Nigeria's inclusion on a 14-nation list by the United States government of countries whose citizens would be subjected to immense search before entry into America has been described as "unfair" by the government.
The minister of information and communications, Dora Akunyili, speaking in Abuja on Monday, decried the new security directive on Nigerians. "It is unfair to include Nigeria on the US list for tighter screening because Nigerians do not have terrorist tendency," she said, adding that Nigerians all over the world are peaceful and loving people, and that Abdulmutallab's action was a "one-off thing."
Not influenced by Nigeria
Said Mrs. Akunyili: "It is unfair to discriminate against over 150 million people because of the behaviour of one person. Abdulmutallab was a well-behaved child from a responsible family who developed the ugly tendency to do what he tried to do because of the exposure outside the shores of Nigeria. Generally, no Nigerian wants to die; we are (a) peace-loving and happy people."
According to her, Mr. Abdulmutallab's alleged attempt to set off a bomb aboard an airline approaching the Detroit airport on Christmas day "was a one off thing", which was not "influenced in Nigeria and was not supported by Nigerians" and so cannot be used to decide on the treatment of the country.
Although the government has not formally admitted ill-treatment of Nigerians, some citizens who have travelled after the incident say they experienced tougher body checks and treatment before boarding flights.
"A lot of people who came home for this Christmas break complained of undignified treatment at various airports. I think it will be unfortunate for the US authorities to be targeting Nigerians as if they have been hiding and waiting to pounce on us," Ayogu Eze, the chairman of the senate committee on media and information, said. "It is most unfair for them to go ahead and criminalise Nigerians because of this isolated case. We have no track record of such acts and we have never been in that list and one boy who missed his way cannot be an excuse to harass innocent Nigerians and subject them to all sorts of indignities. This isolated case is not an excuse for them to do what they are doing."
Lack of leadership
However, some lawmakers and rights group say any unfavourable decision the US adopts on Nigeria, while it is condemnable, demonstrates further, the challenge the nation faces as it struggles with an ailing president whose whereabouts are unknown.
"This is unfortunate. What is going on now shows a total lack of leadership in our country. Even (Barack) Obama cut his leave twice to talk about this thing," said Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who heads the House of Representatives committee on the Diaspora.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa's committee has in the past pursued reported cases of maltreatment of Nigerians abroad, reaching a high point when Nigerians convicted to die in Libya were let off after her committee teamed up with rights group to report the matter to the African Union Human Rights Commission.
"We don't have a president or acting president who is going to communicate with the president of (the) US. This is part of the fallout of lack of leadership, if we had had the president of Nigeria or an acting president, this will not happen. However, we don't deserve it. This is a case of a boy whose father had actually gone to report to the embassy to say ‘well, I am suspicious of my son's activity' but they didn't take the necessary action they should have taken," she said. "Does this government have the nerve to do anything? We didn't even speak out, only a few Diaspora organisations and the House committee spoke out. There is no leadership in Nigeria. I think all these could be solved diplomatically. I think we should resist; we should speak up against it."
Nigeria is ‘terrorist prone'?
The American government, through its Transportation Security Administration (TSA), announced on Sunday, that it would begin enhanced screening procedures on any US-bound air passenger travelling through a list of 14 nations, in which Nigeria was included. According to the report, the nations are deemed to have links with terrorism and the new security directive comes into effect immediately.
The nations include what the US government termed "state sponsors of terrorism (Cuba, Iran, Syria and Sudan) and "other countries of interest", which include Nigeria, Pakistan, Yemen and seven others. The TSA says there will be a continuous review of the measures with their global aviation partners to ensure the highest levels of security.
While the statement did not elaborate, a senior US administration official quoted by POLITICO, a US-based magazine, on the specific intended targets, said "all passengers ....will receive full body, pat-down and physical inspection of property."
Other security directives of the new policy includes "during flights, passengers may be asked to follow flight crew instructions, such as stowing personal items, turning off electronic equipment and remaining seated during certain portions of the flight," the official stated.
Filing a complaint
Speaking to NEXT from his office on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington DC, Nawar Shora, the legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, yesterday advised the Nigerian government to promptly file a formal complaint in protest against what he described as "one negative example that is now used to stereotype a whole country. One will naturally understand the need for additional security in light of the recent attempt but what is unfair, and I must say, even dangerous, (is) to jump from here to label every Nigerian or Pakistani or people from any of the 14 countries now covered by this new policy."
The author of the often quoted Arab- American Handbook added that he and his legal team also plan to meet with officials of the TSA today "to get a better understanding of the of the policy."
Mr. Shora said the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee "works by engaging the system", adding that, through dialogue with the officials, "perhaps we can help alter its broad strokes or help amend aspects of this policy." The Committee is a civic organisation which defends the rights of America's three million citizens with Arab heritage.
Also, human rights activist and attorney Ayo Obe, urged the federal government not to take this lightly. "It is almost inevitable and what I expect that the government to do is not to start a rhetorical debate with the issue but rather look inwards," she said. "The Nigerian government should spend less time ranting over how good our people are, (and) rather sort out our security laxity. The US went off their way in naming us on that list but we should live with that and stand up for ourselves. I don't think anything justifies Nigeria being on that list."
Double standards
Citing the involvement of Saudi citizens in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, she added that "Saudi Arabia was not blacklisted (at the time), but one Nigerian, who has being abroad most of his life, particularly the United Kingdom, commits a crime and it becomes a Nigerian crime. And suddenly the Nigerian airport is highly risky."
According to Mrs. Obe, "The shoe-bomber did not do more than Abdulmuttallab did, and the US did not put the UK and its citizens on any list. I think the US is rather over-reacting and they went out of their way in naming Nigeria on that list."
A former president of the Cabin Crew Association of Nigeria, Olumide Ohunayo, in a phone interview, joined the condemnation, saying "it is unfortunate for the US government to put us on the list (for) this one-off thing that everyone has condemned. From the government to individuals and even the Abdulmuttallab family, everyone had condemned the act. We need to fight and ensure that Nigeria is removed from the list."
Also, a former pilot and president of the Aviation Roundtable, Dele Ore, said "it is not surprising. What do you expect when a Nigerian is involved in such a disgraceful act? This will be on for a while as it is quite appropriate and until they see us (Nigeria) take necessary actions to forestall such occurrences in future, it is beyond anybody's guess as an exclusion from that list now remains on our actions here."
He added that, "as long as there is no collusion in Nigeria and Nigeria volunteer necessary information for intelligence, they will remove us from the list."
