What does it mean to be a Nigerian?

If there is one thing I have learnt from the Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab bombing saga, it is people’s perception of what defines a “Nigerian”.

I recall when the news hit the airwaves on Christmas day that a Nigerian has been arrested for trying to blow up a US airline. As expected, the public reaction was swift. However, many refused to believe a Nigerian will be involved in such a nefarious act. Even when it became clear that the suspect was carrying a Nigerian passport, few people were still sceptical. The reasonable for the scepticism was understandable. You will be stupid to assume that all holders of Nigerian passports are actually Nigerian citizens. In connivance with corrupt Immigration officers, foreign national have been fraudulently issued passport in the past.

It was not until the photograph and identity of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, as being the son of the former First Bank Chairman, was disclosed that the penny dropped (!). And just as a friend said during a discussion, if Umar AbdulMutallab was a son of a “Mr Nobody”, it is likely that we will still be arguing over his nationality. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the govt says, his father is an “illegal immigrant” in Nigeria.

Whilst we can all agree that religious extremism exists in Nigeria as witnessed in Boko Haram and Kalo Kato riots, however these extremist behaviours have never been exported outside the shores of the country. The consensus among the civil society is that a Nigerian will not die for anything, talk less of dying for nothing. Nigeria is often described as a nation of docile citizens. And this partly explains why our leaders have continued to rape the nation with impunity.

Many have argued that Umar AbdulMutallab cannot be classified as typical Nigerian because of the length of time he spent overseas. As we know, Umar AbdulMutallab received his post-primary school education in Togo and the United Kingdom. He was also reported to have travelled to Yemen to study Arabic language. So as far as most Nigerians are concerned, Umar AbdulMutallab hasn’t exposed to the traditional Nigerian upbringing. And considering the limited time he spent living in his home country, there was no way he could have been ‘radicalised’ in Nigeria.

The question for me then is, what exactly does it mean to be a Nigerian? What typifies a Nigerian citizen? What are salient characteristics of a Nigerian Citizen?

As I write, there are various online social groups vehemently repudiating the actions of Umar AbdulMutallab Farouk. For once Nigerians have come out in solidarity to condemn the action of this misguided individual. And in order not be labelled a ‘terrorist’ state’, there are planned peaceful protests across the nation and overseas to say that “Nigerians are not terrorists”. So if we all agree for once that we are not terrorists, then what are we?

Sadly, there seems to be an informal acceptance among “we” Nigerians that we are a nation of ‘scam artistes’. When Umar AbdulMutallab terrorist attempt was reported, I heard people say, “If it’s 419, credit card or money laundering, then it could be a Nigerian, but not terrorism”. So does that mean we’ve indirectly accepted fraud as part of our way of life? On one hand, when the western media portrays us as such, we cry to high heavens. However our lackadaisical attitude towards condemnation and prosecution of perpetrators of fraud, money laundering, and drug trafficking only confirms such views.

Let me pose these questions, if Umar AbdulMutallab was caught at a US airport trying to launder foreign currency, would that have drawn same local public reaction? What if he had been caught trafficking cocaine? How will the Nigerian public have reacted? How will the Nigerian public have reacted if he had been caught with fake credit cards and passports? Would we all have spoken with one voice that we are not fraudsters?

It is also convenient to say Umar AbdulMutallab is not a typical Nigerian because he spent most of his formative years overseas. However they are many Nigerian high-profile public office holders who share similar background with Umar AbdulMutallab. These so-called “big men pickin”, having spent most of their lives overseas come back to home only to be handed plum government positions. Some even ride into political offices on the back of their parents’ political clout.

Just like Umar AbdulMutallab, it will be right to say these big men pickin are also not typical Nigerians. However, they still engage in fraudulent and corrupt practices that are attributed to ‘typical’ Nigerians. How can anyone explain the reason behind this?

As much as we can all say “I’m a Nigerian and not a terrorist”, for me, a person is defined by his/her individual personality and not ‘nationality’.

Terrorism and National Security - My Thoughts

It is official; Nigeria has now been inducted into the US terrorism ‘hall of fame’. Oh sorry, the US terrorist ‘watch list’.


The US govt through Transportation Security Administration (TSA), announced that it would begin enhanced screening procedures on any US-bound air passenger travelling through a list of 14 nations, in which Nigeria has been included. From the US point of view, the 14 nations (Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Cuba, Afghanistan, Algeria, Libya ) are believed to have links to terrorism.

So how did we become a member of the terrorism “hall of fame”? On 25 December 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, son of the former First Bank Chairman, Dr AbdulMutallab, attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear on a Northwest Airline Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit Michigan. And according to the US authorities, Umar claimed to have obtained explosive chemicals and a syringe that were sewn into his underwear from a bomb expert in Yemen associated with Al Qaeda. Further investigations by US authorities also revealed that Umar has been in contact with radical Islamic extremist Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been accused of being a senior al-Qaeda talent recruiter.

My thoughts

Many commentators have described the action of the US govt has been high-handed. The Minister for Information also described the action has been ‘unfair’. From the public perspective, it seems that 150million people have now been ‘criminalised’ because of the nefarious act of a single individual. However, for anyone to think that US govt reaction was just because of Umar AbdulMutallab’s terrorist expedition smacks of naiveté.

It is common knowledge that religious extremism has been on the sharp rise in Nigeria. We all know of the famous Boko Haram killings. Also, just two days after the US terrorist attempt, hundreds of lives were lost in Bauchi State to religious riots (Kalo Kato). The nation also witnessed incessant bombing of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta. The combination of religious extremism in the North and armed militancy in the Niger Delta underlines the failure of our national security.

As much as we can criticise the US for its high-handedness, it’s the US govt prerogative to determine who it allows into the country and under what terms and conditions. We need not to remind ourselves that the US is a sovereign nation.

It is convenient for our leaders to say Umar’s action was an isolated case, and not representative of behaviour of 150 million Nigerians. But there is no doubt that the US govt will be deeply concerned about the failure of the Nigerian govt in dealing with the local religious extremism. Who knows if the Boko Harams are actually al-Qaeda sympathisers? Who knows if some of the extremist organisations in Nigeria are affiliated to the al-Qaeda or Hezebollah of this world? It’s been alleged that some of the Niger Delta militants were trained in Libya (!).

Up until now, there’s not been a case of religious extremism that has been successful investigated. Almost every year, hundreds of lives and properties worth millions of naira is lost to religious riots. Instead of getting to root of the problem, our security agencies engage in judicial killing.

What the government fails to realise, is that the whole world is watching. No nation is interested in dealing with countries with failed national security. Our failed national security is a haven for home grown terrorists. While these terrorists may not be interested in blowing up US interests, there are a threat to our national existence.

What we are witnessing are the effects of failing (or failed) nation. The western world has lost faith in us. Our society is deeply corrupt. Corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. Our security agencies are arguably some of the most corrupt in the world. With the level of corruption in Nigeria, I’m convinced that a suicide bomber can pay his/her into a passenger aircraft. For the right price, such a person would be offered a ‘first class’ seat. It is in Nigeria where Customs officials aid and abet importation of fake drugs. It is in Nigeria where Immigration officials knowingly issue passports to non-citizens using false identity.

There is no doubt that the new US policy would affect every Nigerian, irrespective of social status. Unfortunately, 150 million people will now pay for the sins of one stupid individual. Already a Nigerian travelling overseas is a suspected asylum seeker, suspected over stayer, suspected illegal immigrant, suspected identity fraudster, suspected drug courier, and now a suspected terrorist.

May God help us!