I would rather be sleeping now, yet I have this urgent and pressing desire to write and pour out this burden in my heart; I am quite concerned, I guess as concerned as many of you that may be reading this now. On Christmas Day, 25^th 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. Some people were even more shocked to discover that the alleged suicide bomber was 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, it was in that case very shocking to learn that a well educated young and vibrant Nigerian could be involved in such a sadistic act of suicide bombing. Although, there were people that were not utterly astonished by the involvement of our very own educated and well-travelled Nigerian in this disgraceful terrorist act. With the rising level of religious intolerance and crisis that involves wanton killing and destruction, it was very obvious that it would be a matter of time for Nigeria to join the club of evil axis.

 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 rather surprising and to say the least hypocritical, to see the level of shock and bewilderment exhibited by many and the Nigerian government at the recent terrorist act by the Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab.

Consequent upon the alleged involvement of our very own Umar  in an attempt to blow up the transatlantic flight, 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 the infamous act due to the knowledge of the possible consequences to the already battered image of Nigeria and Nigerians, particularly the issues of advance free fraud popularly called 419 and corruption, which unfortunately, is the reason in which they are stereotyped by many. Frequent Nigerian travelers, especially those with Nigerian passports are not oblivious of the very likely negative impact of this act, particularly at the international airports and foreign embassies; 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 result of the humiliation and the reality of the whole hullabaloo, there have been several fire brigade efforts by the Nigerian government and some very much concerned Nigerians to salvage the near shattered image of our dear nation, through condemnations and disassociations from the alleged panty bomber. A group has been formed in a social networking website, Face book, with the title, “we condemn Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, Nigerians are not terrorist”, the group has a total number of 60,077 members and still counting as of today 02/01/10. Some smart Nigerians have termed it as an isolated incident; that Nigeria is a very peaceful country with zero tolerance to terrorism of all kinds, be it internal or external, well….. Indeed! Further, the Federal Government has strongly denounced the act and announced the sudden purchase of scanning equipment at the international airports in Nigeria and has promised to review the security system at the airports, hopefully, the security situation and the safety of all Nigerians will improve hence forth, so, the whole thing might be a blessing in disguise, but, there is a  popular proverb that says “a stitch in time saves nine”, must we be subjected to international humiliation and world wide condemnations before we extinguish the fire in our backyard?

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 recently, the Police Commissioner, Atiku Yusuf Kafur, reported the arrest of 20 suspects made up of adults and minors in connection with religious extremism. The level of professionalism exhibited by the extremist groups, the sophistication of their weaponry and the swiftness in which they attack and execute their satanic acts indicate that they have the financial and logistic support from foreign countries; 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 barbaric acts.  

My queries however are, why are we less bothered or indifferent to 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? Are we totally indifferenct to the faith of certain group of people, particularly the so called minorities, the ordinary Nigerians?. Are the rampant and reoccurring acts of terror, including killings, maiming and destructions of properties not a commonplace in Nigeria? Are there not sufficient killings of innocent Nigerians by religious extremist, such as maitasine, Bulunkutu, Kalo-kato, Zangon-kataf and Boko-Haram, to indicate that there is fundamental problem? Or is terrorism and acts of terror more unlawful when it is on international scale or directed to foreign nationals and countries? Are we just nonchalant to the fate and security of certain religion and ethnic groups of Nigeria? Do we rather choose to be in denial? Apparently, if it doesn’t affect us directly or affect our immediate families then it’s not really crucial.

Truth be told, we have all refused to accept the harsh reality on ground; al-Qaeda has got numerous sympathetic minds in Nigeria and religious extremism is real in Nigeria and these are not particularly recent developments, but the government chose to be nonchalant as long as it does not affect the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja nor the oil wells in Niger delta. It is therefore high time we searched our conscience as individuals and as a nation, Shehu Usman Dan Fodiyo, the founder of Sokoto caliphate (1754-1816), said, “Conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal”.  I sincerely hope that our dear brother Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has given us sufficient reasons to step aback and ponder. God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria!!

Emmanuel S Emelogu ,Research student ,Institute for Innovation, Design, and Sustainability (IDEAS), The Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, UK