Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Crotch Bomber

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has changed any delusional thinking that Black Africans can never be suicide bombers. But most shocking was the fact that the Christmas Day Bomber (my favorite – crotch Bomber) was a Nigerian. Nigerians are generally known for one thing – those guys like money and they will do whatever it takes to get rich. Although there are pockets of ‘Radicals’, Nigerians are hardly known for sacrificing themselves for a cause. No matter how you look at what Farouk did, he has succeeded in labeling all black Africans potential suicide bombers and has added one more ‘accolade’ to the already soiled Nigerian image. One issue that has seen very little discussion, especially in African circles, is how young Farouk was when his parents sent him abroad for studies. We in Africa are often striving – almost to an obsession- to send our kids abroad for studies. In any case, why blame the African parent. Truth be told, our educational system is too often riddled with industrial strikes, embroiled in petty party politics and suffers from systemic neglect. Besides, a university degree from abroad can easily be a job certificate in Africa. Even people who participate in short term (I mean days) training programs abroad go round touting that they are better than the average citizen because they are American Trained, British Educated etc – so why blame the African parent who wants the best for his or her child. But the critical question is how young should these kids be sent abroad and how prepared are these young Africans to handle the pressures of living abroad. In the case of Farouk, he was sent abroad as a teenager, when he was the most vulnerable. The average African kid from a middle income or rich family is just not equipped to survive unsupervised abroad. A combination of culture and riches socializes these kids to almost complete dependence on their parents. They usually thrive on an elaborate support system made up of extended family members and hired servants. Many of these kids taste real independence for the first time when they leave home for college. They often find themselves isolated from their family and the support system that they have been used to all their lives. Imagine being isolated and also in the middle of an unfamiliar culture which can be very brutal to the weak minded. It is under these conditions that these kids are their most vulnerable. We can deduce from Umar’s web postings that he was just not prepared to handle all the challenges of independent living abroad. In the case of Farouk, it was the combination of his Moslem piety and isolation that set the stage for his eventual crotch bombing attempt. But before his infamous Christmas day attempt, many of these isolated kids abroad like him have been caught in thievery, experimented with drugs, cigarettes, prostitution and all kinds of vices that will make their parents back in Africa cringe if they found out. So my piece to the parents is, Africa may not have the best schools but you have to be careful when and where you send your young child. He may not end up like Farouk – a crotch bomber – but he may turn to something completely different than you ever envisaged. Sometimes it is better to keep your child right under your nose where you can straighten him with the ‘proper African discipline’ if he were to start bending. And if you decide to send them abroad, make sure you prepare them well for the challenges ahead.

1 comment:

  1. how do you prepare them? From everything we've read about him he seemed like a good kid. so how do you determine if your child is ready or not.
    sometime as a parent you bring your child up right and pray and hope he turns out well

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