News, Commentary & Social Media from African Perspective

On AFRICOM: Nigeria will Partner with U.S. Military Command for Africa [Updated]

December 16, 2007
Via Daily Independent:

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, on Sunday in Washington DC, said that Nigeria did not endorse the presence of the U.S. Africa Military Command (AFRICOM) on the continent.

“Nigeria’s position on AFRICOM remains that African governments have the sovereign responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security on the continent,” Maduekwe said.

In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the minister said that the decision was “in the context of the proposed African Union (AU) Stand-by Force.”

“In this regard, the need for support and assistance by Africa’s development partners, such as the U.S. in the provision of training, funding and logistics for African militaries was duly acknowledged,” he said.

He noted that “President Umaru Yar’Adua’s statement on the proposed AFRICOM is consistent with Nigeria’s well-known position on the necessity for Africa to avail itself of opportunities for enhanced capacity for the promotion of peace and security in Africa.”

Maduekwe said that Yar’Adua and President George Bush held fruitful discussions on several issues including AFRICOM during their meeting at the White

************

December 14, 2007
YarA'dua at White House with Goerge BushNigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday at the White House in United States stated that Nigeria would partner the US on AFRICOM.

This disclosure is opposite of what was disclosed by the Nigerian government in November, and clearly contrary to general expectation of AfricanLoft users (See AfricanLoft debate on AFRICOM) and the Nigerian public.
Excerpts:

The Council of States of which the Yar’Adua is chairman, recently voiced opposition to the command. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who is part of the President’s delegation to the US had himself stated that Nigeria would not support the presence of US troops on African soil under the auspices of AFRICOM.

But at a press briefing at the Oval Office, with President George W. Bush in attendance, Yar’Adua made known his new position.

“We have discussed on security issues, security within Nigeria, the Niger Delta, the Gulf of Guinea and peace and security on the African continent. We shall partner AFRICOM to assist not only Nigeria but also the African continent to actualise its peace and security initiatives. It is an initiative to have standby forces in each of the regional economic groupings in Africa,” said the President.

The President did not give details of the discussion on AFRICOM, such as whether Nigeria will be used as the Command’s base, an issue that has emerged contentious in recent times.

But his support at the White House was a clear departure from the leaning of his administration on the issue.

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200712140108.html

Also read covered on VOA: http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-13-voa20.cfm

Related articles:
AllAfrica News: http://allafrica.com/stories/200712110961.html

Advertisement

These posts may have related contents: