- * Our Business Is To Help Nigeria Fight Terrorism, Says US
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
Barely one week after the US government justified its decision to sell A-29 Super Tucano light attack Fighter Jets and other hi-tech military hardware to Nigeria to enable the Defense establishment to effectively counter violent extremism and other acts of insurgency activities in Nigeria, some eminent Nigerians under the auspices of Nigerian Indigenous National Alliance for Self-determination (NINAS) have passionately urged governments of western countries to desist from arms sale to the Nigerian government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Specifically, the pro-secessionist coalition body allegedly petitioned to the western countries, according to a statement on Thursday, August 5, 2021, by NINAS Communication Manager, Maxwell Adeleye, calling on the British, the United States of America and the other European Union governments like Germany, Russia, France, etc, to withhold further supply of tactical operational weapons to the government in Nigeria. According to them, the Buhari regime was subverting the civil rights of her citizens and the nation's democracy as well.
NINAS also canvassed that an embargo on the arms sale to Nigeria was necessary, claiming that the previous consignments of counter-terrorism weapons procured with borrowed funds surreptitiously crept into the hands of Boko Haram/ISWAP militias, marauding Fulani herdsmen, bandit kidnappers, and other violent insurgent groups operating in some parts of Nigeria.
Among the eminent Nigerians in the membership of NINAS who advocated for the sanctions on arms sales to Nigeria, are Chief John Nnia Nwodo (the immediate-past President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo and former two-time Minister of Aviation and Information), Professor Banji Akintoye (a notable Yoruba activist and renowned Historian), Professor Wale Adeniran (National Chairman of Ilana Omo Oodua), Barrister Tony Nnadi (Secretary-General of NINAS), Professor Yusuf Turaki (renowned academia) among many other members of the group.
The Nigerian Indigenous National Alliance for Self-determination (NINAS) is an umbrella organization of regional groups seeking Self-determination among the ethnic nationalities within Nigeria's Middle Belt, South West, South-South, and southeast regions. These ethnic bodies are the Lower Niger Congress standing for the Niger Delta South-South, the Middle Belt Forum representing the Middle Belt block, and the Ilana Omo Oodua representing the Yoruba flank.
On December 16, 2020, NINAS declared a Constitutional Force Majure (CFM), repudiating the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria on which the unity of the country is predicted. The group, therefore, urged the United Nations to commence the supervision of a referendum for the aggrieved ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt region and their Southern counterparts who desire new sovereign separatist enclaves.
NINAS said in the statement that it wrote to the UN thus: “We the people of the South and Middle Belt under the aegis of Nigerian Indigenous National Alliance for Self-determination (NINAS) call on you to sanction the government of Nigeria for undermining democratic ethics and abusing people’s rights to live; to own property; to liberty; to dignity; to peaceful assembly and to self-determination.
“The Arms being sold to the Nigerian Government with funds borrowed from your territory are now being used to kill, oppress, harass, intimidate and strangulate harmless protesters and defenceless people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria who are exercising their rights to self-determination and peaceful assembly.
“Boko Haram Terrorists, Fulani herdsmen and Bandits are now maiming, harassing and killing our people on the roads and in their farmlands with same arms and ammunition bought from your countries with impunity. Today, peaceful protest is an aberration in Nigeria. Opposition voices are now being arrested and caged behind the bar for demanding good governance and their inalienable right to self-determination.
“Freedom of speech is now an essential commodity in Nigeria. The leadership of Nigeria are now censoring the media to prevent free speech to alert the world to the ongoing genocide. Social Media is now under threat in Nigeria. Fulani herdsmen have taken over our farmlands that are rapidly resulting in food scarcity which is responsible for the current booming reign of hunger and starvation in our land especially given the government-induced over 42% poverty level.
“We, as a people, consider the current government of Nigeria a danger to democracy, and we demand, on behalf of our people, that an axe of sanction should be dangled on the government for undermining democracy, and for contravening the fundamental human rights of the people of the South and Middle Belt.
"We appeal to you, in the interest of peace-loving people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria to halt further sale of Arms to the Nigerian Government until the country surrenders the sovereignty of the people back to them.
“For the record, our cardinal demand as a group is for the Nigerian Government to function as the transitional government while a United Nations supervised referendum is organized so the people can exercise their self-determination right and end to unitary Nigeria which has been turned into an apartheid state.
“We demand unconditional abolition of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria which we have shown to be a fraud perpetrated against the people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria given that the people did NOT make it,” the statement said
Despite the call for the stoppage of arms sale to Nigeria, however, the United States of America recently affirmed its determination to help Nigeria overcome its insecurity challenges.
The US government who spoke through its Chargé d’Affaires, Kathleen FitzGibbon, stated during the inspection of the freshly procured first six American Sierra Nevada Corporation/Embraer Defense and Security A-29 “Super Tucano” Light Attack aircraft, that it is her defense policy resolve to help strengthen Nigeria's fight against the ravages of terrorist insurgency in the country and by implication safeguard the African sub-region against anarchy which consequences to the larger global community will be too heinous to contemplate.
According to the US, this defense support was a clear measure of relative confidence America has on the integrity of the Buhari government and its ability and determination to vanquish violent insurgency and all forms of armed banditry and criminality threatening the peace and corporate existence of Nigeria.
In a recent statement by the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, it quoted FitzGibbon as saying that the weapons and aircraft sales to the Nigerian government represented a historic level of defense cooperation achieved between the U.S. and the Nigerian militaries.
FitzGibbon stated further that “Beyond the new hardware that you see on this runway, this program has brought our two militaries closer informal training, professional development, air base construction, logistics planning, and negotiations. We are proud to partner with Nigeria in its ‘whole of government’ approach to end violent extremism and ensure a more stable, prosperous country for all Nigerians".
Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, however welcomed the pilots and the A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Massachusetts on the first leg of their trans-Atlantic flight.
Describing the aircraft's features, the statement explained that “The Super Tucano is a dual-pilot turboprop aircraft built as a workhorse combat air platform, equipped for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and for precision air-to-ground strike missions. The next six aircraft are scheduled for delivery later this year.
“The Super Tucano platform for Nigeria is the United States’ largest Foreign Military Sales program in Sub-Saharan Africa, valued at almost $500 million. This program follows the Department of Defense’s “Total Package Approach” model and includes spare parts for several years of operation, contract logistics support, munitions, and a multi-year construction project to improve Kainji’s infrastructure.
“Through this program, the U.S. Air Force’s 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, trained Nigerian pilots and maintenance crews to U.S. standards. Training also emphasizes the Law of Armed Conflict and Civilian Casualty Mitigation, which are fundamental principles of the Nigerian military’s professional education and training.
“With the A-29 Super Tucano purchase, the Nigerian Air Force also has become a founding member of the U.S. Air Force’s “Combined Light Attack Experiment,” which is developing Light Attack global best-practice tactics and doctrine for the 21st century.”
So far, President Muhammadu Buhari's administration had made a purchase order for 12 Super Tucano fighter jets after extensive discussions with the US government. The first batch of the six fighter jets was taken delivery of by the authorities of the Nigerian Air Force recently from the United States of America. NNL.
