Article by former Nigerian minister, Femi Fani-Kayode..
The
United States government helped Boko Haram immensly by refusing to
classify them as a terrorist organisation until 2014 and by refusing to
sell us arms to fight them. Worst still, they imposed an international
arms embargo on us so that we could not buy arms from anyone else in the
international community. When asked why they are doing this to us they
tell us that it is because of the Leahy Act which prohibits them from
selling arms to governments that violate the human rights of their own
citizens.
They
forget that we are in the middle of a bitter war and that our enemies
are being sponsored and supported by both ISIL and Al Qaeda.
They
forget that over 50,000 innocent Nigerians have been slaughtered in
cold blood and thousands more raped and abducted during the course of
that war over the last 5 years.
They
disregard the fact that every day Nigerians are bleeding more and more
and that our gallant Armed Forces, through no fault of their own, have
not been able to get the necessary weapons to fight back effectively.
Some
things are above partisan politics and this is one of them. Regardless
of whichever political party we belong to we must all join forces and
support the fight against Boko Haram.
We
must do this regardless of party affiliation because if we don't Boko
Haram will consumme us all, whether we are PDP, APC or anything else.
We
love and admire the Americans and we regard their country as a bastion
of good governance, justice, equity and decency. We also recognise the
fact that they have brought an immense amount of good into the world
over the last 100 years and that they continue to do so.
However
in this matter of arms supply to our country it appears to me that a
double standard is being applied. It is almost as if they want Nigeria
to be brought to her knees and that they want us to be humiliated and
destroyed.
All
the territory that was recovered from Boko Haram by the Jonathan
administration is now being threatened again or has been retaken by Boko
Haram in the last few weeks.
This
comes as a direct consequence of the fact that the Americans have
refused to sell us arms and the new allies and friends that the Jonathan
administration reached out to in their stead just a few months before
leaving power together with the military assistance contracts that they
entered into at the time for help in the war against Boko Haram have
been terminated.
This
is very sad because the immediate consequence of it is the fact that
over 1000 Nigerians have been killed by Boko Haram in the last two
months alone. That means over 100 people per week have been murdered by
the terrorists since May 29th.
This
must stop and something has to give. We must support the new government
in their efforts to stem the tide and to fight terror.
This
is all the more important when one considers the fact that there seems
to be some hidden agenda on the part of the western powers, led by
America, to ensure that we do not acquire the necessary weapons to take
on Boko Haram effectively.
When
one considers the position of the American government one is forced to
ask the following question: w hy did they not invoke the Leahy Act
against Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Qatar, Egypt,
Turkey, Ukraine, Pakistan, Yemen, Kenya and Iraq for human rights
violations?
Why
do they continue to supply arms to the governments of all those
countries despite what they have done to many of their own citizens and
those that they oppose just outside their borders?
Why
is it only Nigeria that they have refused to sell arms to and that they
have imposed an international arms embargo on even though we are
fighting a civil war against a barbaric, relentless and evil enemy that
is being sponsored by ISIL and Al Qaeda?
Given
all this, I believe that it is time for us as a country to begin to
reconsider who our friends really are? They say that a friend in need is
a friend indeed.
You
cannot say that you are our friends whilst you sit by idly and watch
the blood of our people being shed on a daily basis yet you refuse to do
anything about it.
We
are not asking you to send troops to fight for us or to give us free
arms. We are not cowards or beggars. We are simply asking to buy
sophisticated arms and modern weapons from you so that we can defend our
people yet you keep saying no and you are urging others not to sell to
us either. This is not the act of a friend.
It
is unacceptable, it is unfair and, if sustained, it will prove to be
counter-productive to the interests of the Americans in our country and
in the west African sub-region.
The
truth is that given the attitude of the United States government I
believe that it is time for us to rely far more on our Chinese and
Russian friends in our collective war against terror.
I
say this because it appears that the western powers and our traditional
allies like the United Kingdom, France and America have left us in the
lurch.
Whichever
way we can be rest assured of one thing: Nigeria will never be brought
to her knees and ultimately we will win this war because God is with us.
On
a final note permit me to take this opportunity to respond to the words
of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, the convener and author of the Leahy
Act, who has said that our Armed Forces are nothing but ''rapists and
murderers''. He also said that we should ''clean up our military'' if we
want the arms embargo lifted.
This
type of condescending, colonial-overlord, slave-master and gung-ho
language and contribution from this foreigner is most unhelpful and it
is totally unacceptable. This is all the more so because his words are
simply not true.
Whether
the Leahy's of this world wish to accept it or not the truth is that
the Nigerian Armed Forces, despite their limitations and constraints,
remain one of the most outstanding, successful, courageous, battle-ready
and disciplined fighting forces on the African continent.
History
can attest to that and the sacrifice that those gallant young men and
women in uniform make on a daily basis on the battle field in the fight
against Boko Haram and in the war against terror over the last five
years is a reflection of their deep patriotism and noble calling.
Referring
to them as nothing but ''rapists and murderers'' is not only a sweeping
statement and an absurd generalisation but it is also a deep insult to
the Nigerian people and a denigration of the memory of all those
courageous young men and women that fought and died on the war-front
defending our country.
The
truth is that Senator Leahy is nothing but a low-life redneck and so
are all those that think like him and that have his mindset. He is the
scum of the earth: a typically confused, ignorant, petty-minded,
blinkered and racist yankee who has little understanding of world
affairs, no understanding of our situation in Nigeria and Africa and no
sense of history.
He
owes the Nigerian people and our Armed Forces an unreserved apology and
until he purges himself and renders it, I urge every self-respecting
Nigerian to treat him with the contempt and disdain that he deserves.
We appreciate you for reading naijawapbase, but we think it will be better you like our facebook fanpage and also follow us on twitter below.
