₦airaland Forum

manmade:
USA involvement in Korea put a stopped to the harassment of the southern Korean by the Northern sides, the country was later divided into two , similar things happened in Yugoslavia and they're better off now as split nations , after all this country was once divided along the northern and southern protectorate before the amalgamation of 1914.

The involvement of the US in the Korean War helped defend South Korea from the North’s invasion, yes but it ended in an armistice, resulting in the division of Korea into two separate states. You can't compare Yugoslavia break up to that, the contexts are very different, Yugoslavia’s dissolution in the 1990s involved violent conflict and complex political challenges. So I don't think is accurate to draw a direct parallel between these events.

USA involvement in South Korea was to stop the influence of communist China in Asia. Do you see any similarity now that Nigeria is aligned with BRICS which China is spearheading?

It's the same with their involvement in Yugoslavia, it's all to maintain the security of NATO and to prevent Russia from gaining influence in the Balkans. And besides, the violent breakup in Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo) could spill into NATO countries and maybe the rest of Europe which is not in the interest of America. My point is, USA doesn't get involved in these kind of things unless there's a strategic interest. So when you talk of Korea and Yugoslavia, my question is - what is USA gaining from this involvement? We can't sit here and pretend it's because of "christian genocide".

What is Mr. Onanuga smoking? The president was propped up by the SEE EYE HAY. Allowed the biggest USA consular to be built on Nigerian soil. You're all complicit in selling out Nigeria, you think you're in control? No your puppet masters knows the exact strings to pull and they've started pulling it. Kiss goodbye to Nigeria as we know it.

My relentless gospel is - If you think whatever you are facing in Nigeria is bad. It will be worse when USA gets involved. Nigeria will be another Iraq, they are setting the groundworks already. Either Buhari or Tinubu regime green lit USA consular to be built in Nigeria. This will be the biggest USA consular ever built but on Nigeria soil. Everything is falling into place. Now they are planning a military action because of "Christian genocide" in Nigeria. I'll keep saying it, this is not about party politics - APC - PDP stvpid stuffs or Islam v Christianity. This is an existential threat to Nigeria and the Sahel. You want Nigeria to divide? Yes USA will divide it for you, no problem but not the way you wish. You don't know what's coming.

If you understand what happened in Libya and Iraq, you wouldn't want USA to get involved in Nigeria. USA's involvement in any country has never been in the interest of that country but of the strategic interest of USA. Open your eyes! Wake up! Sudan was split into two, Congo was split into two, Libya is a skeleton of its former self and you want the same powers that caused these havocs to come and "save your christianity" in Nigeria? Who do us this thing God

Whoever (amongst Nigerians) is giving this Arnold guy validation, all I've got to say to you is "sorry". You guys are looking through the scope of religion (Christianity) and you can't put 1 and 1 together, the Americans are looking at something a lot more strategic that you fail to see.

This is not a Christianity v Islam or APC v PDP thing. I'll revisit this comment when there plans actually plays out. It's looming.

jUeLiZ:
what resources are you talking about?.... 😂
America has oil too

"America has oil too’. Lol of course, and billionaires have money but still want yours. Learn a thing or two about the petrodollar system before thinking your comment is funny.

Helinuse:
So for now that you still control the oil, show me the use of it. Show the benefits you derive from it.

If none, then they deserve to come take it.

Lovely. When in doubt, outsource the theft. Very forward thinking and inspirational.

Saturnalia:
There is no way Trump is not as guilty as Epstein and Andrew. Trump that likes grabbing them by the pvssy.

Of course he's as guilty as Epstein, Andrew, Peter Mandelson etc. Erika Kirk is involved in their sick trafficking cult but she just may never be probed.

DeepSight:
+
. . . . Thus you agree that these are early steps in a general plan towards regime change?

Well if it looks like a duck, swims, like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it's safe to assume that it's exactly a duck. America has always used ridiculous pretexts to justify invasion, war, regime change etc, and the claims about "christian genocide" is not an exception. America doesn't give a flying duck (pun intended) about any Christian in Nigeria.

dollypi:
What does this mean for Nigeria?

Anyone with insight, please share

It basically means Nigeria's crude oil and natural resources are of strategic interest to USA and they need to install their puppet to ensure smooth flow of the resources for cheap or barely nothing.

That will give the warmongers in Europe and Washington something to think about

The colonisers who sold the illusion of "democracy" will NEVER allow an ancient dinosaur to rule them for four decades but same colonisers enjoys Paul Biya's regime because of course natural resources is flowing cheaply to their own countries.

Must be Lupin and Ben. You can't tell me otherwise

I'm opening the bank app just to make sure all these notifications aren’t debt collectors trying new platforms. When I'm sure they aren't debt collectors then I’ll open my coffin, because clearly I’ve been dead for a while if I’ve got that many notifications.

Wing Loong II UAV shouldn't be the only drone in Nigeria's military arsenal. These are important in modern warfare. NATO for example seems to be realising this as they’ve been using missiles costing millions to take down relatively cheap Russian drones that cost a few thousands.

I like the sound of Ezugwu MRAP though.

Looks like the ones in this picture are gossiping so I'll call them the Hen-tertainment committee. But sooner or later they will be KFC Waiting List

Yet Ukraine army are picking up young boys on the street, bundling them in vans only to fight wars they don't want to fight while Zelensky and his western counterparts get richer.

blueAgent:
Your problem is that yiu claim to know, why the fact is that you know completely nothing.

Let's keep our responses short.
All this long writeup ignores the fact we want to establish.

"Our responses"? You and who? what facts are you establishing? and with whom?

Of course you'd like to keep it short because anything longer than two sentences sends your brain into total disarray. When comprehension fails, brevity suddenly becomes a virtue. How can I expect you to understand anything when simple concepts are several floors above your comprehension level eh? The unfortunate thing is - Nigeria has thousands, if not millions of you roaming around so you can at least revel in the fact that you're not an outlier.

If you read up to this point - be proud. That’s probably the longest thing you’ve ever successfully read.

Kemetian:
AJAOKUTA WILL WORK NOW. RELAX.

TInubu will make it work.

You know China is now a powerful ally of Nigeria, including a military ally?

The geopolitical forces that delayed that $10 billion complex for 40 years have very limited power today.

China don dust them. And China is with us. We are ALSO in BRICS, and are part of an increasingly assertive AU insisting on local processing of raw materials.

So Ajaokuta's tIme to rise is HERE.

Crossing my fingers on this and hoping it gets utmost attention by the government. My immediate concern is the USA's consular being built in Eko Atlantic. That consular is not for issuing visa, it will be an intelligence gathering hub for the SEE EYE HAY, coupled with America's enclave for economic and political reporting, security coordination and influence mapping. I hope it won't sabotage Nigeria's chance of fully becoming BRICS member because from that consular, it would be easier for them to deeply infiltrate Nigeria's political landscape and influence policies.

blueAgent:
You don run?

You have boxed yourself into a corner that you cannot escape,simple question I asked you no fit answer.

https://www.theafricareport.com/22378/the-pros-and-cons-of-the-cfa-franc-zone/


https://www.theafricareport.com/85566/france-begins-transfer-of-e5bn-to-bceao-as-part-of-cfa-franc-reform/

France begins transfer of €5bn to BCEAO as part of CFA franc reform


https://www.theafricareport.com/85566/france-begins-transfer-of-e5bn-to-bceao-as-part-of-cfa-franc-reform/

You're magnifying your own ignorance and lack of basic comprehension and it's getting embarrassing at this point. You're reframing issues to dodge my points. I'll repeat for the umpteenth time, the colonial legacy created economies built to extract and export, not refine and reinvest. Then you cherry picked on Indorama petrochemical which succeeded because it’s foreign-owned, not because privatization fixed Nigeria. Profits still flows outward, not back into the local economy. It’s a continuation of dependency, not self-sufficiency.

You went on about Guinea who's policy is very recent. After decades of IMF-backed structural policies that prevented local processing. It’s an exception born out of pushback against that same system. And even then, the smelters are largely foreign-financed, still proving my point that dependence still exists.

I partly agree with you on Venezuela in my previous reply but you don't read to understand. You read to cherry-pick while ignoring major touch points. Venezuela’s corruption and mismanagement made them vulnerable. (Clap for yourself, I agree with you) but you failed to recognise that sanctions directly cut off their access to markets, equipment, and credit which crippled recovery. You can’t claim “bad policy” and ignore a decade of US-led financial blockades. That's like spewing gibberish like you always do, about how the titanic sank without mentioning the iceberg that it crashed into.

"Africans should just process resources themselves", that also like saying "Just build airplanes" while ignoring roadblocks and bottlenecks such as the lack of industrial infrastructure, global trade barriers against African manufacturing, Western-backed loan conditions discouraging subsidies or protectionism, and sabotage or destabilization whenever nations try to do it independently (e.g., Congo, Libya).

"Do I think without the West, Africa can explore or market resources" - That's more of a confession than a question. You're admitting Africa’s dependence and mistaking it for natural inferiority instead of engineered dependency.

Next time, READ!, when and if you do, make sure you read slowly. Comprehension is free.

Then you KO'ed yourself by referencing theafricareport.com articles for me. The Africa Report is published by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is owned by the Ben Yahmed family who has strong connections with France and the French Media. Their connection with France is not even incidental or peripheral but deeply central. What do you expect from such editorials? Expecting them to critique CFA Franc is like expecting BP to publish anti-oil propaganda. What editorial are you going to reference next? BBC? CNN? France24? Arte? Le Monde?

But no, I didn't run. I just don’t argue with people still trying to Google their way out of an intellectual corner. You’ve been sprinting in circles around your own confusion while thinking you’re keeping pace. It’s not my fault you mistook my silence for surrender. Reading and comprehension are still your biggest opponent, not me. Keep shadow-boxing facts from The Africa Report and Google. You’re doing great.

If Lupin is trending by any chance in your Netflix Top 10 - This is why

blueAgent:
I want conservation based on clarity and points and facts

Let's start with the question i asked you.

Who is responsible for exploiting, extracting and processing Africa's mineral resources, Africans or the West?
Let's discuss

Discuss?? Excuse me… I’ve been laying out facts and analysis, but for you, reading takes too much brain effort. That’s why you skim Google and Wikipedia summaries instead.

Go and Google the decline of your comatose critical-thinking skills or better still.......Take several seats.

blueAgent:
Stop writing long baseless and meaningless articles I don't have time to read that.

Argue one point at a time.

Whose responsibility is it to develop Africa 's resources?

Africans or the West and how can it be done?

Maybe if you read beyond Google headlines, you might actually grasp the argument next time. Try comprehension before conversation.

blueAgent:
You really sound like someone who is not exposed to globally business world.


In Nigeria apart from oil and gas, which other resources is mined and exported on large quantities by the so called West powers.

Secondly it's obvious you don't know how the oil and gas industry works.

Fortunately I work there and am better informed about the industry than you.

Go and Google about the decline of Venezuela's oil and gas industry.

When someone (who I assume to be African) says “Blacks deserve to be recolonized,” they’ve already told on themselves, there’s nothing “global” about that worldview, only self-hate disguised as intellect. You confuse criticism of colonial legacy with denial of African responsibility. I never said the West owes Africa a solution, I said Africa is still navigating systems that were never designed for its success. There’s a difference.

Yes, Shell’s refinery existed but nationalization wasn’t the issue. The real failure came after, when maintenance, funding, and transparency collapsed. Shell ran it for profit; Nigeria took over without the institutional discipline or technical continuity Shell had. The refinery could’ve been sustained under proper governance, but instead it became politicized. That’s not proof against colonial legacies it’s proof of how fragile postcolonial institutions were. The same happened with Ajaokuta Steel that you previously mentioned. It was constant external interference, shifting contracts, and funding bottlenecks that made it a monument to dependency, not development.

"IMF advised privatizing telecoms, and we saw the benefits.” Are you seriously comparing telecoms to refineries? Privatizing telecoms worked because the sector had low infrastructure barriers and high private demand unlike refining or steel, which need capital, protection, and stable energy to survive. IMF advice is one-size-fits-all, it often prioritizes market efficiency over local development. In telecoms, it fit, in refineries and heavy industry, it hollowed out local capacity. And since you claim to work in oil and gas, I expect you to understand that control of upstream doesn’t equal control of value chains. That’s precisely why resource rich nations can still be poor because they export raw wealth and import finished dependency.

You talk about Togo then threw Niger into the mix thinking you're making sense? Togo’s phosphate, Niger’s uranium, Congo’s cobalt are all exported raw with foreign companies dominating logistics, financing, and refining. France’s Orano mining company has been running Niger’s uranium mines for DECADES until recent months when Niger military leader kicked France out of their country and fought to bring their gold and uranium mines under true and sovereign state control. Togo's main phosphate mining industry also has direct/indirect link to France. "State-owned" on paper, but profits and strategic leverage still flow outward but if you think it's completely state-owned without external involvement then I have a bridge to sell you. That’s the pattern, Africa digs, others refine, others profit.

Then again you went on about Brazil, Chile and threw Australia into the mix? Those countries control their value chains and reinvest resource wealth. Brazil developed steel, aerospace, and energy industries, Chile built local processing capacity, stable institutions, and control over their fiscal policy. Most African states couldn’t, because they were economically designed as export nodes for Europe.

As for Venezuela, their decline only reinforces my point that external economic pressure and internal mismanagement are two sides of the same coin. Sanctions crippled their ability to sell oil, while mismanagement weakened production. It’s a mirror of what happens when a nation’s economy relies too heavily on raw exports and external validation which is exactly the dependency Africa was specifically built into. You can't condemn our leader's corruption and mismanagement without criticising the system that created and sustains it.

And if it's not obvious to you, I stand on my point that the rise of Africa is a threat to the world powers of today (insert EU, America and cronies) and they will do anything and everything to maintain control over the continent to make sure Africa is underdeveloped. Despite the vast land that we have, you think it's coincidence that Nigeria imports rice and other food but export cocoa, groundnuts, cotton, ginger and other products? Have you cooked some cotton & cocoa today? You think it's coincidence that herdsmen and other armed groups are destroying Rice farms across Nigeria? This is all by design to keep us dependent both by internal and external influences. Certain cabals in Nigeria make millions of $ on rice importation.

So yes I'm not refuting the fact that domestic mismanagement and entrenched corruption exists, of course they do but you keep thinking this is about blaming colonialism, No I'm not saying colonialism makes up the entirety of Nigeria/Africa's problem. It’s about understanding the systems that keep countries dependent. You can’t fix what you don’t diagnose. Mocking history doesn’t make you “exposed to global business” it just makes you loud about what you don’t understand. That's my point and I’ll leave it there. I debate ideas, not people who rely on Google for information.

MaxInDHouse:
Let's take things one at a time.

Do you believe in God?

If so what do you expect God to do with the way things are getting out of hand in the world today?🙂

I'm certainly not doing this “Do you believe in God?” merry-go-round. You lack substance and I’m not here to play theology tennis. You've made your pitch, I'm not buying. All the best with your ministry.

blueAgent:
What kind of childish writeup did i just read?

I laughed so hard reading this your fairy tale.
Am not sure you have heard of capitalism.

Today we have Nigerian owned companies in Oil and gas, why did the West not stop them?

Are you sure, you read your article well?
I thought you said colonization was wrong?

So you want the West to aslo show you how to extract your resources , processes it for you and aslo sell and spoon fed you?

Apart from Oil and gas, tell me any other resources that is mined and processed and exported in large quantities in Nigeria?

Are you waiting for the West to do that for you?
Was it the West that destroyed Ajeokuta Steel, 4 oil refineries Ikot Obasi Aluminium mill, E.t.c

You even have resources, what of Singapore that does not have even drinking water or land to farm or build on?

All the things you wrote are not factual, I just don't have enough time to refute them.

Nothing I said was a “fairy tale.” The irony is that everything you mentioned, Ajaokuta, the refineries, Ikot Abasi etc actually drives my pont home.

Nigeria’s refineries didn’t just collapse out of thin air; they were allowed to collapse. Years of corruption, political appointments, and deliberate mismanagement turned them into cash drains. Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari all promised reform but none of them implemented a consistent industrial policy to protect or privatize the refineries properly. They all budgeted billions for “Turnaround Maintenance,” yet nothing changed because those funds were looted.

Another layer is foreign dependence. Western oil companies (insert Chevron, Shell, Total etc) controls the upstream (crude extraction), while refined products come back to us at a markup. Powerful import cartels at home also profits from that dependency, so keeping local refineries idle benefits both external and internal players, ensuring that we exported crude oil and imported petrol, keeping it dependent on foreign refineries. This created a situation where local refining threatened some powerful interests, both foreign and domestic who profited from importing refined products.

Then foreign-backed “advisory” institutions (like the IMF and World Bank) also discouraged state ownership of refineries, pushing for market liberalization yet Nigeria’s private sector never had the infrastructure or incentives to fill the gap.

The same pattern exists across Africa, extract raw materials, import finished goods. That structure didn’t start yesterday; it was designed under colonialism and reinforced afterward through “economic advice” that discouraged self-sufficiency.

As for Singapore, they weren’t burdened with borders drawn for exploitation or institutions wired for dependency. They had functional governance, control over trade, and the geopolitical luck of being a small, strategic port city. Africa’s story is different Africa is larger, resource-rich, but deliberately fragmented and exploited.

So yes, leadership matters but leadership doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It operates within systems, and Africa’s systems were never built for Africans to thrive, but of course lecture me on capitalism.

Come back when you have enough time to refute my “fairy tale”

They've sent their foot soldier to carry out reconnaissance. This has nothing to do with our oil and gas at all and nothing to do with Nigeria's alignment with BRICS but everything to do with the killings of "christians". Nothing to see here.

UEFA banned Russia for Ukraine invasion but failed to ban Israel for Gaza genocide but they claimed they "don't get involved in geopolitics". FIFA has pressed CAF's neck on this. It's very obvious, well unless there's an analytical reason, otherwise it's politics politics politics

blueAgent:
Can you explain or give examples of how the colonialism affects Africa today.
For your information Singapore has more population than Equitorial guinea with far more challenges, yet they are a developed country why that Equitorial guinea is a failed state despite there oil and gas wealth, so small population is not the reason for the success of Qatar ,Kuwait and Bahrain

Go and look up the benefits of CFA.

Sure let's unpack it since you asked;

The CFA franc isn’t “beneficial”; it’s a colonial hangover. Member states must keep 50% of their foreign reserves in France’s treasury, and France retains veto power over their monetary policy. How's that not dependency? You can’t develop freely when another country controls your currency and reserves.

2. Trade imbalance:
Colonial economies were built to export raw materials and import finished goods, that pattern never ended. African countries still export crude, cocoa, and minerals, then buy back refined products at a premium. That’s structural underdevelopment, not bad leadership alone.

3. Resource extraction:
Foreign companies which are mostly European and Americans still dominate Africa’s mining, oil, and telecom sectors. They repatriate profits while locals get royalties and polluted land. Look at Niger (uranium), DRC (cobalt), and Nigeria (oil). The story is the same. Talking of Telecom sector, I can also dive deeper on how the Europeans wanted to keep Africa dependent on European Telecom infrastructures so that Africa continue to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bandwidth fees every year until Gadaffi intervened. If you're old enough to remember when a single MTN SIM card was selling for 35,000 naira, before it gradually dropped and dropped to the point that it was selling for about 200 naira? Yes that's because of Gadaffi. Europe does not want Africa to progress, it's evident and I can also show you a video from a British University professor who laid everything bare to his students on how Western powers are hell bent on keeping Africa underdeveloped. If you watch the video, you can maybe judge yourself. All of his claims are Africa's reality today.

As for Singapore, yes, it has a larger population but it wasn’t systematically stripped of wealth or occupied by a colonial power that left it in debt. Lee Kuan Yew built a state that broke from British influence, invested in education, and rooted out corruption. Compare that with France’s post-independence setup in Africa, where coups, regime change and client states were routine.

So when you say “look at Singapore or Qatar,” you're ignoring context, those states had autonomy. Many African nations still don’t.

Colonialism isn’t history, it just changed its tools.

blueAgent:
Bla bla bla.

Half baked crap.

The same CFA that its benefits where so good that, Equatorial Guinea had to Join them despite been colonised by Spain and not France.

All this excuse of Former colonial masters been the reason for Africa's undevelopement is stale.

Qatar Kuwait,Singarpore,UAE, Cyprus ,Malaysia, India,Brazil,Argentina Peru, Costa Rica, name it the list is endless.
They are all ex- Colonies, but they are all doing well.

Only in Africa where ppl elect and support their wicked leaders based on tribalism and selfish intrest and later they blame the West for their own decisions.

Half-baked? at least it's baked in facts, yours is frozen in ignorance and denial. You’re right about one thing tho, bad leadership is killing Africa. No debate there. But pretending colonialism isn’t part of the equation is just lazy thinking. Did the French leave Africa after "independence" of their colonies in Africa? No, they hardwired dependency into the system politically, economically, and monetarily. The CFA franc still ties multiple countries’ financial arteries to Paris.

Equatorial Guinea? Rich on paper, poor in reality. Oil money for the elite, crumbs for the people, typical textbook extractive economics. So yes, “doing well” depends on which side of the palace gates you’re standing.

And comparing 54 vastly different nations to tiny petro-states like Qatar or the UAE who's population is smaller than Lagos? Common.
Leadership is part of Africa’s problem, no doubt but pretending colonialism has no fingerprints on today’s instability is like treating a knife wound as if the knife was never there.