Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication, says it is diplomatically inappropriate for the United States government to undertake military action in Nigeria without the consent of the federal government.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC World Service, Bwala
said Nigeria remains a sovereign country and that any form of intervention on
insecurity should be collaborative.
Last Friday, US President Donald Trump labelled Nigeria a
“country of particular concern (CPC)” over claims of Christian genocide in the
West African country.
The US leader also warned the Nigerian government to “better
move fast” or he would make good his threat to stop all US aid and assistance
to the country.
Subsequently, Trump threatened to unleash the department of
war on Nigeria to fight the terrorists “that attack our cherished Christians”.
Speaking on the development, Bwala said there is a
“misconception” of the comments made by Trump, adding that issues will be
addressed when the US leader and President Bola Tinubu meet.
The presidential spokesperson commended Trump for
authorising sale of arms to Nigeria during his first term.
He said Trump’s interest in the fight against Boko Haram
extremists in Nigeria is welcome, adding that such a move must be guided by
data.
“I think there is a miscommunication of the statement of
President Donald Trump, which I believe that when the leaders (Trump and
Tinubu) meet, hopefully in the coming days, they will be able to iron out,” he
said.
“There is no genocide against Christians in Nigeria but
there is insecurity that affects people of all religious and non-religious
faiths in Nigeria, of which Christians are part of.
“We are grateful to President Donald Trump because if we
recall, it was during his first term that he used executive powers to authorise
the sale of arms for us to fight insurgency. That is a good faith on his part.
“In his second term, he has indicated his interest in fight
against extremists, Boko Haram, which we welcome. We believe that a data-driven
assessment is what can be relied upon rather than isolated reports and social
media videos.”
Asked if he would welcome direct US military action as
stated by Trump, he said: “If it is a joint action with the Nigerian
government, that is fine, because Nigeria is a territorial and sovereign
country.
“I don’t think, diplomatically, it is right to invade a
country without collaboration with that country especially if that country is
your partner in the fight against insecurity.
“Where you will see that form of intervention is when there
is an intelligence assessment that the country is in fact fuelling the crisis,
in which the Americans want to intervene. That is not the case in Nigeria.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com