Mutallab Terrorist Incident As A Teachable
Moment Or Lesson To All Nigerians
By
Paul I. Adujie
lawcareer@gmail.com
Some Nigerians, oftentimes, make pronouncements, as though they are
temporary citizens of Nigeria
The failed attempt by Umaru Farouk Abdul Mutallab to bomb United Airlines
flight 253 out of the air and the aftermaths, have managed to act as a
reminder to those who pretend to be temporary citizens of Nigeria, that
they are in fact still Nigerians, just like other 150 million of us, with
shared destiny, warts and all!
Those Nigerians abroad or in the Diaspora, who are too often badmouthing
Nigeria and are too quick to engage in ethnic, religious and regional
jousting, claiming superiority, engaging in chauvinism, bigotries and
flame-throwing, are now lumped with the rest of us. The rest of us, who
have often pointed out that it is infinitely more beneficial to focus on
tackling Nigeria’s national challenges and national issues, and refrain
from the debilitating negative matters of ethnic, religious and regional
difference or claimed superiority.
We have frequently argued that paucity and or complete absence of public
infrastructure is not peculiar to a particular ethnic group, or region and
religious group. National issues such as the downward spiral of our
educational institutions, the absence equipment and medicines in hospitals
are not unique to particular ethnic group.
The high rate of unemployment in Nigeria is a national phenomenon. The
absence of clean drinking piper borne water is not an Hausa, Igbo or
Yoruba issue, it is and remains a national issue. Neither is the absence
of adequate power generation and transmission by NEPA or, PHCN
And now, the United States has just increased our burden, as the US lumped
Nigeria together with nations which the US accuses of antagonizing it and
having animus toward it and suddenly, 150 million Nigerians are once
again, for better and for worse, inextricably bound and linked together,
by reason of our national origin. Nigerians at home and abroad now have a
choice in the matter resist the generalization against Nigerians and
Nigeria, demand that the US remove us from the unsavory list or some
Nigerians can continue to say that they are from Arewa, or Biafra or
Oduduwa republics, or pretend to be from the moon or mars!
I take the position that Nigerians in unison, should protest and demand
that our nation not be so labeled, castigated with current unfair
generalizations; Or, Nigerians who so wish, can approach security agents
at airports worldwide, and insist on introducing selves as citizens of
Arewa,or Biafra or Oduduwa Republics and therefore, separate, apart and
distinct from those of us Nigerians! There is a clear choice.
It is the case that when unwarranted attacks were directed at Nigeria,
soon after the Mutallab incident in Detroit, Michigan in the United
States, some Nigerians quickly engaged in their usual practice of finger
pointing. These finger pointing were predicated and rooted in, the useless
perfunctory distinctions in Mutallab’s religious faith, his ethnicity and
the region of Nigeria from which his father hails. For these finger
pointing Nigerians, it was not enough to just denounce the attempted
criminal acts of Mutallab, it instead became quite important to some, to
specify Mutallab’s religion, ethnicity and regional origins.
The truth is that Mutallab has lived more than half his life, until the
incident, outside the shores of Nigeria, but he nevertheless remains a
Nigerian for good and for evil, and in success and in failure. But some
Nigerians sought to portray him as merely from that religion, that ethnic
group and that region! The bitter truth is that, non-Nigerians are
splendidly uninterested in our internal workings or arrangements and the
schisms and family squabbles between the various political, ethnic and
religious divisions in Nigeria. Those Nigerians bigots can engage in all
the splitting hairs they want, to their heart content.
All Nigerians should see generalizations against Nigerians and Nigeria for
what they generalizations are. All Nigerians should see discrimination
against Nigerians and Nigeria for what discrimination is
We must see double standards and disparities in treatments reserved for
Nigerians and Nigerian in comparison to all others for what such double
standards and disparities really are.
Nigerians should stop accepting, explaining and justifying maltreatment of
Nigerians and Nigeria by airlines or credit card companies and all other
entities, be they nations or corporate entities. Nigerians must get away
and get out from the mindsets which allow some Nigerians accept
discrimination as something Nigerians and Nigeria have earned and
deserves! Nigeria is as imperfect as other nations of the world. Nigerians
must therefore using Nigeria’s internal imperfections as acceptable
excuses as why nations and corporate entities must accept our money and
our efforts and yet give us less that we deserve, because we have
Nigerian origins and heritage!
There are internal frictions in Nigeria which are a result of plural and
diverse nature of Nigeria. However, the benefits derivable from our
diversity and being a plural society are quite tremendous and quite
clearly outweighs the negatives. Furthermore, domestic issues or
disagreements should be put in the back burner in the face of external
threats and challenges
Nigeria is a plural society. In plural societies, it is not uncommon to
have competition for space and resources. Resources are not infinite and
as a consequence, resource allocation is liable to have tinges of
competition between the multiple variables of imbued in a multi ethnic,
multi religious, multi cultural and multi lingual and multi regional
interests. This “competition” for resources, can often mean, competing and
sometimes conflicting interests, but, such competing-conflicting
interests, need not be violent or unfriendly. There is no necessity for
violence or war and bitterness in the “competition” which ensues as a
result resource sharing or resource allocation processes.
Unfortunately, there are too many Nigerians who have instead, become
entrenched in bigotries, biases and prejudices against other Nigerians,
too many Nigerians make negative pronouncements as if in auto response and
almost reflexively about other Nigerians, other than members of their
ethnic, religious, linguistic and regional group. There are too many
Nigerians who are quick to describe fellow Nigerians of other ethnic,
religious, regional and or linguistic groups in the most abrasive, base
and most corrosive terms.
There are these Nigerians with romantic notions of distinct fictional
entities to which these Nigerians owe superior loyalty, passion,
commitment and dedication. There are too many Nigerians who expend, no,
squander, is more appropriate a term, they squander wastefully, valuable
time in dwelling in their infantile make-belief Arewa, or Biafra or
Oduduwa republics. And as such, all debates of Nigerian national issues
are too often mired and subsumed in ethnic, religious and regional
lopsided perspectives based on parochial, myopic and ridiculously
illogical prisms of being from the variously superior and holier than thou
Arewa, or Biafra or Oduduwa republics. The Mutallab incident has be no
exceptions.
Nigerians will do well from now on, to engage in the debate of issues
affecting Nigerians and Nigeria, from the point of view of common national
and strategic interests. Time is nigh for Nigerians of all ethnic,
religious and regional background to rally around Nigeria. Nigerians need
to engage in vigorous and vibrant debates regarding sundry national
issues, proffer solutions, in efforts to amicably resolve Nigeria’s
challenges. Nigerians must cease and desist from the not so beguiling
self-defeating and energy sapping and energy dissipating fixations on
ethnic, regional and religious distinctions and dichotomies
All Nigerians should concentrate on demonstrating our intellectual prowess
and resilience, through problem solving which benefits every Nigerian and
Nigeria. Nigeria is currently bedeviled with myriad challenges and
Nigerians are known worldwide, for astuteness and for intellectual acumen.
It is time to deploy our prodigious and superb intellect on behalf of all
Nigerians and Nigeria. Post independence Nigerians have been wedded
together for fifty years, and time is nigh to make it stick! All Nigerians
should quit pretending that there is a suitable alternative to the
nationhood of Nigeria and our citizenship.
All Nigerians should stop pretending that our Nigerian-ness is some sorts
of temporary arrangements. Nigerians are in this together and for good, it
is time to settle down and make it work best for us. There are examples of
multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual nations on earth with similar
complexities such as we have in Nigeria.
There are more than a billion people each in China and India.
Coincidentally, the economies of both China and India, are in the upsurge
and in double digit growth, most of these advances are powered by Diaspora
Chinese and Indians. Both China and India are similar to Nigeria in their
multi ethnic, multi cultural and multi lingual compositions. Both China
and India, have huge Diaspora populations, similar again, to the way
Nigeria is today. And recently, a Chinese America chose returning to China
to contribute to Chinese national development, over a ten million dollar
opportunity offered to him in America where he currently conducts
important research.
The European Economic Community/European Union now have a common
continental currency, which competes, frequently out competes the US
Dollar. The EEC/EU arrangements ensures a large market, mobility of labor,
which have engendered higher standard of living for Europeans east and
west… There is an identical strength, okay, potential political, economic
and strategic strength in Nigeria’s numbers as currently composed, this is
good for Nigeria, for West Africa, for the African continent and indeed,
it is good for the whole world! Why would any Nigerian seek to change
that?
Besides, it is quite foolhardy for any Nigerian who tries to convince any
airport security agent around the world, that he is not Nigerian or that
he is uniquely from Arewa, or Biafra or Oduduwa imaginary republics. Our
Nigerian swagger will shine through and the security agents do not care
about these unknown imaginary republics! Claiming to be from Arewa, or
Biafra or Oduduwa makes you a fraudster and it would increase the
heightened security odds against you!
In October 2010, Nigeria will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of her
national political independence from Britain, a former colonizer and
usurper of Nigeria’s political, economic and cultural powers. Nigerians
should therefore focus on the business of making Nigeria a nation which is
developed, advanced and great. We all must learn to focus on the big
picture. Every nation is playing to win, it a is hostile race to the top,
it is grueling and only the organized, efficient and focused survives.
Nigerians must focus on how to put Nigeria on international platforms and
pedestals in the comity of nations of the world in the scheme of things,
as the wheels of history continues to turn.
All Nigerians should focus on whatever it takes to attain Nigeria’s
rightful place at the global table.
|