Umar Abdul-Mutallab: Case of failed parenting?

The news that a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdul-Mutallab, had attempted to blow up an American airline on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit has been reverberating round the world and sending shock waves down the spines of Nigerians, both home and abroad. As more details have emerged about what has now been identified as an attempted terrorist attack intended as a Christmas present for America and masterminded by Al Qaeda, many Nigerians have wondering about the incident. Firstly, what could have happened to Abdul-Mutallab, the son of a wealthy Nigerian banker and former chairman of First Bank plc who has had the best of Western education and untold access to luxury, that he ended up befriending terrorists and Al Qaeda for that matter? Secondly, looking at pictures of the bomb that Abdul-Mutallab managed to sneak through security checks at airports in Lagos and Amsterdam, how could he have felt knowing the bulk parts of the bomb were concealed in his most vital parts, i.e. in his underwear? Thirdly, while Abdul-Mutallab' father was wondering about the whereabouts of his son and reporting to the authorities that the latter had become extremist in his religious views and could be keeping wrong company, the young man was in Yemen learning how to blow up a plane in which he would be flying. However, when we put the issues raised above in a proper context, we are left with the conclusion that Abdul-Mutallab is a victim of failed parenting as well; although this does not in any way justify the acts of terrorism he attempted to execute on Christmas day. Abdul-Mutallab was sent by his father to boarding school at the British International School, Lome, Togo at a tender age, and from there to a top London university to read Engineering, where he appeared to be largely on his own. Emails emanating from him paint the picture of a lonely young man searching for answers and relationships that would have helped him make sense of a complex world and make key decisions for someone of his age. Unfortunately, though, the required guidance was not forthcoming and he ended up being radicalised in his religious beliefs, and for relationships chose the most dreaded terrorist organisation in the world, i.e. Al Qaeda, rather than the loving embrace of his parents and siblings. We can also view in similar light the case of the son of Professor Adediran, whose trial on a rape charge in the US resulted in the American government rejecting his father's appointment by President Umaru Yar'Adua as the Nigerian ambassadorial designate. Among Nigerian elites, the norm is that their children have to be trained in the best institutions anywhere else but in Nigeria, and preferably from primary to university levels - forgetting that the responsibility of imparting the right principles and values in children lies with the parents. These Nigerian elites spend billions of Naira paying school fees, on flight tickets, allowances for upkeep and houses overseas for their pampered children to stay in while schooling; but will do nothing to inculcate in their children the right principles and values as they are absent most of the time. These are the same children the Nigerian elites eventually want to come back to Nigeria to take up the best jobs in the public and private sectors, and ultimately to continue rulership; leaving the nation worse off in the hands of those with no moral compass in their hearts. A simple act on the part of the Nigerian government that would sanitise the public education sector and drastically reduce corruption in the public sector would be a policy requiring children of public officeholders to attend public schools in Nigeria. More importantly, such a policy would ensure that these Nigerian elites are available to teach their children the right principles and values, so that the latter do not end up in the warm embrace of terrorists or in jails overseas, thereby embarrassing their parents and the nation