Scholars from the north have written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly on the dangers of the relocation of American and French military bases from the Sahel region to Nigeria.
In the letter, Abubakar Mohammed from the Centre for Democratic Development, Zaria; Attahiru Muhammadu from Bayero University, Kano and four others alleged that the American and French governments have been desperately lobbying the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana to agree to sign new defense pacts that would enable them to redeploy their soldiers expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
According to the scholars, some of the troops have already been redeployed to Chad but France and the United States prefer countries of the Gulf of Guinea that are more strategically located to serve their interests in the central zone of the Sahel.
“Of the countries in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria turns out to be the most strategically located. There are indications that the Nigerian Government may be favourably disposed to the proposed defense pact. However, there is a widespread apprehension that signing of the pact by Nigeria would have wide ranging implications for defense and internal security of the country,” they stated.
They went down memory lane to highlight attempts by foreign governments to establish such alliances with Nigeria in the past that were turned down and urged the current administration not to accept such a tie.
According to them, similar military bases in West Africa had served ulterior motives of first world countries.
“These French and American bases were used by the French and the Americans to carry out manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations in the Sahel.
The bases had become the focal points for Western intelligence and surveillance operations in West Africa.
“The American and French troops were expelled because their presence did not serve any useful purpose. Instead, they were using the defense pact to carry out surveillance operations in the region to serve their geopolitical strategic interests. As a result of this expulsion, the Gulf of Guinea countries, especially Nigeria, are being pressured to compromise their sovereignty by harboring these foreign troops who would come to serve the interests of NATO to the detriment of the national interests and security of the countries of the Gulf of Guinea.
“The relocation of foreign military bases to Nigerian soil represents not just a potential compromise of our sovereignty but also sets a precedent that may lead to unforeseen geopolitical, economic, and social consequences,” they alleged.
