McKren:

Time will tell what is behind all this attempt by the media to undermine the institution of the Presidency at all cost over the President's last visit to US.

U.S. Ties Aid To Support For AFRICOM
FROM LAOLU AKANDE (NEW YORK)

AFRICAN countries may no longer enjoy military support from the United States (U.S.) unless they endorse America's defence project for the continent.

Tagged "Military Command for Africa (AFRICOM)", the US said that it does not involve the stationing of permanent troops in the region.

The Guardian learnt that Washington is insisting that Nigeria and other African nations would only receive its assistance for their military in terms of capacity building if they backed the proposed command.

Official American sources point to past military assistance, which may be jeopardised if the countries refuse to support AFRICOM.

During his visit to the White House last week, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was allegedly briefed by top US officials, including the Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, on how AFRICOM would operate. He was reportedly told that the command was a continuation of what the US had been doing to help African militaries but under a new management structure.

Yar'Adua was allegedly told that AFRICOM is an internal reorganisation of the US government, which has already been decided upon by President George W. Bush. But the implication is that any African country that does not support risks losing previous military technical assistance that they have been enjoying from Washington.

A senior White House official said that under a capacity building concept, the US had been training African troops, a number said to be over 25,000 as peacekeepers.

Equally important, according to the White House official, is the construction of military camps for Nigerian soldiers in Darfur, Sudan, by the US government. The Americans built the camps and have maintained them since the troops arrived in Darfur.

Under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, some US military officers were known to have engaged the Nigerian Armed Forces in different aspects of technical assistance. Some senior Nigerian military officers including the country's former Chief of Army Staff General Martin Agwai, even attended the War College in the US.

Most African countries have continued to require such defence assistance and support from developed militaries, especially in area of logistics, which is where many of their armies are still lagging.

For instance, the reason that the African Union (AU) force in Darfur has been unable to restore peace to the area is attributed to logistics problem.

Yar'Adua and other African leaders, according to sources, are not sure they can call off such military assistance. A United Nations (UN) source said more of such logistics support was needed for African troops to maintain peacekeeping role within and outside the continent.

This explanation is believed to have informed Yar'Adua's pledge to partner with AFRICOM, without meaning complete support.

A Presidency source explained that at the meeting of European and black leaders recently in Portugal, Yar'Adua and other African leaders discussed the issue.

According to the source, it was the view of the African leaders on the issue of AFRICOM that Yar'Adua restated at the White House closed- door meeting before the press conference.

In Lisbon, Portugal, the source said the President discussed the issue of AFRICOM with Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and John Kuffor of Ghana. Kuffor is the current AU chairman.

What Yar'Adua told the top US government officials at the White House, according to the Presidency official, was that "if American interest in Africa is peace and security, what Africa needs is partnership in terms of logistics, funding and training, with AFRICOM for the AU Standby Force and not American soldiers on African soil."

This is in line with existing practice whereby US military officers are deployed to train African troops.

American sources added that the US government officials explained to Yar'Adua that there was no plan to base the American troops on African soil and that the forces would be permanently stationed in Germany.

The European Command of the US Military is based in Germany from where African defence technical assistance has been organised before now.

With the proposed African command, the US needs place not to base its troops but to locate the AFRICOM officers who would be offering capacity building and technical assistance to their African counterparts.

ziddy:

turns out Yar'adua was arm-twisted into rooting for this AFRICOM crap. Our guy got intimidated by Whitehouse flash.

talk about dining with the devil.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article02/indexn2_html?pdate=221207&ptitle=US.%20Ties%20Aid%20To%20Support%20For%20AFRICOM

AFRICOM: Why Nigeria Backed Down
FROM OGHOGHO OBAYUWANA, ABUJA

FRESH facts have emerged as to why Nigeria decided to cooperate with the United States government on the idea of setting up an African Command on the African soil.

Strategic, economic interests that are futuristic by all accounts may have informed the decision by the Federal Government to extend its hand of fellowship to the American government towards the setting up of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Nigeria had earlier resisted the coming on board of the command on grounds that it was capable of impugning on its sovereignty with attendant security implications.

The Council of State, chaired by President Yar'Adua, had strongly voiced its opposition to the command. Thereafter, Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who was part of the President's delegation to the US, restated that Nigeria was not favourably disposed to the idea of the presence of US troops on African soil under the auspices of AFRICOM.

On the other hand, the US Department of Defense had said the command was being created to build the capacity of African partners in pre-empting conflict and for peace efforts' surveillance.

But after meeting with the US President George W Bush at the Oval Office two weeks ago, President Umar Musa Yar'Adua said Nigeria was willing to cooperate with the US on AFRICOM, stressing that the move was in the greater interest of the Nigerian nation and its people.

High level diplomatic sources confirmed to The Guardian in Abuja that Nigeria buckled under serious diplomatic pressure from the world's sole super power, "as part of a new understanding that can fence-off a likelihood of a gun-goat diplomacy that might be the end result of a long-drawn disagreement between the two countries on the matter."

Speaking on the Nigerian volte face, a senior Foreign Affairs source stressed yesterday that the Federal Government move is expedient giving the intractable security situation in the Gulf of Guinea and the complexity added to the militarisation of the Niger Delta.

The official said: "Nigeria had clearly become a borderline. It would be inadvisable to wait for a conflagration before taking what is generally known as progression action. The world is arranged in a hierarchical, anarchical order.

"So, as we fight the economic war, we must take cognizance of what our neighbours are planning and be on top of it. If we do not take care of that end, then they can harbour fifth columnists."

The official continued: "As we know it in government diplomacy, Condon Santire - the era of keeping even our enemies at bay rather than fighting them. Our borders should be zones of peace, not zones of belligerence.

"It is, however, envisaged that Nigeria will continue to review its current stand as other dynamics of international politics unfold. It is a strategic move. It was not a presidential fiat. All relevant government arms, including the intelligence wing, were consulted."

Observers also maintained at the weekend that the decision by Nigeria to cooperate with the American-sponsored AFRICOM was precipitated by the acceptance of Liberia to provide a military base for the take of the command in West Africa, whereas Nigeria is the leading regional power from whose benevolence, Liberia had severally basked.

Last month, the executive arm of government had sent a memo to the National Assembly on a proposal to forgive Liberia's debt. The move was interpreted as last minute carrots by Nigeria aimed at dissuading Liberia from providing a base for AFRICOM.

But when President Yar'Adua spoke on Nigeria's new position in Washington, he did not betray any of these strains. He maintained that security was uppermost on his mind.

The President said: "We have discussed on security issues; security within Nigeria, the Niger Delta, the Gulf of Guinea and peace and security on the African continent.

"We shall partner AFRICOM to assist not only Nigeria but also the African continent to actualise its peace and security initiatives. It is an initiative to have standby forces in each of the regional economic groupings in Africa."

The President did not give finer details of the discussion on AFRICOM, which include whether Nigeria will be used as the command's base. Experts, however, think that Nigeria's acceptance of the command is capable of influencing other African countries.

The romance between Nigeria and AFRICOMN is a clear departure from the leaning of earlier administrations, which the Yar'Adua government initially toed.

In the early sixties, the government of Alhaji Tafawa Balewa stridently resisted attempts by the withdrawing colonial powers to have a defense treaty with Nigeria. Defence treaties are conterminous with military bases.

Many times in the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari rejected moves to have Nigeria militarily aligned with either the West or the then Soviet bloc.

And during the subsequent military regimes of Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria gradually consolidated on her aloofness to the idea while pursuing its medium-power course.

Greater cooperation in the military sphere was, however, resuscitated at the return of civilian rule in 1999.

The Olusegun Obasanjo administration had opened up the "friendship wing" of the Nigerian military, as the US government, following the visit of its Defense Secretary, William Cohen, announced that it was spending $10 million on the Nigerian military.

When the country's Under-Secretary (political affairs), Thomas Pickering, visited, it was again announced that the US would quadruple its support for Nigeria.

The support had since been expanded in year 2000 under the headings: spare and repair parts, technical library, instructor pilot training, maintenance (avionics & aircraft), classroom equipment as well as the broad idea of a Standard Simulation Centre