by Eze Eluchie,
Prior to the
emergence of Donald Trump as President-elect, several massacres and mass
killings committed by the Buhari-led junta in its short period of existence,
had, to the astonishment of most Nigerians and observers at the international
level, gone virtually unmentioned by the US Embassy in Nigeria. Such events as
the massacre of pro-Biafra agitators across the South Eastern states (in one
instance, pro-Biafra agitators who had gathered in a field in Aba for prayers,
were surrounded and several killed by Nigerian soldiers), the earlier mass
killings of Shiites in Zaria (in which over 1000 members of the Shiite sect
were mowed down by Nigerian soldiers at the behest of Nigeria’s Chief of Army
Staff, General Buratai) and the ongoing Fulani herdsmen ethnic cleansing in
Nigeria’s middle belt region (the continuing pogrom where so-called Fulani
herdsmen/militia sacked entire communities, killing at will with virtually no
response from Nigeria’s military authorities until each killing episode has
ended) seemed of not much concern to the
global leader of democracy and justice.
To the
chagrin of discerning Nigerians, in the face of the myriad killings; abuse
of people’s rights; outright avowals by the head of Nigeria’s ruling junta to
reject court orders that were not in support of the Government; extreme
nepotism, ethnocentrism and partiality in the administration of national
affairs and assets; and bare-faced horrendous acts of monumental corruption
involving key officials of the Buhari-led junta; the message that emanated from
the White House, personally pronounced on at least two occasions by out-going
President Barack Obama himself, was that the head of Nigeria’s ruling junta, a
former dictator who had the blood of innocents on his hand, a man who emerged
President in a skewed process and felt no qualms about flaunting partisanship
and other impure traits in the governance of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious
society was that: 'Nigeria was being ruled by “a man who comes with a reputation
of integrity”'.
Clearly,
with its swift response condemning the dastardly slaughter of several Shiites
in Kano by Police authorities last week, the US Embassy in Nigeria that
Nigerians have come to know and cherish as a sure and tested voice and partner
in the advancement, protection and enforcement of human rights and democratic
values, is reasserting itself. Thank you, America. https://nigeria.usembassy.gov/pr_11172016.html
No doubt,
this new direction can be traced to the new leadership that will assume
authority in the White House come 20th January 2017. Had it not been for the tumultuous outcomes of the
November 8th US Presidential elections, it is my assumption that the
continuing extrajudicial killings being committed with increasing impunity by
the ruling junta in Nigeria would not have elicited the response contained in
the Press Release by the US Embassy in Nigeria on the 17th of November 2017 on the killings in Kano. On the converse, one would not
have been surprised if there had been, rather than a rebuke of the excesses of the ruling junta, a second special visit by US Secretary of
State, John Kerry, or other equally high-ranking Obama administration official, directly to the palace of the principal head of Muslims and the Islamic
faith in Nigeria (the Sultan of Sokoto) to commiserate with the Sultanate over
the recent death of Alhaji Dasuki, a former Sultan - a visit that will, as previous ones before it, elicit domestic tension.
One cannot
but imagine the unlikely scenario of the ‘rapport’ that is bound to
‘develop’ between the present Nigerian ruler and the incoming US President – One strives to visualize the two men exchanging locker-room banters over a game of
cards, with one First lady locked away in 'the other room' (the location where the Nigerian ruler informed the world his wife belongs to) and the other championing positive causes across the world. As the incoming Donald Trump administration readies itself to assume
control of affairs, considering the appointments announced so far and persons
being considered for other offices, it should rightly have dawned on the
incumbent Nigerian Government and those of its ilk across Sub-Sahara Africa,
who got away with blue-murder in the past, that it is not likely to be business
as usual.
Let there be no misunderstanding that the author of this piece believes a Trump presidency will overly focus on African affairs. To the contrary, there are indications that the African continent and its people's will not factor highly in the incoming administrations considerations. It is however far better that the continent and its people's are left to sort themselves out, at their own terms, than for a super-power state to weigh in on domestic issues in a partial and slanted manner indicative of outright support for an identifiable religion or ethnic grouping.
Let there be no misunderstanding that the author of this piece believes a Trump presidency will overly focus on African affairs. To the contrary, there are indications that the African continent and its people's will not factor highly in the incoming administrations considerations. It is however far better that the continent and its people's are left to sort themselves out, at their own terms, than for a super-power state to weigh in on domestic issues in a partial and slanted manner indicative of outright support for an identifiable religion or ethnic grouping.
A new dawn
sets...
Pictures: Mr.
Muhammadu Buhari and Mr. Donald Trump.
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