US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that a "failure" by Nigeria's government to address young people's needs was breeding the radicalism seen in the Christmas Day bombing plot.

Clinton, responding to a question at a forum with State Department employees, said that Nigeria's key indicators such as literacy were going in the wrong direction and that corruption in the country was "unbelievable."

"The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others," she said. "So I do think that Nigeria faces a threat from increasing radicalisation that needs to be addressed, and not just by military means," she added.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, has been charged with trying to ignite explosives in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines flight approaching Detroit, an attack foiled by fellow passengers.

Clinton said that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian who has been charged with trying to ignite explosives on a Northwest Airlines flight approaching Detroit, may have simply been going through a youthful phase of radicalism when he was roped in by Islamic extremists. "Young people in the world today, they see other options. They're all interconnected through the Internet," she said.

Clinton and President Barack Obama have made the fight for good governance a key priority in Africa. In August, Clinton told a televised forum in Abuja that lack of transparency and accountability was eroding the Nigerian government's legitimacy and the global aspirations of Africa's most populous nation.

source: AFP

photo: EPA