Something looks curious about the ongoing overt intervention of the United States in the internal affairs of Nigeria. Those who know or should know are sitting askance. They are not talking to us about the impropriety or otherwise of the American mission in Nigeria.
Before now, we used to be told by experts in international relations that the internal affairs of a country, any country, is sacrosanct. They rely on what they call doctrine of non-interference to tell us this. Non-interference formed the kernel of the argument of the federalists when Nigeria’s federal and semi federal elements converged on Aburi, Ghana, in 1967 to negotiate the best arrangement that would serve the general interest of its constituent groups. The failure of the round table discussion threw Nigeria into a spasm. The war that followed remains the sorest point of the country’s statehood till date. In fact, it was trite discourse in the 1970s and part of the ‘80s during the liberation struggles of some African countries such as Angola, Namibia, South Africa and the like to state that the internal affairs of individual countries are inviolable. This doctrine of non-interference has since been broadened by the United Nations and the African Union to include the right of a people to self determination. Such rights are now considered not only as inviolable but also as inalienable.
But all this seem to have melted away into nothingness in our present situation in Nigeria. We no longer hear about the sanctity of the internal affairs of countries. Even in peace times, the privacy of countries are now being violated with reckless abandon. This is the case with Nigeria. It is indeed strange that we no longer hear experts in internal relations pontificate or split hairs about the rape of nations by more powerful entities. What is happening in Nigeria at moment is a case in point. Since the United States took the strange and unexpected step of moving into Nigeria to carry out air strikes, our experts in internal relations and diplomacy have not found it fit to delve into the matter. They have shied away from the vexed issue. There is no analysis; no elucidation. There is nothing from the experts as yet that suggests that America’s incursion into Nigeria’s territory is right or wrong. So, where are our international relations and diplomatic experts? What passion holds this weight upon their tongues (to paraphrase Shakespeare in “As You Like It”) so much so that they cannot speak up? Why are our acclaimed experts silent? Is their silence part of the growing culture of compromise that has become the new normal under a rapacious order in Nigeria?
What happened is still fresh in our memories. It is still ongoing. American security operatives violated Nigeria’s territorial integrity on Christmas Day. They had a field day in Sokoto. When they were through with their unsolicited operation, unspecified number of terrorists lost their lives. The Nigerian government, caught napping in the entire drama, chose the dishonorable path of studied silence. It behaved as if nothing took place. No responsive or responsible government behaves that way. Even when the government was practically forced out of hiding, it could not tell Nigerians the truth about what transpired. Part of the growing curiosity is that there is no outrage from any quarters about the way the government is leading the people by the nose.
Because no issue was made of America’s Christmas Day invasion, the country is emboldened to make more incursions into Nigeria. Right now, America has deployed 200 troops to Nigeria. What is their mission? What are they supposed to be doing? Has Nigeria become a satellite American state so much so that it (America) can take any action in Nigeria at will? Obviously thrown into confusion by what is going on, the Nigerian government, in its unwillingness to tell Nigerians the truth, has decided to take cover under an arrangement called
Nigeria-US working group. What is really the job of this group? Why is it considered normal for America to flex muscles on Nigerian soil if we still have a government in place? What has become of our sovereignty? The oppositeness of wha things have become in Nigeria should be one of our utmost concerns as a people. Why have things become what we think they should not be? It is questions and more questions.
Beyond the facade of securing Nigeria, a job our own country is supposed to do for itself, America’s mission in Nigeria remains nebulous. What is America’s ultimate intent? What is it driving at? I believe that full disclosures are yet to be made in this matter. But as we look forward to that, America on its part must recognize, and I believe it does, that its mission in Nigeria would not have mattered if we have a proper government in place. In fact, America’s intrusion into Nigeria is suggestive of state failure. Since Nigeria has failed to secure itself, America can as well do the job for it. Given this unpalatable state of affairs, it would have made a better sense for America to redirect Nigeria towards the path of good governance. Why is America not taking interest in what will become of Nigeria if the lame duck government of the day stretches beyond 2027? Or is it in the best interest of America for Nigeria to continue to grovel on its belly so that it (America) will have job to do?
Right now, the Donald Trump administration is running from pillar to post. It is looking for individuals and groups to square up with in its unexplained mission in Nigeria. But it is not even doing a thorough job here. In Nigeria, we have anti- democratic elements. These men operate at the highest levels of our government. From the Presidency to the National Assembly, the story is the same. Before our very eyes, a cabal that wants Nigeria to remain in a state of state capture is struggling to ensure that the coming elections in Nigeria are manipulated. The government of the day is fully aware that it cannot win an election if the contest is free and fair. For that reason, it wants to put in place mechanisms and structures for election rigging. I would think that an America that is interested in Nigeria should take interest in this. As a model for democratic governance, America should take interest in mentoring the developing world where elections are manipulated to suit the fancies of unpopular leaders. If proper people are elected to govern Nigeria, for instance, America will have no business coming here to fight our wars for us. America should therefore redefine its engagement in Nigeria. It is more rewarding to have a free and fair electoral contest in Nigeria than to eliminate a thousand terrorists in one day.
