Why Buhari Should Beware of the West

Amidst the euphoria of victory and a plethora of congratulatory messages pouring in from all over the world for the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, there is need to sound a note of warning from the onset.

This is about the intention of the world, powers particularly the western world in our bourgeoning democracy. Going down memory lane, it was the United States of America that predicted years ago that Nigeria might break up as an aftermath of the ongoing general election in Nigeria. Even though Washington later made a denial, the grim picture painted of the two possibilities from the fallout of the election could not easily be forgotten.

The scenarios are that if Jonathan is re-elected, the north, already being devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency would go up in conflagration that would consume the whole of the country while if Buhari wins, the Niger Delta people would go back into the trenches with the accompanying threat to oil installations, threatening the very existence of the country.

This was postulated on the theory that Jonathan as the incumbent would not want to vacate office and would be backed to the hilt by the Niger Delta militants who have already been disarmed and won over by late President Umar Ya’Adua with the Amnesty Programme costing the nation billions of naira in exchange for peace.

But against all calculations, President Goodluck Jonathan chose to be a statesman instead of a Gorbachev who would have seen to the balkanisation of the country. He conceded defeat to save the country from imminent war, even to the consternation of his Niger Delta people. It was this singular patriotic move that put paid to all evil prophecies about Nigeria championed by the USA.

Thus, it is along this line that the President-elect must view all these messages and offer of cooperation and assistance from the West with suspicion and be wary in accepting any form of assistance that could jeopardise our independence and pose a threat to our national security in the future.

Where were the West when the Boko Haram bloodthirsty killers almost brought the country to its knees, killing, maiming, beheading people including children, women and the aged? Indeed, led by the USA, they refused to sell the much-needed arms and ammunitions to check the activities of the Boko Haram marauders.

They did not even stop at that, they blocked every access the federal government made to purchase arms from other sources, thus subjecting our soldiers to the mercy of their murderous attackers and making them the laughing stock of the whole world.

Another important issue worthy of note for the President-elect is the controversial same-sex marriage bill which President Jonathan signed into law following its passage by the National Assembly. This singular populist act earned him opprobrium from the international community and put him in the bad books of the West.

It should recalled that this issue was one of the campaign points raised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Buhari in the rundown to the Presidential election. It was alleged that the Western Powers who were snubbed over the issue by Jonathan pledged to support Buhari if he promises to revisit the issue.

Though, it will be easy to dismiss this allegation as mere campaign gimmick by a desperate government trying to cling to anything to remain in power, suffice it to say that the President-elect, as a former head of state would know that nothing comes for free. For every offer of assistance, there is a catch somewhere and it takes the discerning mind to know this at the appropriate time before it is too late.

The Jonathan administration learnt this bitter lesson when it was too late. It was when Washington offered to train our soldiers over the Boko Haram menace. Instead of bringing the equipment for the training, it said the equipment being used in the war front be brought back for the training. What happens in the meantime? Would the insurgents not overrun the whole place before the training is concluded? The refusal by the federal government led to a face-off and the eventual return of the trainers to their home country.