Yusuph Olaniyonu
28 July 2003
Lagos — Nigerian troops will only move into Liberia as part of the current efforts to restore peace in the troubled West African country when a complete ceasefire is achieved among the warring factional groups, Col. Emeka Onwuamaegbu, the army spokesman, yesterday told THISDAY.
The Director of Army Public Relations said Nigeira will, however, wait for the outcome of the meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) holding in Ghana today.
It is believed the decision of the Obasanjo administration to await ceasefire before moving Nigerian soldiers into Liberia was informed by the experience of the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) troop during the last Liberia civil war between 1991 and 1999 when the peacekeepers landed in the midst of heavy fighting by the forces.
The ECOMOG force consisting of troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and Siera Leone had to fight to secure a landing space in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. In the heavy fighting for space, the ECOMOG first led by a Ghanaian general and later led by Nigerian officers, initially suffered heavy casualties and was later accused of taking sides with the incumbent regime of Samuel Doe.
In the current civil war in Liberia, two different factional groups are fighting the Charles Taylor government. They are the Liberia United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) and the Movement for the Development of Liberia (MODEL). Both are engaged in fierce struggle with the government forces, for control of Monrovia.
Nigeria, Col. Onwuamae-gbu, who spoke in a telephone interview, said is ready to deploy two battalions to Liberia. Out of the two battalions, one is stationed in the country while the other will be mobilised from the Nigerian troops currently in Sierra Leone.
There are also indications that funding may hinder the development of Nigeria troops as the Obasanjo administration does not want to saddle itself with all the financial burden.
The ECOWAS said last Wednesday that Nigeria, the leading regional power would deploy in the coming days two battalions of troops to war-ravaged Monrovia, Liberia's capital, but Nigerian officials declined to give a specific date when the troops would arrive. Ghana and Mali have also agreed to contribute troops.
"The international community is supposed to join and we are waiting for their input," Remi Oyo, President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokeswoman, said. "There is also the issue of logistics which have to be worked out," she added without giving further details. But a senior foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity Nigeria was waiting for the international community to provide the financial backing for the deployment of peacekeeping troops in Liberia.
"Nigeria spent over US $4 billion on peacekeeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone between 1990 and 1998 without any external assistance and can't afford to go into Liberia again without financial help," he said.
ECOWAS officials were meeting US and Nigerian officials in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, last Thursday to thrash out the details of the deployment. ECOWAS Execu-tive Secretary, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, was quoted by international news agencies as saying the United States would contribute US $10 million for the force.
Obasanjo had made it clear when he took office in 1999 that Nigeria's future participation in regional peacekeeping efforts would be on condition that it was funded by the international community, he said.
Nigerian Brigadier General F. O. Okonkwo has been appointed the commander of the "vanguard force" that will go into Liberia, Col. Onwuama-egbu said.
He said a team of Nigerian army officers sent to Monrovia to study the situation in the Liberian capital and advise on the military requirements of the peacekeeping troops had returned to Nigeria and provided vital inputs. The troops were now ready to go and were only awaiting orders, he said.
There were also reports at the weekend that United States president, George Bush, had ordered the deployment of American warships to Liberia. The US ships being sent to Liberia will include an amphibious assault ship, USS Iwo Jima, leading a three-ship group carrying 2,300 marines.
The ship had already entered the Mediterranean sea for possible duty in Liberia. Bush said the US mission would be limited in numbers, time and scope - while United Nations backed forces assumed "the responsibility for peacekeeping.
On the relationship of the West African force with the United States troops, Onwuamaegbu said "since the operation will be by a multinational force under ECOWAS, it is for the field commander to decide, but the US will assist in the areas of logistics, communications and transportation."
The US government has been under intense pressure to send peacekeeping troops to Liberia, which was founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.
The American government has, however, insisted that Liberian president, Charles Taylor, must vacate his office before he will put US troops on the ground.
Bush said at a press conference last Friday that "we're deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse. Aid can't get to Liberia, we're worried about the outbreak of disease, so our commitment is to enable ECOWAS to go in.
"The Pentagon will make it clear in time what that means," he said.
The reluctance of the Obasanjo administration to bear the burden of the proposed peace keeping operation in Liberia may have resulted from the criticisms which still trailed the last ECOMOG intervention.
Apart from the over $4 billion US spent on the operations, hundreds of the nation's soldiers died.
The expenses on the operations were fraught with lack of accountability. In addition, there were complaints that the entire operation was not planned to defend any apparent national interest in Liberia.
Many observers believed the Babangida administration sent soldiers into Liberia to protect the Doe administration. It was for this reason that the Taylor-led National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) then showed so much animosity against Nigerian troops and other citizens of the country living in Liberia.
At the end of the war, Nigeria with its huge investments in terms of funds and lives towards restoration of peace did not gain anything from Liberia.
It is as a result of the apparent sense of loss that many Nigerians were vehemently opposed to the current efforts to intervene once again in the war-ravaged country.
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