« MUAMMAR ABU MINYAR al-GADDAFI AND DAVID MARK’S MAD MAN COMMENT | Home | THE PLACE OF THE NURSE ANAESTHETIST IN THE MODERN DAY HEALTH INDUSTRY AND DISASTER/EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:AT A CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANAESTHETISTS OF NIGERIA (NANAN) ON 25TH – 26TH APRIL 2008 AT THE CONFERENCE HALL, ASOKORO DISTRICT HOSPITAL, PLOT 31, JULIUS NYERERE STREET, ASOKORO, ABUJA. »
MANDATORY SECURITY SCREENING FOR THE GROUP OF 14 REVERSED
By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 3, 2010
On December 25th 2009, a Nigerian by name Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was alleged to have carried out a failed attempt to bomb Detroit bound Delta flight NWA flight 253. This led to a blanket mandatory screening of air travelers from 14 labelled state sponsors of terrorism by the United States of America. The 14 States are Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. This action of the US incensed the sensibilities of all rational minds.
As a reminder of my reaction in my January 5th 2010 post on this issue; I said “ to now perceive every Nigerian entering the United States as terrorists is unacceptable, it is a breach of social justice and against all principles of fairness………. So, why must the incidence of only one man lead to the designation of Nigeria as a terrorist nation? ……………….. Every passenger should be subjected to the same measure and equal treatment. Let no Nigerian be humiliated the way it was in times past when the European Union (EU) perceived every Nigerian as a suspected drug peddler and 419er when indeed the EU Banks kept the proceeds of our leaders’ illegal loots”.
On April 2, 2010, Reuters in Washington was quoted as saying that the United States has announced new security measures on Friday to replace the mandatory screening of air travelers from the 14 aforementioned States. From now on, air travelers shall be subjected to extra screening based on acts connecting them to terrorism. This makes more sense.
This indeed is a welcome development because the earlier blanket mandatory screening of Nigeria and others based on nationality, religion and the acts of a few individuals from these countries was to say the least unfair, unjust and devoid of social justice.
I congratulate and praise His Excellency, Barak Obama; the President of the United States of America for listening to the voice of reason. It takes a man of conscience to reverse an earlier decision based on the rationality of the opinion of others. I applaud everyone involved in this policy reversal and for doing the right thing.
People should face security scrutiny based on suspicious behavior, character, travels and links to terrorist groups. Governments should ensure that suspects on terror lists no matter how remotely connected to terrorism, are put on no fly list. Lastly, any information given to any security agency on suspects no matter how trivial; must be treated with utmost dispatch and seriousness. It is against the rule of natural justice for anyone to be selected for segregated actions or punished on the basis of religion or nationality. Never again must this happen.
Terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism should be fought with all vigour because no one can tell who the next victim is. Terrorist gangs all over the world must disarm to give peace a chance. Their leaders should return to the dialogue table. Though dialogue is a tortuous process, its results are amazingly enduring, pacifying and gratifying. In the same breath, world leaders must strive at all at all time to give social justice to the people. Herein lay the panacea for a peaceful co-existence of people and nations.
Note
Topics: Uncategorized |
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 am
[…] to perceive every Nigerian entering the United States of America as terrorists is unacceptable, it is a breach of social justice and against all principles of …This Blog Cancel […]
April 6th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Still, super-duper invention - the blog. It would seem that the usual site, but changed the flow of information, the site passed into the hands of one man and opened another facet of communication with the world.
April 6th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Thank you. I read with interest. Blog poised to Favorites =)
April 6th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Original idea. But I wonder how much time is spent? / Cool post on rssku subscribed. We read
April 7th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
decided you a little help and sent this post to Social Bookmarks
April 9th, 2010 at 4:23 am
Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist
Sent from my Android phone