CAIRO — America's Nigerian community is haunted by the fear of stereotyping following a botched terror attack by a Nigerian Muslim similar to what happened to Muslims and Arabs after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"Profiling? When you look at 9/11 and what happened with the Arabic community, we cannot expect anything different," Joseph Ajiri, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur who lives in Detroit, told The New York Times on Wednesday, December 30.
"It is just unfortunate that one individual is going to ruin reputations for the rest of the Nigerians."
Umar Farouk Muttalab, a 23-year-old Nigerian Muslim, tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit, US, last week.
"It was regretful that he was Nigerian, but that didn’t make us any more angry. We were all very happy that the explosion didn’t take place, that he wasn’t successful," says Ajiri.
The failed plot, claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has triggered massive security measures at airports around the world.
"When we travel now, the system will make us pay, and I don’t feel good about it."
Only two days after the foiled attack a Nigerian man aroused the suspicion of fellow passengers, flight attendants and an air marshal for spending a long time in the plane’s lavatory.
He was taken into custody and questions but it eventually turned out he had simply been ill.
Nigerians are the single largest contemporary African immigrant group in the US, far outpacing immigrant groups from Ghana and Liberia.
Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, approximately one million Nigerians have immigrated to the US.
* Not us
The Nigerian community in Michigan, estimated at about 10,000, half of them in Detroit, distanced themselves from the attacker and his violent ideology.
"That’s just crazy ideology," said Kamol Bello, a Detroit resident who is a Nigerian Muslim and has lived in the US for 20 years.
"A truly religious person would not do that."
About 30 local Nigerian leaders met two days after the failed plot to draft a condemnation statement.
"We want to tell Homeland Security and the federal government that we are sorry about what happened," said Edwin Dyke, founder and board member of the Nigerian Foundation of Michigan.
"…this isn’t like our people, that we believe this is an isolated incident but that we will keep our ears open."
Salewa Ola, a Nigerian who founded the Detroit-based United African Community Organization, emphasized the same message.
"We are shocked and embarrassed," she told the NY Times.
"[This is] not what our community stands for. This has given all of us a black eye."
David Wiley, a sociology professor and director of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, said the incident should not be used to smear Nigerians living in the US.
"Radicals are all over the world now," he said.
"No one is immune from it…and this person could have come from 100 other countries."
"Profiling? When you look at 9/11 and what happened with the Arabic community, we cannot expect anything different," Joseph Ajiri, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur who lives in Detroit, told The New York Times on Wednesday, December 30.
"It is just unfortunate that one individual is going to ruin reputations for the rest of the Nigerians."
Umar Farouk Muttalab, a 23-year-old Nigerian Muslim, tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit, US, last week.
"It was regretful that he was Nigerian, but that didn’t make us any more angry. We were all very happy that the explosion didn’t take place, that he wasn’t successful," says Ajiri.
The failed plot, claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has triggered massive security measures at airports around the world.
"When we travel now, the system will make us pay, and I don’t feel good about it."
Only two days after the foiled attack a Nigerian man aroused the suspicion of fellow passengers, flight attendants and an air marshal for spending a long time in the plane’s lavatory.
He was taken into custody and questions but it eventually turned out he had simply been ill.
Nigerians are the single largest contemporary African immigrant group in the US, far outpacing immigrant groups from Ghana and Liberia.
Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, approximately one million Nigerians have immigrated to the US.
* Not us
The Nigerian community in Michigan, estimated at about 10,000, half of them in Detroit, distanced themselves from the attacker and his violent ideology.
"That’s just crazy ideology," said Kamol Bello, a Detroit resident who is a Nigerian Muslim and has lived in the US for 20 years.
"A truly religious person would not do that."
About 30 local Nigerian leaders met two days after the failed plot to draft a condemnation statement.
"We want to tell Homeland Security and the federal government that we are sorry about what happened," said Edwin Dyke, founder and board member of the Nigerian Foundation of Michigan.
"…this isn’t like our people, that we believe this is an isolated incident but that we will keep our ears open."
Salewa Ola, a Nigerian who founded the Detroit-based United African Community Organization, emphasized the same message.
"We are shocked and embarrassed," she told the NY Times.
"[This is] not what our community stands for. This has given all of us a black eye."
David Wiley, a sociology professor and director of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, said the incident should not be used to smear Nigerians living in the US.
"Radicals are all over the world now," he said.
"No one is immune from it…and this person could have come from 100 other countries."
