Bola Akinterinwa, a professor and director-general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), does not speak tongue-in-cheek; he says it as it is. In this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, deputy editor, Akinterinwa said Nigeria’s relationship with America is likely to improve in the current administration, given the level of confidence US reposed in President Muhammadu Buhari. He also gave some reasons for the seemingly strained relationship between the two countries during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, pointing out, however, that the route Jonathan trod in some of the demands made by America was in the best interest of Nigeria, given the circumstances and the nature of such demands. According to him, it is not likely that Buhari will accept such demands if they were to be re-presented by the US as they are not consistent with the culture and belief of the Nigerian people. Excerpts:
There’s so much excitement shown about the Muhammadu Buhari administration by the outside world, particularly, the US; do you think Nigeria is likely to benefit from the development?
Yes, there’s no way Nigeria will not get more than we were getting before the advent of the current administration. You may say, why? Firstly; the US numero uno, Barack Obama, himself has opened his arms widely; secondly, the US and the other allies of the US in the Western Europe, are coming along with the US to better understanding of the situational reality in Nigeria and that at the end of the day, it is in their own larger interest to ensure that Nigeria survives. Thirdly, Nigeria’s President has predicated his governance on three main issues- The government is talking about insecurity, which must be addressed. The US is also interested. The US itself has also actually declared war on the use of terror in the international relations; so it is in the larger interest of the US to have Boko Haram nipped in the bud and completely delinked from the Al-Qaeda. So, security is of US upmost interest. There’s also the issue of corruption. The US is hostile to that; the Western Europe, the European Union are all very hostile to it; which means there’s what we can call shared interest, shared destiny- bringing them together. Again, the issue of economy- you know quite well that the US has the largest economy in the world, China is following closely. Now, Nigeria has the biggest economy in Africa. The way the Americans want to relate with us is such that they have a partner, a reliable, credible and strong partner that can stand the test of time; that will be able to ensure that, at least, international global economic interests are well protected. More significantly, apart from the three pillars of governance on which President Buhari is operating, Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa; and also, the biggest presidential system in Africa, like the Americans are over there. More, significantly, Nigeria naturally constitutes the united states of Africa on its own. So, when you consider all these factors, you’ll discover that the Americans do not have any alternative than to ensure that the relationship between Nigeria and the United States are put on the appropriate pedestal. So, on this basis, I think that the future will always determine the past; not the past determining the future. The future now will change the perception of the past for the purposes of a new era of relationship.
But what do you think was the reason why the US was foot-dragging in the relationship in the past?
Because, in this case the US thought that Nigeria might not follow the well-defined interests as they exist. They believed that at the end of the day Nigerians were not forth-coming, not that they did not know that the president himself was good, that’s not the issue; it is strategic calculations. In this case in International Relations there’s what is called strategic calculations. Even though they had some disagreements with the Jonathanian administration, they were giving us military assistance. All these things were there. But they had their own way which they wanted Nigeria to follow, but Nigeria did not accept. For instance, they were not happy with Jonathan for refusing the gay marriage thing. In the national interest, Jonathan did what the people of Nigeria wanted. So, you can now see there’s conflict of interests between what the US is pursuing and what Nigerians stand for.
What if they should continue the pressure on Buhari, do you think it is in our own interest to back down and do their wish?
Any president in Nigeria who does that can only do it to his own detriment, because religion in Nigeria is a very strong factor in political governance. And the most unfortunate aspect for the international community is that both Islam and Christianity condemn gay marriage. So, at this level all the religious stakeholders are agreed. You can imagine a situation whereby the National Assembly promulgates a law encouraging that, then those people will not go back to their constituencies. Those are the issues. Again, the United States have their own suggested ways to deal with Boko Haram, Jonathan did not accept, especially at the level of weapons (armory). What the United States gave us and what we also bought from the US were deployed to the military field to fight the insurgents but the US wanted to bring the same vehicles to the classroom for teaching. Then Nigerians said to them, look, if you are bringing these things to Nigeria for teaching, what are we going to use to fight the Boko Haram? So, you can see conflict of interests. You can as well ask the question, what if these scenarios recur under President Buhari what would be the situation; I will tell you it will still be the same thing. You see, the Buharian administration we have is unprecedented in political governance in Nigeria. This time, what I have called the ‘Buhariplomacy’ is that the President sits down first to chart the way forward before taking any decision, and now the issue is that he has a policy of ‘look before you leap’. So, before taking any decision, he looks at all the ramifications- the implications for the future; the implications for the people, the implications for the polity, etc, to the extent now that people gave him the nickname, ‘Baba Go-Slow’, which he also acknowledged. The beauty is that, if he is to make any mistake, it is not going to be because he has not consulted or that he does not know. But he is actually doing it to change the way we have been doing things in this country. He is changing our attitudinal disposition to administration and to life. So, his administration is unprecedented. He is doing this in the hope that if he is able to lay a new foundation for a new way of life; for a new way of political governance, for a new way of relating with one another, then Nigeria’s potentials for greatness can fully be expected. And that’s the beauty of it all. People look at him and say, he has hidden agenda, he does not have focus, he’s being this, he’s being that; far from that. I think in essence, having been a former head of state and now a president, he wants to combine the attributes that Olusegun Obasanjo has done successfully. He wants to civilianise himself. I am thinking that sooner than later, former military politicians are likely to be more elected in the future.
What are your expectations from the new Foreign Affairs minister?
Geoffrey Onyeama is a very good choice; he has international experience; he has worked all over the world. So, we are likely to witness international experiential knowledge being brought in the making of foreign policy, and it is a new dimension as well.
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