song for the television program — “Things fall apart/ And the center cannot hold…” I have always been haunted by that theme song’s warning. I only wish many more of us had heeded its message, our nation might not be in the decayed state it is in now.
@Nneoma: wonderful post. I applaud you for being able to write this so quickly after the incident. It took my 24 hours to get over my frustration to even begin to think critically about the matters involved.
I’ve only just taken the time to read this post. Very well written, most measured response I’ve read.
I haven’t personally had much to say about this guy except that he does not represent me and I am Nigerian. He isn’t giving me a bad name, because I am responsible for my own name.
If we are to succeed in making positive strides as a nation and tell the world successfully that we will not be pigeon holed or held back, then we need to also drop the minority mentality. Every serial killer or wall street fraudster did not cause Americans to fall into uproar about their bad name, one man’s crime is one man’s crime.
We are as prone to militancy and perceived terrorism as any nation in the world at the moment, that’s a fact of our modern times so we don’t need to claim it as a Nigerian problem.
As for the way other nations see Nigeria, well small mindedness will always have an excuse, Umar is to yesterday, what District 9 was the day before yesterday.…lets see what today and tomorrow bring.
[…] poverty and misunderstanding. The policy and political implications are clear. In fact, Nneoma’s write-up on the importance of education of boys, which presented the World Bank findings that countries with […]
[…] poverty and misunderstanding. The policy and political implications are clear. In fact, Nneoma’s write-up on the importance of education of boys, which presented the World Bank findingsthat countries with […]