Foreign military bases: coalition criticizes northern elite’s letter to FG

A coalition of 259 anti-corruption, civil society and human rights groups, Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER), has criticized allegations made by a group of northern elites who recently raised the alarm over a federal government plan to facilitate the move . from the United States of America and French military bases in French-speaking West African countries to Nigeria.

The coalition stated that the Northern group’s motive was to cause a crisis in the country.

COTER alleged that the northern elite group was shouting over the alleged plan of the President Bola Tinubu-led government to cause discontent between the government and the Nigerian people.

The President of COTER, Dr. Peter China Chukwu, and Secretary General, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko, stated this on behalf of the coalition in a statement in response to the northern elite group’s letter to President Tinubu on the matter.

According to the Coalition, northern elites have merely shouted where there is none, aiming to increase the pace of domestic opposition and hostility towards the current government.

Minister of Information and National Guidance Mohammed Idris had on Monday rejected the plan for a military base in Nigeria.

Idird dismissed it as unfounded. The media reports that the government is considering a request to list a military base in Nigeria, stressing that the federal government is “not in such a discussion with any other country.”

The clarification by the minister followed a letter from some northern elites to President Tinubu warning him against hosting US and French military bases in Nigeria.

The May 3, 2024 letter said the US and France are lobbying Nigeria and other Gulf of Guinea countries for defense deals to move their troops earlier to Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger.

Northern elites had also expressed concerns that the President Tinubu-led government would agree to the defense pact and jeopardize Nigeria’s defense and security.

The letter from the northern elite group also copied the National Assembly and was signed by Abubakar Mohammed of the Center for Democratic Development, Research and Training (CEDDERT); Kabiru Chafe, former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, of the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP); Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Jibrin Ibrahim of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD); Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani) of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CCISLAC); and YZ Ya’u from the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

COTER, however, described that the alarm expressed by Northern elites in their letter to President Tinubu and the National Assembly did not contain an iota of truth.

COTER argued that such an alarm could cause panic among citizens, with people in some of the already unstable regions taking to the streets in protest, creating space for a crisis that could explode and engulf the entire country.

The coalition questioned why some northern elites would want to re-raise in 2024 the issue that the Nigerian government had been committed to since the early 1960s, when the question of a military pact with the British government was raised.

COTER stated that the President Tinubu-led government knew more than enough about the primary objectives of Nigeria’s foreign and defense policy to heed any request from any foreign power to establish a military base in Nigeria.

It added that Nigeria’s membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and the BRICS countries prevented the country from offering its territory to any foreign power to establish a military base.

COTER said: “The false alarm raised by some Northern leaders over alleged plans by the Federal Government to accede to the request of the United States of America and France to relocate their military bases in Burkina Faso and the Niger Republic to Nigeria , raises some concerns about the intent of these letter writers.

“It is clear that their intention is to cause discontent between the Federal Government and the citizens of Nigeria. They are just trying to probe the religious sensitivity of some parts of the country to create a crisis. This is very dangerous for the country as it could result in a fire that could engulf and even consume the entire country.

“Nigeria’s position and policy on this matter is very clear and unequivocal. It is part of the country’s foreign and defense policy not to enter into any military pact with any foreign power. Previous administrations and the current administration of President Bola Tinubu have adhered to and implemented this policy even since the early 1960s.

“It is suspicious that some people in 2024 are raising such an alarm because of their privileged position. There is a hidden agenda of this group of people, which is not known to the rest of the citizens of Nigeria.

“COTER, therefore, urges these privileged and respected Nigerians not to foment any taint of disunity in the country through their statement. They must exercise serious restraint and caution in their utterances and outbursts so as not to further inflame the already tense situation that Nigerians currently find themselves in. Our focus must be on how we can collectively lift Nigeria, our dear country, to an enviable pedestal in the community of nations. in the world.”