"No doubt Faroq Mutallab is a Nigerian however his beliefs have been altered by extremist in Yemen. These extremist changed his perception and his inner identity his religion and therefore changed who he is"
Recently, United States of America included Nigeria in the infamous terrorist watch list. This caused a lot of hue and cry in Nigeria. Many believe we do not deserve it, some have threatened that Nigeria should be removed from the list. How can Nigeria, during this period that she is attempting to re-brand; Nigeria… Good People, Great Nation, fun loving, friendly, peace loving people be classified as terrorist?
On December 25, 2009 on board a Detroit USA bound Northwest Airline was a young man, 23 years old. He boarded the plane with an intention to detonate a bomb that will kill him as well as 278 other passengers on board the plane. This man Umar Faroq Mutallab failed. Upon investigation, this man had a Nigerian passport and further investigations revealed that he was born in Nigeria and has a Nigerian Father from the northern part of Nigeria, Kastina State to be precise. This undoubtedly makes him a Nigerian. Further investigation revealed that he is not a national of any other country.
This man got the best education money can get. A Mechanical Engineering graduate from the prestigious University College London (UCL), son of the recently retired chairman of the oldest bank in Nigeria, a young man brought up according to the tenets of Islam a peace loving religion, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, feed with golden spoon at every meal, lacking nothing all his life. What could have happened?
He had his primary education in Nigeria before proceeding to the British School of Lome for his secondary education. According to his History teacher at his school, Faroq loved discussing about world politics. He remembered Faroq as a model pupil. He however admitted that he had some radical views in his teenage years as he grew older. He remembered during a school excursion to United Kingdom, Faroq refused to enter a restaurant where alcohol was been served. A devout Muslim you will say! His peers dubbed him “Alfa” a local term meaning Islamic Scholar. This goes to show that Faroq Mutallab was a serious student of Islam that would want to improve himself religiously as well as intellectually. His brother described him as a “quiet, nice and gentle boy” always minding his own business and was morally upright. This tells us something about his early life and conducts however a family source that prefers anonymity said Faroq Mutallab in recent times had arguments with his immediate family members over his religious views. He said “we noticed Faroq developed extreme views and we were always apprehensive of where it might lead him”. Obviously the curious Islamic Scholar-Faroq Mutallab had done some further studying that shaped his perception and identity about his religious views and who he is. The question was who was his mentor, what was he studying and what did he become? Obviously he studied the extremist rather than studying the fundamentals of Islam.
After his first degree, he moved to Egypt and Dubai in United Arab Emirates where he studied for an MBA before dropping out. Between August to September 2009 he was at San’a Institute for Arabic Language in Yemen to study Arabic- what more will you expect from an “Alfa” that wants to broaden the scope of his knowledge. However in October 2009 Faroq Mutallab sent a text message to his father saying that he wanted to stay in Yemen for the next seven years to take a course in Sharia and Arabic studies. His father objected and like a responsible father he threatened to cut off his funding. Faroq responded that that will not be necessary as someone else is paying for his studies. His father asked who and his response – “that’s none of your business”. He said “I have found a new religion, the real Islam - please forget about me, I’m never coming back home- please forgive me –I will no longer be in touch with you, and forgive me for any wrong doing, I am no longer a child nor am I your child”. At 23, independent of his fathers’ financial support, an adult legally, there was little the father could do to stop him at this time. He however reported his son who he brought up according to the tenets of Islam to the CIA officials at the US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria on November 19, 2009.
We live in a global village. At the click of a button you can connect with anyone anywhere. In an interview with FBI agents Faroq Mutallab said he made contacts via the internet with a radical Imam in Yemen, who connected him with Al Qaeda leaders in a village north of the countries capital Sanwa. No doubt Faroq Mutallab is a Nigerian however his beliefs have been altered by extremist in Yemen. These extremist changed his perception and his inner identity about his religion and therefore changed who he is. I remember a story I heard about American POW during the Korean War. The Chinese communist got information out of the American POWs; without torturing them or physically assaulting them. How did they achieve this? By getting the American POW to see how they think communism is better than socialism, getting him to put it down in writing and also say it. They later played it over the loud speakers to the hearing of other American POWs. They asked him why he said so and he became defensive supporting communism rather than socialism. His colleagues became his enemies and his captors became his friends because of his utterances and view. They changed his perception, his identity and ultimately they changed him and turned him to a traitor.
Although Mutallab is a Nigerian by birth, his identity has been changed and therefore his personality has changed. They say one bad apple spoils the bunch, how about 200 or even a thousand. Let us not forget that the international community is not blind to the happenings in Nigeria. The religious crisis caused by Islamic extremist that has become part of us for years, the recent Boko Haram saga, Nigeria’s links to the Taliban and Al Qaeda Network all these have been put into consideration before we were included in that list. Previously a Nigerian at any International Airport around the world in the eye of the immigration officers is either trying to smuggle in banned substance or in possession of fake identity. Now Mutallab has added to the list of suspicions. This Nigerian might also be a terrorist; we know they are linked with Al Qaeda and the Taliban Network, please watch out! Umar Faroq Mutallab’s failed bomb attempt is the last straw that broke the camels back. The first step to change is acceptance of fault. Nigeria deserves to be on that list. It is now left for our Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Communication, Defense and other relevant agencies to go back to the drawing board and nip this issue at the bud and project Nigerians the way we truly are. It’s a big shame to us not at this time when we are trying to re-brand
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