Situation of Nigeria before the 'pant bomber'
Nigeria does not have a President because President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is reportedly hospitalized (since November 23, 2009) in Saudi Arabia, as a Very Important Patient (VIP). Yar’Adua refused to resign and neither did he legally hand over to the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan. A powerful cabal aka the landlords of Nigeria are not ‘willing’to allow the VP to take over from Yar’Adua. It is a game of ethnic and religious politics between the North and South; Muslims and Christians. Nigeria has suffered from internal conflicts for a long time and will be 50 on October 1.
Terrorists List
Nigerians worldwide are extremely unhappy with the inclusion of Nigeria on the US list of 14 countries that harbour terrorists aka the Transportation Security Administration's "Countries of Interest". It is unfair for Nigerian travellers to be segregated at International airports because it is a form of discrimination. It looks like a political sentence for the offence of one Nigerian on millions of Nigerians. Why should all Nigerians suffer for the offence of one citizen? Nigerians aka Concerned Youths staged a protest outside the US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.
The mistake the senate made was to give the US Government a 7-Day ultimatum to remove Nigeria from the terror list. However, the Federal Government now prefers dialogue than the ultimatum. It was alleged that the US picked on Nigeria because of her new oil 'deals' with China.
Nigeria’s argument
Nigeria’s Information Minister, Dora Akunyili and Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe both argued at different times that Richard Reid, the 2001 attempted shoe bomber is a Briton but Britain was not placed on the terror nations list; so why was Nigeria added to the terror list because of an alleged Nigerian pant bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day? America is yet to give full explanation for the inclusion of Nigeria on the danger or terror list of nations.
What Nigeria failed to do on Clinton's visit?
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was in Nigeria last year but some lawmakers and government officials refused to accept her assessment of Nigeria as a corrupt state with lack of Human Rights Reform. It was obvious that the Yar’Adua led government lacked diplomacy. President Yar’Adua did not show any commitment to the war on terror at a time that Clinton was putting pressure on the Scottish Government not to release a Libyan, Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi who was imprisoned for bombing a Pan Am Fight 103 Boeing 747, killing 270 people in 1988. There was no survivor but Al Megrahi was later released on compassionate grounds on 20 August 2009.
Nigeria failed to show the US that it could be a trusted 'companion' by NOT bringing up the problem of Nigerians on death row in Libya which would have caught global attention. Did Ojo Maduekwe say a word on that? Moreover, the US was aware that Nigeria and Libya were not allies. If Nigeria was initially trusted by the US then it would most probably not be on the terror list. UK is a US ally so it was not appropriate to put it on the terror list because of a shoe bomber in 2001.
10 things Nigeria could do in order to be taken seriously on world anti-terrorism war:[/COLOR]
- Legislators could put forward the Nigerian Anti – Religious and Ethnic Terrorism Bill although the Federal House of Representatives is working on A Bill for an Act to Provide for Measures to Combat Terrorism and Related Matters. Religious terrorism exists in Northern Nigeria and ethnic terrorism occurs in different states, especially in the Niger Delta. Zango-Kataf, Boko Haram and Kata Kalo groups are examples of extremists and religious terrorists in Northern Nigeria.
- The Federal Government (FG) should employ a Counter-Terrorism Adviser/Director.
- Establish a new security agency that would be able to tackle terrorism and share information on time.
- The Nigeria Police Force should establish a counter-terrorism unit and encourage the public to inform the police.
- FG should invest immensely in Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power instead of allegations of looting the treasury.
- Enforce tighter security in the airports without bribery and corruption.
- Restrict visa entry into Nigeria; restrict land border(s) entry to Nigeria.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria should avoid the increase of Islamic Banks for sometime. Failure to adhere could be misinterpreted as insensitivity to the war on terror.
- Allow a Sovereign National Conference which Nigerian leaders refused for years. Late Activist Lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and Noble Laureate Wole Soyinka clamored for a Sovereign National Conference over the years.
- Sponsor and encourage Islamic clerics and Christian Pastors to study Comparative Religion.[/B]
Yar’Adua: Fibs and the Lie Detector
Where is President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua since he travelled to Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009? He survived the rumour that he died last year but there is no evidence to prove that Yar’Adua is breathing, unless he communicates with the masses because it is obvious that the Federal Government and political goons are currently telling extravagant fibs.
One minute, he is hospitalized in a Saudi Arabian hospital, the next minute he is discharged. He will soon return to Nigeria. They don’t know when he would return… No, he is now in a VIP hospital centre and next, he is "sound and fit". He allegedly spoke with the Vice President, Ministers and Governors some days after signing the budget. No wonder, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties suspected that his signature was forged and asked for police investigation. Why would a fit man remain hospitalized? The press uncovered the truth that the president is brain-damaged and missing from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah.
Is there a polygraph aka lie detector machine in Nigeria? The EFCC should have a lie detector with all the paraphernalia of catching criminals’ et al. The Nigeria police should have some instead of beating the hell out of suspects not to talk of security agencies like the State Security Service; National Intelligence Agency; Defence Intelligence Agency.
All the federal and state government liars, fibbing stories on President Yar’Adua should stop with immediate effect or allow polygraph interrogation or lie detector tests. The masses would be shocked to know that most of the unwarranted news on Yar’Adua was fabricated to deceive the world; that he was hale and hearty while critically ill… Enough is enough!
Shouldn’t Yar’Adua allow a 'lie-test' for us to know if he really signed the budget from his hideout? Wouldn’t his wife Lady Turai look ‘good’ under polygraph interrogation? By then, it would be easier to know if Yar’Adua is still in Saudi Arabia or not. It must be emphasized that the president, vice-president and state governors are immune to interrogation and prosecution in Nigeria.
In 2009, researchers at Haifa University in Israel showed that experts can also detect liars by handwriting analysis. Nevertheless, critics of the lie detector claim that it is not always accurate. The GK-1 lie detector made by Israeli company Nemesysco was tested in Russia for intended use at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport in 2006. Will lie-detector tests be used at airport security?
The GK-1 Lie Detector courtesy Nemesysco
Sexual offenders are now routinely polygraphed in many states of the United States and it is often a mandatory condition of probation or parole. In Texas, a state appellate court has upheld the testing of sex offenders under community supervision and has also upheld written statements given by sex offenders if they have committed a further offense with new victims. These statements are then used when a motion is filed to revoke probation and the probationer may then be sentenced to prison for having violated his or her probation.
—Wikipedia
