Why not? We have educated many engineering students from there in our universities here in the US, including chemical engineers.
Sounds like someone got the mixture wrong or maybe failed to mix a binary properly.
That part could be attributed to faulty instructions, poorly transmitted instructions, or a terrorist footsoldier not paying attention to instructions.
Even more simply, the job has been done short of crashing that plane.
Increased security/airport hassles, more 'fear of flying', and other spinoffs will ensue, regardless.
I wonder if one of Obammy's pals is sending him a 'message' over some unfulfilled promise made off the media radar?
Call me silly, but it seems to me that one might conclude that black African nations such as Nigeria might be slightly more technically advanced in terms of running water, power, construction, medical care and roads if their citizens have such a pervasive aptitude for engineering as you seem to think.
As to the rest, if you’re saying that Mutallub screwed up, I’d agree. I also agree that stupid new security routines will evolve from this rather than doing something meaningful, such as the difference between making 90 yr.-old Jewish men drop their pants to check for fuses vs. profiling Middle easterners and Africans without passports.