REMEMBER ABDULMUTALLAB, THE FIRST NIGERIAN TERRORIST UNVEILED?

TERRORISM-AT-LARGE

When I first stumbled on the pathetic news in the national dailies, I was breathless and deeply shocked to the bone marrows. The borrowed paper almost fell from my grip and beads of sweat started forming on my forehead (inside my air-conditioned office). I kept staring at the boldly carved headline for a moment before curiously jumping into the body. What amused me most was the irony that a well-educated, rich, meek and easy-going Nigerian youth could attain the height of a turbid 21st century suicide-bombing terrorist! A total disservice to the nation and a heinous result of presumed absolute parental negligence and prolonged loneliness. At last, we have successfully advanced from cyber crimes, drug pushing, forgery, fraud and corruption to international terrorism. We have finally booked a space in the big black books of the no-nonsense Mr. Obama, kudos to the helmsman himself the much-dreaded Osama Bin Laden(yet another feather to his cap), and his dissentingly destructive Al-Qaeda (The Base) philosophy birthed in 1988.

Nevertheless, quite a number of informed Nigerians may not be too surprised about the tragic incident, considering the general ideology that we have been nurturing terrorist-like groups like the Boko Haram in this nation, since God-knows-when, all in the name of Allah? Majority of our turban-wearing, long bearded Islamic leaders should not bother to pretend as if they are not accustomed or practically related to the terrorism syndrome. The compass of terrorism is obviously pointing towards the Northern region. Like father like son! The earlier Nigerians face the bitter reality that Mutallab is only a chip off the old block, the better for all of us. 

To say the home truth, though with mixed feelings, we are effortlessly trying to disown and deny the busted terrorist as if he was not born on the Nigerian soil. The media even went ahead to say the “poor boy” only spent his primary school days in Nigeria. But the ultimate question remains, is he a Nigerian or not? The true lie is that we are all pointing accusing fingers because the news is unsavoury. Surely, the case would have been different if the media had announced him as a celebrity or an academic giant who just made a great scientific discovery. I’m dead sure that his retired father would be the first to beat his chest and say “that’s my boy’’. Just recently, Osama, who claimed responsibility for the terror act, called Mutallab a hero despite the fact that the fatal operation turned out to be a failed attempt, corroborating what a professor once told me that “those who take heroic stunts may not live to enjoy the shower of praises”. 

According to one of the lucky victims who bravely prevented “our son” from detonating the weapon of mass destruction, Mutallab was shedding tears and looking very morose. It was due to this signal that the passengers suspected that something was in the offing. Come to think of it, what took him so long to detonate the underpants bomb? And why was he crying? Could it be that the poor boy still cherished his life and was very scared to lose it? Maybe he was even cajoled into taking up the suicidal contract, without the mercy to pause and rethink that he might eventually get more than what he had initially bargained for. 

No doubt, his prosecution is a done deal, like an egg that has fallen to the ground, though his rich dad had sought the services of the best legal advocates (or Baba Alawos of our land). It would only be a mere waste of resources because we are actually dealing with Great America. It would be a great loss to his people and Nigeria as a whole if this misguided Nigerian is (certainly) being executed for the most unpardonable offence in the world. We should also be mindful of the fact that terrorism has finally gained a steady ground in Nigeria. The February 8th edition of TELL Magazine revealed that Al-Qaeda is offering to train Nigerian youths who are ready to fight for the course of Islam. This goes a long way to show the threatened state of our national security, coupled with the president’s long absence from office. The masses are being fed with various blatant speculations, and I continue to wonder if Nigerian reporters don’t know the way to Saudi Arabia. With bated breath, we all anticipate the arrival of Mr. President from Saudi Arabia, amidst perceived repositioning of the presidential seat; we can sense trouble in the brewing. 

 In every wise, there is no perfect happiness in this world; we only have doses of it. Instead of lamenting over spilled milk, we should be more concerned about what prompted young Mutallab to dabble into the terrorists’ clique. It won’t be patriotic to throw the proverbial baby away with the bath water. We should also take pains to critically re-examine the possible societal causes and aftermath of such horrid incident on the bilateral dealings between Nigeria and the United States of America. The sudden ordainment of Nigeria as a terrorist nation expectedly led to the inclusion of our dear country on the terror watch list (despite all the noise about rebranding) of America and the increment of American visa fees by 100 per cent, not to talk of the re-evaluation of visa issuance, is an indication of a once-juicy relationship turning sour. Even our power brokers can no longer enjoy the usual VIP treatment at the airports. It is even more worrisome that those that will receive the most blows (scapegoats) and a bigger portion of “punishment” are Nigerians residing abroad. Some of them will even be forced to board the next available fight home when the going gets discriminately tough. 

To put to paper, the Jpnathan-led administration has a backlog of national cum international assignments begging to be attended to. Without putting square pegs in round holes, something needs to be urgently done to salvage our ailing economy from international stigmatization and amendment of our almost-shattered relationship with angry America. The heart-tearing story of AbdulMutallab should serve as a deterrent to our fast-learning youths and remind them of the saying “charity begins at home”