Read Time: 2 minutes
The 1962 Anglo-Nigeria Defence Pact imposed on the ruling class by the erstwhile British colonial regime was rejected by Nigerian students and workers. A few years later, Nigeria led the struggle for the decolonisation of the African continent. Indeed, the liberation of Africa became the corner stone of the foreign policy of Nigeria. On January 14, 1976, the military ruler of Nigeria, General Murtala Mohammed called off the bluff of imperialism when he declared that “Africa has come of age.” Despite geographical distance, Nigeria was made a front line state on account of her enormous moral and financial contributions to the struggle against apartheid and colonial rule in the Southern African region. Nigeria has also, through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ensured the restoration of law and order in war torn neighbouring countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone and prevented civil wars in The Gambia and Guinea Bissau.
Regrettably, Nigeria is currently witnessing the virtual collapse of the security architecture of the neocolonial State due to the diversion of the huge fund earmarked for procurement of arms and ammunition for the armed forces and the police by successive regimes. To prevent terrorists and bandits from sacking the government, President Buhari has appealed to President Joe Biden to come to the aid the ruling class in waging war against terror and banditry. And without consulting either the African Union or the ECOWAS the federal government has asked President Biden to relocate the US African Command (AFRICOM) in Germany to Africa. Since 2009, the cry for help in prosecuting the counter insurgency operations had fallen on the deaf ears of the leaders of the West. As if that was not enough, the United States and her allies prevented Nigeria from acquiring vital security equipment to prosecute the war on terror due to the abysmal poor human rights record of the armed forces and the police. In particular, the federal government has been accused of failing to account for the prolonged detention of thousands of people in military camps without trial and the extrajudicial execution of unarmed civilians by military and police personnel.
Although the federal government instituted two judicial commissions of inquiry in 2017 to investigate allegations of gross abuse of human rights of the Nigerian people the report of both panels have not seen the light of day. Hence, the government has failed to prosecute the security personnel indicted by the panels. Even though the Buhari administration was allowed to pay the sum of $329 million for 12 super Tucano fighter jets in November 2018 to aid the counter insurgency operations in the North East Zone the jets have not been delivered. Instead of giving Nigerians the false impression that the United States is going to send troops to defend them the federal government should be compelled to embark on mass recruitment of military and police personnel, equip and motivate them to defend every part of the country. In addition, all state and local governments should proceed to set up defence committees constituted by young men and women in every community to collaborate with the Police in securing the lives and properties of all citizens.
Femi Falana SAN