Re: A puerile game of pins and needles – Cross-border blackmail and blame games -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

In response to a piece titled ‘A puerile game of pins and needles’, published last month in a handful of national dailies, this writer, received a deluge of mails, many of them a blizzard of backlash over their position on Niger Republic and the outrageous allegation of the military junta that Nigeria was in conspiracy with France, Ivory Coast and others to foster destabilization in the country.

One pugilist, Isah Abubakar, particularly stood out. In his poignant riposte he stated among other things that” the relationship between Nigeria and Niger Republic is not parasitic, but mutual information as Niger Republic assisted Nigeria to build Hydroelectric Power and irrigation at Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro boosting economic activities in Southern Nigeria Industries.
He also stated that cattle, dairy and meat supply which you used during burials and house-warming apart from pumo/cowlegs daily delicacies, 60 percent is supplied by Niger. Also, beans as proteins supply subsidized by Niger. Also,trusted security guards for your businesses and homes for the safety of all which your people are not reliable and trustworthy. You sourced from Niger as a result of mutual aid.”
In the piece Isah responded to, we had stated clearly that the relationship between Niger Republic and Nigeria was clearly and disastrously parasitic. We restate in the light of recent developments that the country is like a cluster of ticks fastened to the body of Nigeria like a cow, sucking its blood and causing it great discomfort.

For starters, Niger Republic is of no strategic interest or importance to Nigeria. If anything, the country is a corridor for the legion bandits who find their way into Nigeria and make the country ungovernable.

For all the increasingly seductive posturing of Nigeria’s neighbors, Nigeria is not looking for a 37th state in the country.
While Nigeria is willing to help Nigeriens develop their skills, Nigeria has no interest in annexing Niger Republic as part of Nigeria.

It is not Nigeria’s fault that France was very mean to its former colonies or that it is no longer subsidizing its energy or that its borders are no longer porous.

It is in Nigeria’s interest that terrorists cease coming from Niger into Nigeria. Furthermore, it is also in Nigeria’s interest to cut off all the flow of arms and ammunition from Niger to Nigeria. President Tinubu is obligated to create a buffer zone in this wise. If not, Nigerians should protest.

There is also the need properly document all Nigeriens who supposedly work as security men in Nigeria. The government should ensure that terrorists do not infiltrate the country under the guise of security men.

It is entirely predictable and not the least surprising that just like the military junta in Burkina Faso, the military junta in Niger, having failed to fulfill their illusory promises to Nigeriens which they made to justify their stealing of power, would begin to tilt at imaginary enemies. Nigeria is not that enemy. If anything, the landlocked country, often counted in the demoralizing category of the world’s poorest countries should be grateful to Nigeria.
In a damning and daring dance of nepotism, former president Muhammadu Buhari, whose time as president of Nigeria would be rightly remembered by history as an unmitigated disaster, built railways in Niger with Nigeria’s resources to satisfy his first cousins. Only God knows what other largesse he extended to the country illegally. Now, they have the cheeks to criticize Nigeria and make outlandish allegations.

Nigeria would be far better cutting off all ties with Niger Republic. People like Isah Abubakar who argue that it pulls up trees in its commercial dealings with Nigerians cannot show how much it is contributing to the national economy, and that it is not serving only a section of the country.

Everyday Nigeriens are worse off under the military. The illegal military junta is taking actions that would compromise the future of the country.
There is neither time nor point in holding brief for it.

Niger’s neighbours in West Africa have the responsibility to show up the disaster the military has been in the country. Nigeria had that responsibility more.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com