It is curious that the United States is planning to establish a drone base in Niger, a country sandwiched between Nigeria and Mali. Significantly, these two nations have been under attack from Islamic militants. The drone base, according to a recent report in the New York Times, will give the US military command increased unmanned surveillance high ground on the activities of the Boko Haram sect and other extremist sectarian groups in West Africa that are affiliated to Al Qaeda.
The use of "drones", which are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has proved successful in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The goal of the reported deployment plans is to limit risks involved with the use of humans and as well improve intelligence gathering around the desert belt connecting northern and western Africa. The report of the planned establishment of the drone base in Niger came on the heels of international efforts to rout Islamic insurgents from Mali.
About a month ago, French president Francois Hollande ordered a military intervention in Mali to rout a militant Islamist group which was on the verge of taking over the country. The intervention turned out to be a hugely successful outing, shooting up Hollande's rating at home. Nigeria is part of the international military coalition in Mali and have sent 1,200 troops to shore up the coalition.
As things stand, cooperation between international forces has been remarkably smooth. A rapid deployment of 4,000 well-equipped French troops and close to 4,000 African troops from seven countries has led to an equally rapid retreat of Islamist jihadists back to the north of the country. Intelligence support and in-flight refueling from the United States have been a crucial asset and will be reinforced by a drone base in Niger.
The planned deployment of drones has implications for our national security. The initial responses or lack of clear responses from the top echelons of the security sector on the implications of this development makes the whole thing more worrying.
When enquiries were directed to the minister of state for defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada, on how the plan by the US to establish a drone base in Niger would affect Nigeria's security, especially the fight against Boko Haram terror, she offered that government was reviewing the situation. "I will make consultations and get across to you," she added.
When contacted some hours later, she directed all enquiries to the chief of defence staff (CDS), Admiral Ola Sa'ad Ibrahim, and Defence Headquarters for more information on the issue. According to some military sources, however, the plan has been in the pipeline by the US African Command (USAFRICOM), especially to monitor the activities of Boko Haram and their growing links with international terrorist organisations like the Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM).
It is noteworthy that commander of the United States Africa Command USAFRICOM, Gen. Carter Ham, confirmed that the US has deployed its intelligence machinery to support Nigeria in fighting the threat posed by Boko Haram. Ham, who spoke in an interview session with a Nigerian media delegation in Stuttgart recently, said the support followed a request from the Nigerian authorities. The AFRICOM commander, who assumed the post in 2011, however, declined to give the details of the partnership with the Nigerian military against the terrorist group.
We also recall that when he visited Nigeria last month, Gen. Carter Ham was at the Nigerian Defence College (NDC) where he expressed concern over the increasing connectivity and collaboration between the network of Al Qaeda affiliates and adherents in Africa, including the Boko Haram sect.
Our core concern in the big picture is that if the US "drone diplomacy" must enter Nigerian sovereign territory, it must be a clearly defined collaborative arrangement, not a mish-mash of hazy cooperation without specific rules of engagement. Our weight and clout on the continent must be properly reflected in this matter. Our foreign policy priorities and internal security imperatives must take centre stage.
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For so long, we have been told by the media that Boko Haram was a domestically supported group by politicians who wanted power. Now we are being told that they have linked up with Al-Qaida and we need international intervention. The need to quell terrorist activities is understood, but considering drones from the United States is a terrible idea. The writer of this article hopes that this will only be for monitoring purposes but this saying could apply, "you give him an inch, he will run a mile". If this expands to drone attacks, as Garden-City Boy appears to support, this will only be a losing and destructive cause. This is a country who is not really winning in Afghanistan, has attacked Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia with drones and in the name of killing one terrorist, they kill dozens or even hundreds of civilians. You cannot forget greater levels of property damage and the increase of hatred for the United States by the citizens affected. Everyone likes to talk about how backward the North supposedly is and how the economy is in much worse shape there than in the South. An American intervention will be the best way to bring much greater gaps and divide the nation even more. Who knows, they may declare the Niger-Delta militants terrorists because they disrupt oil flows periodically and start attacking the oil rich states. A hornet's nest is about to be opened on Nigeria, and it won't just come from inside the country.
I agree 100%. Both sides must make considerable effort to ensure that the drone situation in Pakistan is not repeated anywhere. All sides have a vested interest in bringing an end to the terror orchestrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria and therefore have a willingness to cooperate. There is a saying in America("It is better to ask forgiveness than permission") that I hope will never be a guiding principal of military action.
Your fears and concerns are genuine, Mr. mcgowen.chris. Do not forget, if you need that omelette, you must be prepared to break an egg. Those awusa terrorists must be decapitated. No two ways.
@okoroafor, you can't eat you cake and have it too. It is one thing for you to moan and bitch (pardon my slang) every time the Boko Haramus kill your kith & kin like Rams in the hundreds, way up north telling your mamas & papas to get your backsides back to your frigging land, deep south & keep your western education to yourselves. It is another when these half-baked-Hausa-Fulani-slaves obey their Arabic masters to turn against their own neighbors, in the name “Allah” & eventually graduate to kidnapping & killing Americans on weak-kneed Nigerian soil with impunity. If the Nigerian government cannot protect their citizens from some rag-tag thugs, a more capable force should nip them in the bud, at least, to protect their own, before the threat metastases to global cancer, even if they have to chase them thru the gates of hell. To them, a single innocent life is too many & precious to be sacrificed by some Arabicized N*g**z. National sovereignty my foot. Welcome to the new world order.
OOkoroafor is not from Southern Nigeria. He is the same man who called himself Assalafy-for-peace. Anyone with a brain in his head cannot miss this.
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