This is a very very interesting article.
Please be patient enough to read to the end.
By Dele SobowaleI started reading Nigerian newspapers in 1953 —mostly those absolutely
delightful cartoon/advertiseme nts by Nigerian Breweries featuring Sammy
Sparkle. Who in our generation can forget that mischievous character who
popped up almost every where to stop a train; to stop a fight, etc, and
the punch line —“I did says Sammy Sparkle; its time for STAR”.
I was also a good listener; in fact the best listener when my father, a
Yoruba man who would gladly lay his life on the line for “Zik of
Africa” and my eldest brother, who was a die-hard Awoist engaged
themselves in arguments over their heroes. Between father, who religiously
read the West African Pilot published by Zik and my brother, who devoured
the Tribune, published by Awolowo, I got to know most of the important
news of each day.
Never in those 56 years has the media in Nigeria and respected opinion
leaders made such individual and collective fools of themselves as they
have done since the news of Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to commit
suicide was first announced by the American owned CNN network on Christmas
day.
Notice the words “attempt to commit suicide” because that is what most
of our commentators missed. The CBN, naturally, had gone to considerable
length to portray Farouk as a terrorist because an American aircraft was
involved and the attempt occurred as the plane was about to land in
Detroit — one of America’s largest cities. It was understandable that
the news network would take the politically “correct” position in
their broadcasts with regard to this incident.
But, it was poor journalism. Worse than that; it was pure propaganda —as
this article would show..
Media executioners
While CNN’s position was understandable, the response of the Nigerian
media, opinion leaders, the Federal Government and even Farouk’s father
was at first puzzling and finally enraging. CNN labeled Farouk a
“terrorist” and every damn fool in Nigeria who had access to a page of
newspaper or a few minutes on the air in electronic media, was gullible
enough to accept that label without question and a barrage of the most
prejudicial statements and commentaries followed.
Editors, who should be more discerning, were all on holidays and they
allowed their papers to be used in the most despicable manner — to
defame Farouk; to pronounce him guilty — even before pleas are taken and
to have handed the poor misguided boy to American executioners. Well, I
have a name for my media colleagues, from CNN to Nigerian columnists —
on this matter.
As far as I am concerned they are all a bunch of media executioners. They
have not even bothered with the first golden rule of journalism and law
—let the other party be heard. None of our engaging and erudite
columnists has spoken to Farouk; and failing that none had put on their
thinking caps to ask themselves if Farouk’s right — namely the right
to be presumed innocent of the charges — were being violated.
When Mark Twain, 1835-1910, wrote in Innocents at Home, “Are you going
to hang him anyhow — and try him afterward?”, he must have had in mind
a situation such as this.
And it was not only Farouk who was thoughtlessly slaughtered in the
collective race to hand the poor boy to American executioners. His
parents, the Federal Government and even the re-branding effort of the
Yar’Adua’s administration and the Nigerian nation were all taken to
the media abattoir and butchered.
But was Farouk guilty of terrorism? Was his father wrong to have sent his
son abroad for his education? Should the unfortunate incident be a reason
to jettison the re-branding effort? And should Nigeria and Nigerians feel
embarrassed and hide their heads in shame? The answer to all the
questions, surprisingly, is a resounding NO!
Permit me to start in reverse order to point out how Nigerians have
allowed themselves to be fooled by US propaganda and the thoughtlessness
of our public opinion molders.
Virtually every day bombs go off in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq,
killing several hundred more people than were on the Delta Airline plane
that Farouk was accused of attempting to blow off. Neither the governments
nor the people in those countries feel ashamed or embarrassed. Why?
Because they, and the entire world, realise that those carrying out these
activities are in the tiniest minority.. The vast majority of the people
just want to live a peaceful life —if they can.
By the same token, 90% or more of Nigerians have never boarded an aircraft
—and probably never will. An even larger majority — close to 99.99999%
know nothing about explosives; they neither know how they are made and how
they are used.
So in what way does Farouk represent them and as a result they should feel
ashamed. In fact, Farouk is a product of the foreign countries —
including Britain and America, now making the most deafening noise about a
Nigerian “terrorist” when there is none. So Nigeria and my fellow
countrymen and women have nothing to be ashamed of on this matter which
the Western media and their Nigerian collaborators have blown out of
proportion — as you will soon see.
Those carpeting the father for sending his son abroad for education are
simply envious. There is probably no Nigerian today blessed with Alhaji
Mutallab’s money who will not ship his children to school abroad. And,
if a university in London harbours subversive elements hell-bent on
preying on poor misguided souls, the fault is not Alhaji Mutallab’s own;
nor Nigeria’s. The fault is with the British government which had failed
to curb such activities on its campuses.
Alhaji Mutallab, as a matter of fact, deserves a pat on the back for not
engaging in cover-up. Few fathers will report their sons to the CIA or
British security forces. Alhaji made only one cardinal error —which is,
jeopardising his son’s right to strong defence when the case comes up.
He should not have released the statement that he did because it can be
misconstrued as admission that his son is guilty as charged by the media
executioners —at home or abroad. Later in this article, Alhaji and
Nigerians will be shown the way forward.
But, let me announce the destination of this journey — Nigerians should
collectively put up a fight to save Farouk’s life. And the reasons are
not hard to discover.
First, America never releases its citizens for prosecution in another
country. So contemptuous are they of the quality of other nation’s
judiciary that they don’t even believe an American can receive fair
trial even in Western countries.
Secondly, Britain has provided the example of what a country should do
when its citizen is on trial in other lands. As the Farouk story was
playing on SKY NEWS, another story was on the air. A Briton had been
sentenced to death in China for smuggling hard drugs into that country.
The British government and the man’s family proceeded to mount a
campaign to free the man. He was pronounced mentally unstable — yet
nobody presented a doctor’s report to substantiate the claim. The
Chinese were made to feel like brutes despite the fact the more people are
killed and more lives are destroyed by drug trafficking than all the
homicides arising from “terrorism”.
The message was clear; Britain wanted its citizen’s life to be spared
irrespective of the fact that the judgment was based on convincing proof
and guilt was beyond reasonable doubt. By contrast Farouk was being cut
and quartered at home and abroad by people who have not even heard the
evidence.
Who’s a terrorist?
Now we come to the main issue —was Farouk guilty of terrorism? Was he a
terrorist? And do all the facts at our disposal point to terrorism? Few of
us are experts on the subject and even the experts don’t always agree.
But, every one is familiar with the saying that, “one man’s terrorist
is another’s freedom fighter”.
Every time a bazooka lands in Israel from the West Bank, the Israelis call
it a terrorist attack; the Palestinians call it a blow for liberation of
Palestine from the illegal occupants. When Israel, in response to the
bazooka which killed one person, sends bombers and tanks into Lebanon and
reduce the city to rubbles — including children’s hospital — the
West calls it retaliation; Arabs call it genocide.
Who’s right? It all depends on who you are. There is absolutely no
reason why Nigerians should swallow — hook, line and sinker — the
West’s characterisation of an event as “terrorist” any more than we
can expect them to accept it as “liberation effort”.
At any rate, if America can recruit Britain, Australia and other nations
to fight its war in Afghanistan or Iraq, and those soldiers are not called
“terrorists” regardless of how many Arabs they massacre, what stops
the Arabs from seeking help wherever they can find it?
This is not an admission that Farouk was a recruit for al-Queda despite US
propaganda. It is to point out to everyone that there is a war on in the
Middle East started on the basis of a lie told by US President Bush and
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, about weapons of mass destruction,
WMD, in Iraq. I recollect writing in my SUNDAY VANGUARD column before the
war started that “Bush and Blair would invade Iraq even if there is no
single pen knife in the country”.
Today the whole world knows there was no WMD; the whole world also knows
that over one million Iraqis have lost their lives since the invasion and
the once thriving country has been devastated. What can be more
“terrorist” than that?
Now we come to my “son”, Farouk. I call him son, not only because I am
old enough to be his father, but because I feel pity for him and if
possible, I will adopt him. If it is possible to visit him, I will hug him
and tell him that he has not been abandoned; that in my books, he is not a
terrorist. Again the facts at our disposal should be our guide. And what
do we know?
Why did he do it?
First we know that Farouk is the son of one of the richest men in Nigeria
and that he stands to inherit — if we can save him from the executioners
— millions of naira and, may be, even dollars. In fact, he will probably
not ever have to work for a living if he chooses not to and he will still
live in affluence for the rest of his life. The obvious question is: why
does a fellow like that want to blow himself up? Once that question crops
up in your mind, you begin to see the truth, namely that we have a mind
disturbed in a handsome body frame.
In short Farouk was, and is still, not himself. And nothing proves this
more than the approach he adopted to end his life. In short the fellow was
embarked on suicide in the most “tragic-comical” manner.
Second, most of us forget, when reading about suicide bombers, that the
first word is SUICIDE. That comes before bomber.. Obviously, any person
with so much to live for, and who contemplates suicide, is not a candidate
for the electric chair or the firing squad but a mental hospital.
Third, the poor boy, in absolute ignorance of how to manipulate the device
he procured for the suicide bid, strapped the damned thing to his vital
organs — which raises one question. Which well-adjusted young man still
in his twenties would want to blow off his “tool box”?
Even my old friends, past 70, until their dying days guarded the “strong
room” jealously. Despite the attempt by CNN and other Western media to
prove that the explosive could have blown a hole in the plane’s
fuselage, which they considered a sufficient reason to label Farouk as a
“terrorist”, the fact remains that if the device had gone off as
planned, Farouk was the only sure candidate for kingdom come. The seats
next to him appeared empty and a plane might still be landed with a hole
in the fuselage.. It has happened before.
Fourth, a real terrorist generally wants to witness the result of his
efforts. They plant an explosive which is detonated by remote control or
with a timer allowing them to get away before the explosion occurs. Just
as in the regular army, a soldier is trained to kill for his country, not
to die. In so far as he dies, he has been a failure. So the real terrorist
wants to live to terrorise another day.
The suicide bomber is another character all together. He would not see the
outcome of his mission — if he succeeds. In that respect, he has a lot
more in common with others embarking on self-liquidation. Having decided
to end his life, the next most important question is: how?
The methods range from those who go alone to those who decide not to
“walk alone”. And once it is decided that the exit must be
accomplished by taking a crowd along, then it does not matter whether he
drives his car on the path of a speeding train, or a fully loaded bus or a
plane full of passengers. Farouk chose the plane and he is no more a
terrorist than the fellow who caused the train to derail taking 400 people
with him.
Nigerians must save Farouk
So far, all evidence at our disposal can only support one conclusion —
suicide. That it occurred on Delta Airlines and in a plane coming to land
in Detroit are secondary considerations. And if it is suicide, the fellow
should not be executed but helped. And the only people who can help him
are Nigerians. And Alhaji Mutallab must take the lead for his son to be
saved.
We must adopt the Western approach; which means we establish a SAVE FAROUK
ORGANISATION. Its functions will include raising funds to ensure that
Farouk obtains the best legal team money can engage. The second is to
start a multimedia campaign, including using CNN, to convince the world
that Farouk is not a mass murderer but a sick young man.
The third is to insist that Nigeria’s leading psychiatrists should be
called to assess his mental state. It is doubtful if an American or
English doctor can accurately diagnose mental illness in a Nigerian who is
not a raving lunatic already.
Fourth, the Federal Government of Nigeria, instead of distancing itself
from Farouk, should use diplomatic approaches to get him released to a
Nigerian psychiatric hospital for treatment. The fifth is to get
Nigeria’s media executioners to stop labeling the fellow a terrorist and
to join the campaign to save Farouk.
It will not be easy, given the prejudicial statements most commentators
have made before. But, we must hold the life of every Nigerian so sacred
as not to throw them to foreign wolves when they present with evidence
that they are asking for help which sometimes manifests itself in
extremism.
Finally, this is not an issue which should be confronted by Muslims alone.
I am a Christian; but, that should not stop me from standing up and
defending a Muslim who is being led to the slaughter house as we are now
doing to our son Farouk. Will you join the struggle?
http://www.vanguard ngr.com/2010/ 01/04/farouk- terrorist- no-misguided- yes/
