So many of our leaders, everyday people and even nairalanders, are mad at the fact that Nigeria has been included in a list of 14 countries which pose a security risk at airports due to terrorism (including myself). Some have said it is all great big conspiracy involving Mossad, CIA, FBI, G.W Bush, US Republicans, Indian intelligence and so on. To these people who would rather believe in probability than reality, I make no attempt to argue with you. Others feel that this is just an excuse being used by the US to punish us and possibly destabilize our nation to control our Crude oil supplies. Well to people who would rather believe this, I laugh. Why would they need to "push" a country that has already jumped of the cliff but doesn't know it yet. If the US wanted to mess with us they would have done it long ago and you wouldn't even know. Meanwhile the others feel a sense of unfairness. Why is Nigeria on the list and the UK is not, after all they had the shoe bomber. To people who say this, you have a point. But how can you compare a fully functioning and matured democratic state to Nigeria where things are at best, less than ideal. Besides you are looking at only one side of the square. The UK is a key ally of the US. They have troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. They are a noted global leader in the fight against terrorism. Their intelligence agencies and counter terrorist units that are amongst the best trained and the most effective (they have foiled numerous plots). Realistically there is no way the UK can be considered the same way as Nigeria. Lastly there are those who insist that the "panty bomber" was a lone, errant, misguided, spoiled and silly man. He was educated mostly abroad, he was probably radicalized abroad, he was trained and armed abroad. Why should the actions of one man, lead to the disgrace of an entire nation. This is the most sensible of all the arguments. But unfortunately the realities show that one can not totally fault the US governments cautious approach.
Facts
1. He is a Nigerian national. The connection between him and Nigeria exists and it can not be swept under the carpet without explanation. After all if it so easy to recruit misguided young males. Why didn't Al-qaeda recruit a Cameroonian, Togolese, Ivorian, Senegalese? Why aren't there more African-American terrorist? We know that they have some most miscreant and misguided young men in the US and they are many. His nationality can't be just a coincidence there must be an explanation.
2. On  route to his to the destination of his intended target, He passed through his home state of Nigeria. Is this yet another coincidence? How do we know it wasn't here he received final instructions from a supporter, did he pass on a message from Yemen? Why did he chose to pass through the Lagos route, after all if he was confident of his ability to avoid detection by airport security, he could departed from any other destination. Once again it can't be a coincidence that he chose Lagos. There must be a reason.
3. From the initial statements he has made to the US authorities (the full extent and the accuracy we cannot ascertain). He has claimed that there are many others like him, who have been trained and are determined to strike and succeed. Does this mean that are potentially more terrorists of Nigerian nationality being trained and prepared? Worse still is there a chance that there are more Nigerians out there who are armed ready to detonate on any US aircraft? We don't know, but as they say safety first. It is worth remembering a healthy dose of good luck was what made him fail.
4.Finally. Al-qaeda has unquestionable and undeniable links to Nigeria. This has been asserted by many of their top lieutenants including Osama (the terrorist-in-chief) himself. Some would like to pretend that this not true. Okay. The ffg are links to a few of several reports. I will provide a few excerpts to save people time.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_11-7-2003_pg4_6
You can read the whole thing very eye opening. Here is an excerpt

But if Bush’s tight schedule had allowed him time to venture beyond the airy, ultra-modern capital to the dusty streets of Kano, he would have come upon a surprisingly widespread enthusiasm for his most feared enemy. Saudi militant Osama bin Laden’s now familiar smile beams out from posters and T-shirts dotted around the bus stops and markets of this sprawling, mainly-Muslim city, as of he were a football star or a singer[b].Many Muslims in Kano held parties to celebrate the September 11 attacks and now, almost two years later, the man who ordered the kamikaze hijackers into action is still a hero to many of the people here[/b],
Bin Laden has himself attempted to tap into Nigerian anti-Americanism in one of his famous taped broadcasts on al-Jazeera, one of Kano’s most popular satellite television networks. He branded Obasanjo’s pro-US government “apostate” and called on Muslims to rebel. As yet there is little or no evidence that any Nigerians are ready for “martyrdom” in an Al Qaeda style violent jihad.

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=63e41279d7b772fb309daca91157be3d
Another one. Here is an excerpt

Nigerian security agencies have in the past voiced concerns about the activities of certain Islamic preachers whom they feared were radicalising Muslims in parts of the north. Many were suspected of having links to terrorist groups and foreign organisations. In the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, several Afghan and Pakistani preachers and other residents were arrested and deported because, according to the authorities, they could not give satisfactory explanations of their mission in Nigeria. The daily newspaper Punch reported at about the same time that Mohammed Suleiman al-Nalfi, wanted in connection with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York, had been arrested at Lagos airport in 2000 and handed over to US law enforcement agents. Al-Nalfi has since pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism after revealing Al Qaeda links during his trial. Security officials say an additional reason for increased vigilance is the fact that Nigeria was mentioned alongside Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia in a tape purportedly released by Osama bin Laden, the fugitive leader of Al Qaeda, as a country where Muslims need to be liberated

http://worlddefensereview.com/pham020107.shtml
Lastly absolute confirmation that there are Al-qaeda "proxies" in Nigeria

On January 16, Media Trust Ltd., was arraigned before the High Court in the capital of Abuja, accused of three counts of terrorism. The director, a Muslim cleric (or mallam) by the name of Mohammed Bello Ilyas Damagun, who was described by prosecutors as belonging to a group dubbed the "Nigerian Taliban," was charged with receiving funds from al-Qaeda, sending recruits abroad for training, and aiding terrorist activities within Nigeria.

According to prosecutor Abdullahi Mikailu, Mallam Damagun, whose business interests publish the Daily Trust, Weekly Trust, Sunday Trust, and Aminiya newspapers, received $300,000 from al-Qaeda accounts in Sudan which were transferred to his account (number 2106795, to be specific) at Habibsons Bank on St. James Street in London "with the intent that said money shall be used in the execution of acts of terrorism."

The cleric, who faces fifteen years' imprisonment if convicted, was also alleged to have sent three young men – Nura Umar, Abdul Aziz Hamza, and Mohammed Ibrahim – along with fourteen of their companions to receive terrorism and other combat terrorism at the Ummul Qurah camp in Mauritania, a West African country which has been battling the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, a violent Algerian insurgent group (better known by its French initials GSPC) whose leader, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud last year formally pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

The prosecutor also accused Damagun with providing a minibus, thirty loudspeakers, and "various sums of money" to Muhammad Yusuf, a leader of the "Nigerian Taliban" who was himself arraigned in December for his ties to al-Qaeda-linked extremists in Pakistan.

I don't agree with the US decision but in the light of the points I have laid out above, I can't say that they do not have grounds to do the best thing they can to protect their citizens. They are simply being prudent and cautious. It is time for a reality check. Let us fix ourselves up internally first by facing the ugly truth. After we have sorted out our issues we can then issue ultimatums and get ourselves out of this jam. Simply trying to wish our problems away won't work. Neither will silly and empty threats.

P.S I would have tried to provide transcripts of some of the specific instances Osama and his Al-qaeda henchmen have made specific references to Nigeria. But in the present climate it would be unwise for me to be visiting any potentially "suspect" sites. That is how I will get to Murtala airport to find my name on the infamous no-fly list. 

It is time for a reality check. Let us fix ourselves up internally first by facing the ugly truth.

We don't want to agree with the fact, but the reality is that the conditions for the breeding of terrorism are real in Nigeria. We all remember, it was August 1998, suicide bombers exploded 700 kilos of TNT in a truck outside of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The bomb blast ended the lives of 257 people, injured 6,000. Can it happen in Lagos?. Please don't call me a fearmonger, I just try to imagine the possibility of such event. We never know.

@ Horus. Regarding the possibility of a similar incident like Kenya. I can't rule it out. After all I believe some time ago in Osun state (or Oyo) somebody tried to drive a car loaded with explosives into what I believe was the headquarters of a political party. Luckily the explosives failed, but it was later confirmed there were some serious amount of explosives in the car. These are the ugly truths we need to face, instead of deceiving ourselves.

Wow its real! What are we gonna do? The worst is dat we don't have a president for now, where is YARA'ADUA? All d people trying to hold sustain the power 4 him are d ones causing the problem. Since Nigeria became a nation the problem has always been the hausas and the islamic religion. Religious killings, BOKO HARAM and many others, remember Nigeria is hetrogenous in nature. These people should not make us bear their cross with them.

Dear montelik after reading the title of your thread I couldn't come up with a good reason to go through your post (so I didn't read it).
However I'd like to suggest that it would do you some good if you tried find out how many western nations have had terrorist activities committed by their citizens.

honestly, terrorism is highly probable. thats just the ugly truth. if people can riot in the north over a danish cartoon, then the hatred towards western civilization is clear. we only shout being a secular country but as a matter of fact, we are a member of OIC-organisation of islamic conference which babangida registered us i think in 1986 and no one is concerned about that.
hausas call other tribes infidels, even yoruba muslims are even considered bad. their brand of islam is the only true one. we have a full terrorism potential and we should look inwards before it escalates to something else.

Reality check : there is terrorism in Islam WHAT do you expect? we have over 60 million Muslims in Nigeria.

The hausa muslims are the main problem in nigeria.Even since 1966 they have been killing aand harrasing innocent nigerians frm the south for days.Even at that i read that some hausas took it upon themselves attack and kill a number of muslims after Mutallab was arrested by the americans.To answer your question terrorism is real in northern nigeria but not in the south.

There have been several instances when suspected terrorist have passed through and been apprehended in Nigeria. Is it purely another coincidence that they have shown up in our country? I will a few other links to reports when I sort them.

It is now clear what we need to do to restore our reputation and removing any terrorist labels. As I have said before nobody will put Egypt on any list. Why? Because the government under Mubarak, have developed strong and effective counter measures and information and intelligence gathering policies & agencies. They have shown they are ready, capable and serious about meeting any threat of terrorism in Egypt. They are not burying their heads in the sand like Nigeria. The recent reports from the US show that their action is a warning and one that they will quickly reverse if we show seriousness for their concerns and not make silly & unproductive threats.

The leader of North Africa's al-Qaida branch offered training and weapons to Nigeria's Muslims to fight the Christians there following an outbreak of sectarian violence.

Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site Monday, accused the Nigeria's Christians of killing hundreds of Muslims in a "Crusader war."

Droukdel promised to train Muslim youths, supply them with weapons and equipment.

"We are ready to train your sons on using weapons, support them with men, weapons, ammunition and equipment to enable them defend themselves," he said, exhorting Nigerians to "push your sons into the fields of jihad to become the fighting vanguard in defense of the Muslims' blood and honor."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020101705.html

Yet more proof.