TwoCents | ETHNICITY OVER COUNTRY: THE NIGER ROMANCE

Since May 2015, when President Buhari assumed office, it has felt like the Niger Republic, one of Nigeria's neighbours to the North is Nigeria's 37th state. The quantity and quality of gifts as well as investments the Nigerian government has made to and in Niger Republic is mind boggling. In Feb, 2020, it was reported that the Federal Government of Nigeria had approved $80.6m for the construction of roads from Jigawa and Sokoto states to the border of Niger Republic. A year later in February 2021, another $1.96bn was approved for a railway line from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic. The justification for these two projects is to boost trade and investment between both countries. Nigeria would earn revenue through expansion of trade and commerce, while the people of Niger Republic will benefit from the ease of transportation logistics at affordable cost in their import and export business. A government which basically doesn't care about the transportation needs of its citizens obviously cares for the needs of those in another country. Let's pretend to believe the excuse, what about the recent #1.4bn vehicle gift that came to light two (2) days ago. It is purported that it was to help strengthen Niger's fight against insecurity. Nigeria, a country which has been plagued with dire security issues for years now is helping another country fight insecurity. 🤔 Nigeria, the poverty capital of the world is gifting vehicles worth #1.4bn to Niger. As if that isn't bad enough, one would assume that the vehicles would be military grade like Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), MRAPs or even Light Utility Vehicles only to find out that Buhari gifted Niger Republic, 2022 model, Toyota Land cruiser V8. What is the role of luxury vehicles in fighting insecurity? It is an understatement to say something is amiss. The impunity with which this government conducts itself is unprecedented. The Nigerian government under President Buhari has continually toyed with the sensibilities of Nigerians while probably assuming us all to be fools. What beats all of these is the Nigerian government's decision to transport crude to Niger for refining. In November, 2020, the Nigerian government signed an MoU of $2bn to transport crude oil via pipelines to be refined in Niger so we can buy refined products from them. It will interest you to know that Nigeria has four refineries with a refining capacity of 450,000 bpd while Niger has a refining capacity of 20,000 bpd. It is quite interesting to know that our government has the resources to run and maintain a piping system from the Niger Delta all the way to Niger Republic but has no resources to revitalise our own refineries which will reduce Nigeria's high rate of unemployment and ultimately poverty. In light of all this, one begins to wonder if Niger Republic is an annex of Nigeria or Nigeria's 37th state or maybe, an entire region in the country. Maybe, we should it call it the "North North". This queer romance between the Nigerian government and Niger Republic beats reason and defies science. The Nigerian government has invested billions of dollars in Niger, another sovereign country since 2015 but can't boast of investing $500m in the entire South East region. As painful as this is, it shouldn't surprise anyone. President Buhari already has a precedent of choosing ethnicity over country when he became the first and only President and Head of state in the history of modern international relations to vote against his own country in favour of his tribe in 1985 when he secured the election of Ide Oumarou, a Fulani man from Niger as opposed to Peter Onu, an Igbo man from Nigeria for the position of Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Union (OAU). In very recent times, he has told Nigerians that he has relations in Niger and without ambiguity stated that Nigeria's resources under him will be used to service the well being of his Niger relations. All in all, Buhari is not a politician and has no regard for party affiliations or how his actions affect his party's chances in the forthcoming elections. He is rather a tribal chief and a despot with no respect for international boundaries when it comes to his tribe.

Other insights from Tari Ogbowei