The United States says it has no plans to build a military base in Nigeria.
Some northern leaders have alleged that the US and French
governments have been lobbying Nigeria to sign new defence pacts, allowing them
to redeploy their expelled troops from the Sahel.
In a letter to President Bola Tinubu, the northern leaders
warned that the presence of foreign military bases would worsen already
strained relations between Nigeria and neighbouring French countries.
The northern leaders asked the president to prioritise the
nation’s security over “short-term strategic alignments”.
In an interview with TVC news on Tuesday, David Greene, US
chargé d’affaires in Nigeria, refuted the reports.
“I am not aware of any such conversation, and I am not
really sure whose purpose it serves to agitate on this point,” Greene said.
“We will continue our very strong security cooperation with
the Nigerian security services, the Nigerian military, and the Nigerian
government, and that will always be in a spirit of partnership and respect for
each other.”
Greene also said the US government prioritises its strategic
investments in Nigeria to improve the health and humanitarian sectors.
“There is an assistance agreement that covers five years for
about $2.5 billion, but we add money to it as it becomes available, and one of
the areas where we have added a lot of money in recent years has been on the
humanitarian assistance side,” he said.
“That has reached almost $300 million a year out of that
billion, but it varies. Some years it is 900 million, sometimes it is 1.2
billion, but it is an awful lot, and we are very proud of the cooperation that
we pursue through it.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
U.S. humanitarian aid and defence assistance to Nigeria is a scam. This’s why I always criticise the incapacity of our leaders to understand the basic of geopolitics and géostratégies going on in the world. Our leaders feel that America is a friend of Nigeria, but quite frankly, he’s not, instead, he is Nigeria worst enemy on earth. America has no friends but he pursues his strategic interests. What strategy aid has the U.S. implemented in Nigeria? But, he will certainly approach Nigeria government when it comes to borrowing money from IMF and world bank. They make sure that these loans are given out rapidly because of the huge profits they get from it. What project has America done in Nigeria other than in the oil sector ? Has he built industries to create employment in Nigeria, has he constructed companies, railways, ports, schools, etc etc But, Chinese are embarking on these types of development projects every where in Nigeria, but the U.S. and his NATO allies are not happy about this, because they don’t want Africa to develop, they simply want to come to Africa and siphon their mineral resources without paying a cent.
ReplyDelete