Young, exuberant President Bill Clinton at the beginning of the 1990s was in charge of a country that saw itself as the sole remaining super-power. President Jimmy Carter had given the Soviet Union a challenge in Afghanistan through support to the Mujahideen that included Osama Bin Laden. The Soviet Union was cut to size. It had no choice but to withdraw from Afghanistan; a country that had brought down many Empires of the past.
But rather than reward Jimmy Carter with a second term in office, President Ronald Raegan shoved him aside over his bungling the attempts to rescue American diplomats in the US Embassy in Tehran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had led a revolution from exile in France in a successful early use of social media recorded tapes that fired Iranians to regain their country from the America supported Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Earlier, the United Kingdom, coupled with the USA, had ensured a coup d’Etat that overthrew a democratically-elected Iranian government under Mohammad Mossadegh, the 35th Prime Minister. His sin was that he wanted Iranians to control their petroleum industry by nationalising the Anglo-Iranian Oil. Wanting the world that is shaped in the image of the US, President Ronald Reagan, who was immediately followed by his Vice-President, in the person of President George Bush, senior, both wasted no time in ensuring the death of the Soviet Union, a.k.a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The end of every war normally provides the opportunity for the victor to shape reality in its own interest. Russia lost control over several people as the US boosted an empowered North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to acquire spheres of influence over the new states that arose from the decimation of the Soviet Union and its allies who constituted the Warsaw Pact as a counterpoise to NATO. Clinton embarked on implementing a New World Order in which the US, as the sole remaining Super-Power, decided to take an active charge over institutions it had set up at the end of the second world war to control and extract resources by way of osmosis. China was nowhere to be found at this time at the international level. China pretended it was a developing country as it rapidly built capacity on many scores beyond the reforms that Deng Tsiao Ping had started in the late 1970s.
As the Sole-Remaining Superpower (SRS), the US decided it would run the major peacekeeping operation in Somalia. And this was the case until the Somalis decided to stand up to the US without counting the toll in human lives. Operation Black-Hawk Down was unfortunately too much for the American public to bear. Brother Clinton bit a hasty retreat and abandoned the theatre of peacekeeping in Somalia initially living a few of us behind till I, Babafemi Badejo, became “the last of the Mohicans” on the international side of the UN Operation in Somalia as I continued, with others, in the search for pacific settlement of the differences among Somalis. I did so for 13 years, 11 of which were out of Nairobi. Hussein and I were in the Political Office as Ali was at UNDP.
Ali Salat Hassan and I were fond of each other. Each time Ali announced, he was going to Mogadishu, I used to feel very sad thinking he could be killed in the morass that worsened with the American pull out. He always came back and my fears never happened. I know a good number of my friends who feel the same way about me, wondering why I continue to stay in Nigeria. But I know I am happiest in Lagos though every country, except a few African ones like Rwanda, expect that any Nigerian that sets foot on their land would disappear into thin air in order to “japa” from Nigeria.
There is no doubt that occasional absence from Lagos a.k.a Eko, is very helpful for one’s mental state but, it’s normally not for long before most Nigerians, including myself, start to yearn for our boisterous life in Eko. There is never a dull moment in Eko.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had given me a platform to present my findings on a study I had done on the fact that it is best to strategically and operationally handle instability by focusing on interlinked four-pillars of peace/security; development; humanitarianism, and human rights in a coherent manner aimed at realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the aspirations of the African Union for a prosperous Africa. I jumped at the opportunity but spoke up immediately that there would be visa problems as a Nigerian. Instead of flying to Abuja to wait for a visa for ten days, Morocco kindly agreed to give the privilege to those of us who prefer a visa on arrival.
So, myself and Bunmi Makinwa chose what we knew was a risky option. We made a plea that we should receive a formal letter of invitation stating there would be a visa on arrival. I also kept pleading that the Moroccan authorities should formally inform Qatar Airways that we would receive visa on arrival. We received the notarized letter of invitation by email, but the request for a letter to Qatar Airways fell on deaf ears as the UN and Morocco could not believe what Nigerians are subjected to these days.
Before the lockdown, I was invited to a European country by the Foreign Minister to give a talk at a major conference. The Ministry of Interior of the country asked that a non-Nigerian African should be sought. But the Ambassador handling my visit insisted twice until a compromise was reached. He signed a guarantee that he would personally deliver me back to the airport, and I was given a seven-day Schengen visa that was tenable only in the country of invitation though I could transit European airports. All these restrictions were to limit my movement as a Nigerian in foreign lands!
For some reason, the UNECA did not put us on Air Maroc that would have flown from Lagos directly to Casablanca, Morocco. They initially planned to use Egypt Air and at the last minute changed to Qatar Airways. We could not get the UN to consider the most direct and cheapest travel option. They chose the cheapest option even if it meant a long, convoluted trip. We, as Nigerians, could not transit through France, as some other African conference participants did. We did not have Schengen visas. To get the visa would need at least three weeks of dropping one’s passport a European embassy. For four of among Nigerian participants, the UNECA travel unit insisted on having us go to Doha before flying back across the Mediterranean to go to Casablanca; a most gruesome experience indeed.
In travelling to Timor-Leste in May this year, I had gone through a horrendous experience to board Qatar Airways with my wife in spite of the letter of invitation from the Timorese President-Elect and the phone involvement of his Special Assistant. We were the last passengers to board.
I anticipated a rough experience at the Lagos airport for the journey to Morocco on Qatar Airways. So, I started my journey early, leaving my residence at 05:00 and got to the Qatar Airways desk at 05:30 for an 08:25 flight. I submitted my official letter of invitation on request. It was passed on to the manager. Rosemary was nice and sympathetic. I could not get an internet connection on my Glo-line to show my email. Rosemary excitedly told me to use the Airport free wi-fi. Of course, I knew it would not work. Some people have always collected the money; selling Nigerians nothing but a wi-fi that never connects. Rosemary collected my phone to help. Of course, “o lule”. So, she collected one of the two copies of the letter that I had anticipated would be needed. She sent a message to Morocco. Bunmi joined my waiting on my feet at about 06:30 and offered to give more documents, but Rosemary stated all was fine. At 07:30 my expectation was playing out. We called the UNECA staff members already in Morocco. Whatever, they did, yielded no positive result.
At about 07:45, Rosemary made a call to Doha. She annoyed us by telling her senior in Doha that we brought a notarized photocopy letter and not an original one, and that she could not authenticate the same. Her party asked if we had a return ticket which she confirmed that we did. He gave approval for us to board and the rush started. Unfortunately, at the gate, the very lady that had carried out all checks for me to proceed started asking if we had received authorization to fly. Of course, we had had enough of the negative attitudes. My friend was unhappy with the treatment I was receiving and made it clear to Rosemary that she was running a lousy shift. I felt sorry for Rosemary as I had become sympathetic to her in spite of my being a victim.
Tony Finch, my mentor in my earlier years, and Oduche Azih could not believe that it took me thirty-two hours to get to Tangiers from Lagos. Mr. Azih cheekily asked if I was riding on a Tricycle. I had started my journey at 5 am. We had 8 hours flight to Doha and had a 7 hours transit time. For 7 hours, we were in the air to Casablanca. As we landed, my little Spanish kicked in and I, all of a sudden, and for the first time, realised that Casablanca actually meant Whitehouse. The journey was not ended. Going through immigration and waiting for the first train to take us to another train station took about 3 hours.
I was tired. Bunmi could see that my health was at stake and he assisted in carrying my luggage which had 41 of my books that pushed the knowledge on four-pillar interlinkages forward in explaining the turmoil in Nigeria that I wanted to distribute freely. It was a great relief when we transferred from a slower train right from the airport into the High-Speed Train at Casa Voyageurs station that took us to Tangiers. We arrived Tangiers at about 13:15. It is unbelievable that Tangiers is a city in Africa. I will share my experience on this, including on the conference in the not-too- distant future.
Two Nigerians, including an Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were not allowed to board Qatar Airways from Lagos to Casablanca on Saturday, two days after our experience. They were given the same treatment at the Qatar Airways desk. Both had to return on Sunday before they could fly to join us.
No doubt, there is the sloppiness in how we treat ourselves at Murtala Mohammed International Airport. However, I learnt from Bunmi Makinwa that he had experienced a similar situation at Qatar Airways check-in counter in New York. In this case, he had an African Union invitation letter that he would receive a visa on arrival in Nairobi for an official meeting. Qatar Airways refused to recognize the letter and insisted that a Nigerian could not travel to Kenya without a visa prior to departure.
In all these, I blame no-one but the leadership deficit that Nigeria has faced since independence. I also feel worried about Nigeria’s chances of maximising the advantages of AfCFTA, if movement of people from Nigeria to other African countries can be this challenging. It is so sad that Nigerians are negatively profiled all around the world, when we have so much to offer and indeed offering the world. I am able to empathise and understand with all my friends who feel sorry that I r remain in Lagos, and living in Nigeria. Just as I used to feel each time Ali Hassan went back on a visit to Mogadishu those days, Nigeria is becoming a Somalia of a sort. It is sad that friends call me from all around the world wanting to know if I am submerged in a man-made flood that corruption has inundated Nigeria with. Over 600 have been reported dead and properties destroyed with food security bound to suffer in 2023, the same year we are carrying out the charade of periodic elections as democracy.
*Prof. Babafemi A. Badejo, former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, and currently, Head, Department of Political Science/International Relations, Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Nigeria.