Dear Mr. President,

It is an honor to humbly address myself to you on this occasion, and extend a warm greeting to wish you a successful New Year.

My reasons for writing this letter, however, are regrettable. Please allow me to be among the first to express my profound sadness and distress on behalf of all Nigerians for the recent attempted terror attack over American soil on December 25, 2009. Our feelings of outrage and rejection of this appalling act are beyond words, and we pledge our full solidarity to you against the specter of international terrorism.

Unfortunately, this narrowly averted tragedy also raises tremendous concerns for both my people and their relationship with the people and government of the United States of America.

In the aftermath of this event, official decisions have been made with regard to security policies and practices to ensure the safety of American citizens, as is the full right and responsibility of your offices. One of the new measures put in place has been to subject incoming passengers of Nigerian nationality to undergo the same security screening procedures as state-sponsors of terrorism.

I write to inform you that inside Nigeria and among our large diaspora, this understandable change in policy has created a negative and hopefully incorrect perception that the United States considers us to be a terrorist state. There are significant fears that other countries will adopt similar measures, and speculation that 150 million innocent and peace-loving citizens of Nigeria could be subjected to racial profiling and discriminatory treatment at all airports and transportation hubs in the world.

Serious threats from international terrorism must be confronted head on with tough policies and strong actions on behalf of a united international community. I understand that in its rightful pursuit of security, the U.S. government is confronted with difficult choices and sometimes controversial decisions.

Nevertheless, there are strong arguments which point out that the addition of Nigeria to a terrorism list causes more damage than benefit. For example, we have seen terror attempts perpetrated by a wide variety of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, so it is impossible to define a typology. Yemeni authorities also indicate that the individual was recruited in London, United Kingdom, a close ally of the United States. Furthermore, following the reprehensible terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, passengers arriving from Saudi Arabia to the United States were not subjected to this kind of treatment, despite the fact that eleven of the attackers held Saudi passports.

Instead of providing an additional security precaution, this decision has sown deep bitterness and distrust on the streets of Lagos and Abuja, among people who firmly reject the actions and beliefs of this one tragically misguided individual. It saddens me to witness this acrimony, and it is hoped that when constitutional order is restored from the currently troubled leadership, that the U.S. and Nigeria can repair their once strong partnership.

As you may know, given your family origins, your election last year held great meaning for us, as Nigerians poured into the streets to broadly celebrate new possibilities and optimism for the people of Africa. As a proud Muslim man, I was inspired by your historic June 4th speech in Cairo, in which you stated "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end."

I respectfully submit to you, Mr. President, a proposal to reconsider these targeted policies against Nigerian nationals, which contradict the essential principles of your Cairo declaration. I believe that peaceful cooperation, fruitful partnerships, and mutually respectful engagement is possible between the people of the United States and the Muslim world, and Nigerians are ready to lead the way. But you must give us a chance to build trust.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Nasir El-Rufai
January 8, 2010

As culled from http://www.nigeriannewsservice.com/index.php/Breaking-News/el-rufai-writes-to-president-obama.html