Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon
A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu
Gowon (retd.), has taken a swipe at the United States on its refusal to
sell arms to Nigeria to fight the insurgency by the Islamic group, Boko
Haram.
Gowon, in an interview with Rev4mation's World,
criticised the US for not selling military hardware to Nigeria, saying
if the US was truly a diplomatic friend to Nigeria, it should do
everything possible to keep the corporate existence of Nigeria.
This, according to him, includes assisting Nigeria to fight aggression from any quarter.
The US had on November 12, 2014,
defended its refusal to sell cobra helicopters to Nigeria, saying the
Federal Government was free to buy fighter jets from any other country.
The State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen
Psaki, said, “Nigeria has purchased helicopters that originated in
countries other than the US and nothing in our decision prevents Nigeria
from obtaining weapons and equipment from other sources,”
Psaki had reacted to the allegation by
the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, that
Washington declined to sell arms to Nigeria.
Adefuye had told members of the Council
on Foreign Relations on November 10 that Washington was not doing enough
to assist Nigeria in combating the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East
geopolitical zone of the country.
He said, “The U.S. government has up
till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal
equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short
time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have
been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or
arrested.
“We find it difficult to understand how
and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their
sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and
becoming more deadly.”
But Psaki had stated that the US refused
to sell the helicopters to Nigeria due to concerns about the ability of
the military to use and maintain them.
The cobra is a combat aircraft with the
ability to climb at the rate of 8.2metres per second. It is equipped
with a 20 mm M197 3-barrelled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750
rounds ammo capacity).
The spokeswoman also said there were
ongoing concerns about Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when
conducting military operations, adding that these had been discussed
with the Nigerian authorities.
Gowon, while speaking to one of our
correspondents, however, alleged that the US did same to the Nigerian
government during the Civil War, when it refused to sell fighter jets to
Nigeria to stop Biafra’s bomber jets.
As the military Head of State, Gowon had
prosecuted the Nigerian civil war, aka Biafran War, which began on July
6, 1967 and ended on January 15, 1970.
The war was declared after an attempted
secession by the Eastern Region of the country, which declared itself
the ‘Republic of Biafra.’
Gowon said, “The same thing happened
during the Civil War. The Americas refused to sell arms to us. I wanted
them to help me with some modest aircraft so that I could chase out
Ojukwu’s (Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu) B52 or B56 as they called it. That was
all I wanted; not to shoot it down but to chase it away so that it does
not drop bombs and kill innocent people.
“But the Americans refused to help us
and they even refused to sell arms and ammunitions and the spare parts
of the equipment that we got from them. And at the same time, they
(America) were shipping aircraft and loads of arms and ammunition to
Zaire. What sort of friends are they?
“You call them your friends and they say
that they are helping us to fight terror. We don’t want their people
(Americans) to come and fight the war (against Boko Haram) for us but,
at least, we need the equipment.
“During my time (as Head of State), I
had to go to the Russians to get the equipment we wanted in order to
prosecute that war. If they cannot help us, they should allow us to go
elsewhere and get what we want to ensure that we deal with this
particular problem.”
A former Military Governor of Kaduna
State, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd.), corroborated Gowon, while decrying
that Western allies, who were paying much attention to the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria in the Middle East, “have decided to turn a blind eye
to what is happening in Nigeria.”
He pointed out that Boko Haram is to
Nigeria what ISIS is to the Middle East, saying they both threaten
global peace and security.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also backed Adefuye’s position on arms purchase from the US.
The Director, Public Communication
Division, Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, said the Nigerian
ambassador had said it all on the relationship between Nigeria and
America.
“Our ambassador to the US has spoken. He did not send himself there, so there is nothing more for me to add,” he said.
The US, however, said despite its
insistence on not selling arms to Nigeria, it was committed to helping
the country address the threat posed by Boko Haram and other violent
extremist organisations.
The Press Attache, US Embassy, Abuja, Sean McIntosh, in his response to SUNDAY PUNCH’s
enquiry on why the US avoids supporting Nigeria internal wars, said his
country had been working and continued to work with Nigerian
authorities to provide assistance with humanitarian programmes,
intelligence and strategic communications.
When asked to also explain the US policy
that states America’s non-committal posture to Nigeria and to name
other West African countries affected by the policy, McIntosh said the
US had continued to advise the Federal Government to adopt a
comprehensive approach to violent extremists.
He said such approach emphasises respect
for human rights including the freedom of religion, prioritises
civilian security, and responds to the needs of victimised communities.
McIntosh listed the assistance rendered
to Nigeria by the US to include the provision of $19m for the vulnerable
and conflict-affected households in Nigeria by the American government
in 2014.
He said, “More than $7m from the US
Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster
Assistance supports health, water and sanitation services; the delivery
of emergency relief supplies and protection activities for women and
children in north-eastern Nigeria.
“USAID/Food for Peace has provided
nearly $7m in emergency food assistance and the US Department of State
has provided more than $5m to fund protection activities in affected
areas.
“In addition, the US government provided
more than $54m in humanitarian assistance in Cameroon, Chad and Niger,
targeting refugee populations from neighbouring countries, including
Nigeria.”
The American embassy spokesman explained
that the USAID was also in the process of starting two new programmes
that would address critical educational needs for both boys and girls in
northern Nigeria.
These, according to McIntosh, include a
‘crisis response’ programme to be funded with about $20m to $30m. He
said the programme would reach out with basic education to
internally-displaced persons and others affected by the violence in the
north-east, including Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa states.
“The programmes also include a
‘flagship’ five-year education programme that will strengthen systems to
provide greater access and learning (increasing reading skills) for
primary school children, principally in Sokoto and Bauchi, and other
states of the North as conditions allow,” he explained.
McIntosh stated that two additional
large USAID projects focused on maternal and child health and democracy
and governance are geographically co-located in Bauchi and Sokoto states
in an effort to maximise their developmental impact. He added that
expansion into additional post-conflict states would be considered as
conditions and resources allow.
