Better to have USA, France Military Bases in Nigeria than let Boko Haram, Armed Herders, overwhelm Nigeria
Oru Leonard
Amidst opposition by some eminent northern leaders against welcoming the United States of America and the French government to set up military bases inside of Nigeria, the front line civil Rights Advocacy group: Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has said it is best for the USA and France to be permitted by Nigeria to set up military bases provided their presence will quicken the destruction and existential defeats of Islamists terrorising Nigeria under the auspices of Boko Haram terrorists and armed militants.
HURIWA is asking the Northern leaders to be broadminded and nationalistic in outlook instead of holding on to the myopic, mundane, ethno-Islamic Worldview which is not so different fundamentally from the self destructive ideology of Islamists and extremists working to destabilise Nigeria so they set up their warped religious state. HURIWA said it is shocking that the problem worrying these leaders of the North is the possible setting up of military bases of USA and France and not even the massive attacks in the North West by armed bandits, terrorists and armed non state actors who are behind the killings of some 30,000 Nigerians in the last one decade.
HURIWA recalled that at the weekend some eminent northern stakeholders had cautioned against allowing the United States of America and the French governments to relocate their military bases from the Sahel to Nigeria following the decisions of of the new milita junta in Niger Republic and Burkina Faso to order that military bases hitherto operated in their nations by those advanced democracies be shut down.
In an open letter to President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly, the leaders said the federal government should not succumb to such pressure.
Those who signed the letter include Professor Abubakar Siddique Mohammed of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training (CEDDERT), Zaria; Professor Kabiru Sulaiman Chafe, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, representing the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), Kaduna; Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, who is a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Professor Jibrin Ibrahim from the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja; Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani) of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CCISLAC) Abuja; and Y. Z. Ya’u from the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Kano.
According to the letter, the American and French governments have allegedly been aggressively lobbying Nigeria, along with other Gulf of Guinea countries, to sign new defence pacts that would allow them to redeploy their troops, expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The signatories expressed concern that Nigeria, being the most strategically located among the Gulf of Guinea countries, may succumb to this pressure, thereby jeopardising its defence and internal security.
“The recent expulsion of French and American troops from Niger due to their perceived ineffective presence raises questions about the efficacy of hosting foreign military bases”, the citizens said in the open letter.
However, the front line civil Rights Advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) is of the view that there is nothing untoward or negative about the presence of the USA and France military bases inside of Nigeria’s territorial areas if the government of the federation permits just as the Rights group said the establishment of military bases by USA and France could likely positively fastrack the war on terror and may lead to the existential demolition of the Islamic extremists groups and terrorists such as the Boko Haram terrorists, ISWAB, Fulani terrorists and others who are already threatening the existence of peace, normality, economic progress of much of Nigeria including the entirety of North West and some areas of the vast geographical areas of North East of Nigeria.
In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said it will be sending a letter on Monday to support any immediate or future decisions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to welcome the French and the American governments to set up military bases inside of Nigeria so long as those nations will respect the Sovereignty of Nigeria and not carry out active or subversive espionage that may undermine the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
“The government should accept these military bases if these nations accept to provide adequate technical, military and logical supports to the armed forces of the federation of Nigeria to wage a time-bound and an effective war on terror in Nigeria”, HURIWA concluded.
