Africa has always been viewed by pan-africanists and critics of the west as a continent under the deadly seige of neo-colonialism.This perspective may be due to the fact that the economy of the continent is largely controlled by foreign interests and "too-big-to-fail" multinationals,or perhaps it is because the political atmosphere of the continent is defined by mostly western interests,infact,one could simply conclude that it is a peculiar combination of these two factors.It is therefore not surprising that Nigeria, the much decorated giant of Africa is a victim of this seemingly diabolic control by foreign powers. This article will view the train of events as it began on the cold morning of December 5,2011 in the white house,Washington D.C.One would ask,what is the significance of this day to the US influence on Nigeria's politics?,Oh,its quite simple, that was the day the president of the United State,Barack Obama made the pronouncement that gay right will henceforth be at the forefront of US foreign policy.Prior to this statement,the US had always pressured African countries to forfeit the anti-gay bill that had taken root in many African countries,but the US apparently got little success as such approaches were rebuffed by African governments due to fear of public backlash.On January 13,2014 Nigerian president goodluck jonathan signed the Nigerian version of the anti gay bill into law sparking strong rebuke from western countries.And this was where relationship between the Goodluck Jonathan's administration and the US started breaking apart.That move by GEJ was seen as a direct challenge to the US foreign policy and a precedence that could spur other African countries to follow suite. Now,let us keep in mind that the problem here is definitely not the gay right tussle between the west and African states,the issue is about the domineering policies and culture of "diplomatic enforcement" of the US foreign policy towards Africa. Not to drag matters,let me fast forward to December 1,2014.On this day,the GEJ administration terminated an ongoing US military training exercise targeted at training a special task force of the Nigerian army that was to be set loose to confront the then rapidly advancing boko haram caliphate.This decision was taken by the Nigerian government on the basis that the US refused to sell critical military hardware to the Nigerian armed forces due to breaches in human rights that the Nigerian government furiously denied. Unfortunately,that move only set to further strain relationship between the two countries and anger policy makers in Washington.January 26,2015 when the Nigerian government raised alarm over the secret arms embargo that was allegedly placed on Nigeria,according to military sources,the Nigerian government's efforts to purchase Chinook military helicopters from Israel for the war against terrorism was blocked by the US.But what should you expect when you refused to play ball with Washington?. The US not only stopped there,On March 23 2015,Barack Obama himself sent a prre-election video message to Nigerians, urging Nigerians to vote for "good governance" and warning the ruling party against carrying out any suspicious activity.This clearly shows that the US was very interested in the outcome of the elections, and it was no secret that Washington did not fancy the goodluck jonathan administration.Interestingly,the present Nigerian president Mohammadu Buhari openly commended the US for "applying pressure" on the past administration.My fellow compatriots,wouldn't it be safe to assume that one of the factors that led to the ousting of the former administration was due to the US domineering influenceon the conduct of the election?,Remember that Obama's campaign adviser joined the fray by working for the then opposition party. This is not to say that the 2015 election was rigged(as I do not have any such evidence or conviction) or that the present administration is not valid.This is only to illustrate the influence of the US in Nigeria's politics.

Thanks future Nigerian President have seen this..!!



We now have time to plan..we can't lean on Russia or america...Nigeria is the power house of Africa other countries have to lean on us like they do America and Russia..!!!

Rolward312:
Hello every one, how are you?

Err.....fine.

wow, this beautiful summary should be on front page.. to educate Nigerians more..

The OP is correct. A closer look at the present administration also shows that Buhari is not taking the path Washingston wanted him to take. The difference between Buhari and Jonathan is that the former cared for Nigeria more than the later. Buhari is also more experienced.

NaijaTalkTown:
The OP is correct. A closer look at the present administration also shows that Buhari is not taking the path Washingston wanted him to take. The difference between Buhari and Jonathan is that the former cared for Nigeria more than the later. Buhari is also more experienced.

Yes, more Experienced in recession, ethnic religious divisions and utterly calamitous governance .
By the time buhari wins in 2019 thanks to no small number of voting nitwits, he would complete his hat-trick of recession.