Akindoju: U.S hasn’t done much for Nigeria

ADEOLA AKINDOJU is a research fellow at NIIA. She shares her views on the gains from the Obama administration and some of the unfulfilled promises to Nigeria

What have the northern governors’ gained from Kerry’s visit in resettling IDPs?
I do not think the U.S. has done anything in resettling the IDPs. It is only the UNHRC that has been rendering assistance in this area.

What has Nigeria gained so far in our fight against insurgency?
I do not think that the U.S. has done much, because when President Muhammadu Buhari visited there last time, they promised to help us in many areas. But we have not seen the effect of that promise. Boko Haram insurgency is still there. The U.S. promised to assist in terms of giving Nigerian military equipment and ammunition to fight the scourge, but we have not seen any effect of the U.S. on our country.

Also, the U.S. promised to help us in finding the missing Chibok girls, but till now, the girls have not been found. So, we have not seen the effect of the promises, concerning the missing girls and curbing insurgency.

What about the issue of fighting corruption and returning our stolen funds?
To an extent, they have assisted. There was a time a list of repatriated stolen funds was published. President Obama has commended Buhari on his fight against corruption and even Nigerians have lauded his efforts so far. But there has not been any specific thing they have done with the money.

What has Nigeria gained so far from Obama’s presidency?
Nigeria has not gained anything, because Obama never came to Nigeria. He visited Kenya and some other African countries, but not Nigeria. All the promises he made to Nigeria have not been fulfilled, especially on the issue of combating terrorism, training the military on intelligence gathering and so on, as well as finding the girls.