There are strong indications that
the United States of America, USA,
may be gearing up for a possible
balkanisation of the country
following developments in the
last few years.
This indication is contained in a
publication credited to
NEWSRESCUE in America, where
accounts of an article written by
Director of the African Security
Research Project in Washington,
DC and Guest Columnist of
AllAfrica Global Media, Mr. Daniel
Volman and speakers in an
AFRICOM conference held at Fort
McNair were given.
It would be recalled that in 2005,
the US predicted that Nigeria
would cease to be a nation state
in 2015 in view of threats posed
by continued ethno-religious
crisis over the years. Similarly, the
United States military had, in May
2008, conducted a war games
test called Unified Quest 2008, to
ascertain how its military might
respond to a war in parts of
Africa with a mention of Nigeria.
Also, the question of how to
handle possible splits between
factions within the Nigerian
government was tested with a
plan by the Americans to send
about 20,000 troops to secure
and take over the oil-rich South
while the North would be turned
into an Arab aligned, possibly
terrorist enclave.
Recent developments in the
polity, namely the post-election
violence up country, the activities
of militants in the South and the
recent activities of the Islamic
Boko Haram sect in a spate of
terrorism-like bomb attacks may
have laid strong credence to the
claim.
Indications are that the US will
favour a disintegration of the
country given Nigeria’s not too
distant past romance with
countries considered not to be
allies of the self-acclaimed world
super power.
The Nigerian government had
not long ago signed deals with
Russia and Iran for major
resource, military and power
(Nuclear generation) mutual
ventures. This alliance did not go
down well with the US as these
nations are considered perpetual
enemies. In addition, Nigeria has
been promoting development,
not by serving US interest but by
cooperation’s with so-called third
world Nations like Brazil.
The US has been known to be at
the center of important breakups
in the past. Countries like
Vietnam and Korea had the US
play a major skewed role, and
when these Nations divided into
North and South, the US
stationed its troops at the border
to defend usually the Southern
territory, and the Northern
usually became a rejected,
isolated rudiment.
It would also be recalled that in
the 2010 budget, the US had
made provision for the
expansion of the operations of
United States Africa Command
(AFRICOM), which will provide
increased security assistance to
repressive regimes in Nigeria,
Niger, Chad, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and key
US allies such as Ethiopia, Kenya,
Djibouti, Rwanda and Uganda.
This is even as in 2009, Nigeria’s
late President, Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua, clearly rejected the
installation of US AFRICOM
military command in Nigeria,
probably sensing that the
Pentagon had planned to
establish a new military
command in Africa. www.talkofnaija.com I DE LAF