Presidential monologue – Part 46

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Good morning, Mr President.  I address your recent state visit to France. I do so to put the issues in perspective. The two-day visit has attracted many comments from Nigerians. This should not be a surprise to you, as the president of the country, our well-being and security depend to a large extent on those things that you do and failed to do—two major lines of criticism of your visit call for scrutiny. One is the suspicion of agreeing to provide the French a military base in Nigeria at a time when the French were being expelled from their erstwhile colonies on account of its rabid and virulent neo-colonial designs for the continent.

The second matter is turning the visit into a family business with your son in the official delegation.  This does not warrant a comprehensive response. It amounts to a violation of diplomatic niceties and predilection to incestuous leadership to bring family matters into state business. The observation of Sadeeq Shehu, a former aide to Muhammadu Buhari, suffices here. He rightly notes that “It’s wrong, both diplomatically and culturally. Imagine every world leader bringing their grown children to official international meetings, letting them overshadow cabinet ministers.”

The allegation of a French military base in Nigeria is very critical. I shall provide some background. Nigerians may be governed by poor leadership, but as the U.S. Congressional Mission to six African states noted in 1981, they are highly emotive when it comes to the issues of racial justice and national sovereignty. To put it differently, Nigeria may be having difficulty getting its act together, it is somewhat adverse to the idea of being a banana republic. Its unfinished business is to lead Africa out of imperial bondage imposed by the great powers including France.

Historically, Nigerians went against the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact of 1958-1962 because of its obvious implication for national sovereignty—a subordination of Nigeria’s interest to that of the British and involvement with the British in case of war with other nations. Nevertheless, Nigeria continues to train some military personnel in Sandhurst and Aldershot through military cooperation. For example, the United Kingdom and Nigeria had a military cooperation arrangement in September 2001 that covered advising the Ministry of Defence on organisation, administration, procurement, training and equipment.

In 2000, Obasanjo invited Military Resource Professional Incorporated (MPRI) to Nigeria, ostensibly to train and orientate the Nigerian army. The latent function was to ensure that the Nigerian military was less prone to coups led by sectional officers. The top brass of the military was opposed to it. The then Chief of Army Staff, General Victor Malu, following the failure of private consultation with President Obasanjo, went public on the matter insisting that the Americans had nothing to teach the Nigerian army that the deficit was only in equipment.  He regretted not getting rid of the Obasanjo administration over the matter and recounted it afterwards.

The U.S. Army established the African Command (AFRICOM) on the pretext of covering “ungoverned spaces” in the continent in the light of the U.S. global war against terror in 2008. The subtext was world-wide domination and the search for a base in Africa was in pursuit of that goal. Many countries in Africa were wary of the U.S. demand for a base. Col Muammar Gaddafi of blessed memory, was among African leaders who led the charge against the quest of the U.S. or base. When President Yar’adua visited the U.S. in 2007 before his demise, he was on his toes over the idea of a U.S. base in Nigeria or Africa. He was honourable about it and never dared. It should be recalled that he had lobbied African governments, such as Liberia and Equatorial Guinea, to reject the offer.

I was among a few African scholars who attended a public relations conference on AFRICOM at the Mershion Centre for International Security Studies, Ohio State University in 2009. In my presentation, titled “The U.S. War on Terror and Civil-Military Relations in West Africa”, later Published in the Routledge Studies in U.S. Foreign Policy in 2013, I argued that the militarisation of U.S. foreign policy in Africa was hinged on a ‘Robinson Crusoe Complex’, that is, Africa is ‘no man’s land’, and its resources are available for plunder by any great power. To be sure, Africa’s interest would be subverted by the U.S. presence in the continent.

Today, AFRICOM has its base in Stuttgart, Germany, due to a pan-African rejection of it. The Tomahawk Missiles that destroyed Libya, in which the then French President Sarkozy played the role of a villain, were fired from Stuttgart.

It is well that Lt. General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, has allayed the fears of Nigerians to the extent that no foreign country would establish a military base in Nigeria. It would have been the height of imprudence to broach the idea of allowing a French base in Nigeria at a time when over five former French colonies had asked the French to quit their territories because their presence subverted their respective sovereignties.

While giving the French a quit order, Faye, the Senegalese President, stated that “Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country”.  To add, the Niger junta had revealed how the French had undermined the war against terror by obstructing the elimination of terrorist elements. The ousted President Bazoum was willing to take orders from France about what to do with captured terrorists. The French are currently engaging Benin and Cote de Ivoire to destabilise the Alliance of the Sahel States. Nigeria should be able to tell these countries to back off. Imperialism is no friend to peripheral states. Indeed, a French general has recently advocated the re-colonisation of the continent.

Mr President, take this matter of a French military base in Nigeria as a no-go-area, otherwise, Nigerians would fight you. Do focus on what appeared to be the manifest function of the visit, namely, enhancing “bilateral ties, focusing on key areas such as agriculture, security, education, health, youth engagement, innovation, and energy transition.”

Trade records have shown that Nigeria is France’s top trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Bilateral trade stood at over $5 billion (€4.73 billion) in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, France emerged as Nigeria’s largest trade partner, with imports from Nigeria growing to $1.4 billion, 11.05 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports for the period. Mr President, let’s keep the French handshake at trade and investment levels.
Odion-Akhaine is Professor of Political Science, Lagos State University.