Foolish Naija (Nigerian) boy tarnishes his country's reputation--What was he thinking????

I couldn't believe it when I heard about it on boxing day. A Nigerian boy had tried to blow up a plane in the US on Christmas day. Somehow the news didn't hit me because my Dad mentioned it, I hadn't seen it for myself. It wasn't until around Monday afternoon that I saw how badly this simpleton had disgraced himself, and quite sadly, the media had decided the whole of Nigeria should share the blame. Now I am not Nigerian, and not one to fight other people's battles for them, but this is a bit unfair. I mean the guy's father went and warned them. What more could they possibly ask for?

Okay, so here's when the news hit me. First, they showed his face straight off, a mug shot that defines the term, if I've ever seen one. To my recollection, they normally let the dust settle a little before showing the face of the accused, but I suppose past suicidal terrorists have managed to achieve their goals, i.e. even if they don't kill anyone else, they normally manage to blow themselves up enough that they can't get their ugly mugs on CNN.

When I saw his face I realized just how young he was. Now I've never been able to excuse stupidity because of youth alone, but I was really sad that he had just wasted his life, and for what? I mean seriously, a human being, young, able, well endowed with life's better advantages; I mean his father is supposed to be rich right? The only thing he seemed to lack was common sense and the capacity to use his brain, but even that can be learnt.

So someone tells you to go blow yourself up for his cause, a cause your fellow countrymen have had the good sense to denounce, and you consent? What in the world was going on in his head?
I wonder if, after his failed attempt, he has finally come back to his senses. Afterall, those who sent you don't even care about you. The al Qaeda operatives apparently only referred to him as "the Nigerian". It seems to me they didn't care about this individual.

Next comes the greatest indignity. There, on CNN, displayed for the viewing pleasure of millions of news watchers, were a bloodstained pair of green underpants. Even if he had the will to die, I'm sure if they had told him beforehand how CNN would display his already unattractive underpants, he would have thought better of it. I'm certain that even the most hardened criminals would resent having their poor taste in undergarments exposed to all the world.

So this is the new terror tactic? How pathetic, a bomb in your underpants. It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. It indicates to me that this boy fully expected to die, because he must have realized that even if the bomb was only half successful, he would come off the plane a little less of a man (if you can call him that) than he boarded. It makes me wonder what manner of indoctrination he exposed himself to, because as I said, I'm not a Nigerian but I am an African and we Africans love life. I don't know any Africans who love a cause so much they would blow themselves up for it.

That's enough about that mindless drone, anyone who would spill innocent blood is not worth talking about. What is worth talking about is the media coverage of this incident. I am critical of the western media for the way they keep emphasizing the guy's Nigerian background. You may be wondering why I should care, right? I mean it's not my problem. That may be true, yes, I have no right to be offended for someone else, but even before this incident, I have noticed how western media will do all it can to sully the image of less industrialized nations.

Even though in this case, the mistake was clearly on the side of the American system, yet it seems everytime this story has been reported, Nigeria is mentioned even more times than the accused is named. No one has outright said that Nigeria as a nation is somehow at fault, but it is implied with very little subtlety. I'm not saying they should in any way conceal the facts, but put the emphasis where it belongs.

Precious little is said about how this boy was recruited in the west and not in his native country. We hear, but not for long, about how his father went to all the proper authorities and did all he could to stop his son from killing innocent people. What we haven't been given is a good explanation as to why the father's pleas were not taken seriously. At a time like this, instead of the media highlighting the corruption and the poverty of Nigeria, it would be wise of them to identify the points at which they failed to protect their own citizens. It seems to me that Nigeria did its part by alerting the US security forces of a possible threat of terror.

My biggest problem is that the US, while pointing fingers at everyone else but themselves, will fail to correct the systemic failures that could have ended in disaster, had God not intervened. I just pray that God will help us and protect us from all such weak minded individuals who can be convinced to blow themselves up just to prove a point. May God also protect us from the negligence and smugness of those who, while living comfortably in their own little bubble, think that nothing bad can ever happen on their watch.

Finally, if you're an African kid, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Somalian, whatever, and some self centered person says blow yourself up and I'll take care of your family, just conjure up the image of your family cursing you even in death. If that does not deter you, then consider Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is lying down somewhere probably with a gaping hole in his nether regions, hated by all who he held dear, and disowned uniformly by his countrymen. Consider that and tell any such devil to get him behind you.

Postscript: I'm sorry for my long absence. Hope this time I can actually stick to writing down my feelings.