A former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has called on the Nigerian government to shun the United States in the fight against terror and partner with other world powers including Russia and China.
“It is time for us to begin to review our whole relations with the Americans in terms of relying on them so much because in our time of need, as far as I am concerned, they did not do nearly enough to help us battle this.
“I have said it over and over again to those that matter in this government, that it’s time for us to begin to talk to the Russians, talk to the Chinese to supply what we need to to be able to prosecute our own war”, he insisted.
Mr Fani-Kayode, who re-iterated the fact that “we are in a middle of a war”, alleged that “there is some level of conspiracy in the international community, particularly the Americans, who refused to honour their obligations to us in terms of procurement of arms”, also alleging that “that there is an unofficial embargo on us (Nigerians) imposed covertly and quietly by the Americans.
“The Americans also refused to categorise and label Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation, up until they killed 15, 000 Nigerians. They reneged on all their satelite agreements that they will give us pictures; they didn’t help us at all and I am saying this an individual who is privy to some of these things”, he said on Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
Mr Fani-Kayode further alleged that “the Americans, despite the fact that they have declared a war against terror, the same Americans supported what is today Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al Nusra in their fight against Bashir al Assad’s circular government, whom war was being waged against by al Nusra and ISIS.
“The narrative is so clear. The Americans have a record of saying one thing; you sometimes arm those you are supposed to be fighting”, he said, advising people to “never take the word of America or any western government at face value; look at their actions.
He also accused “some key members” of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whom he agreed to name only at a public debate, of colluding with the South African President, Jacob Zuma, to embarrass the Nigerian security agency’s effort in fighting crime by seizing some funds meant for purchasing arms and ammunition.
“There are elements in this country, some of them within the opposition party, are very close to President (Jacob) Zuma”, alleging that they “funded his campaign”, he said.
Though he agreed that the Nigerian security services had made a “mistake” in the previous transaction, where $9.3 million cash was ferried in a jet to purchase arms in South Africa and was seized, he insisted that “there was nothing fundamentally serious to begin to tell the world that we are a nation of money launderers, arm dealers and shady characters, pastors, presidents and Christian Association of Nigeria, who are just flying money over the world.
He argued that the $5.7 million seized by South African officials “was paid for arms in order to assist in the struggle against Boko Haram” adding that “it was a simple transaction of a Nigerian company that entered into an agreement with a foreign company which was apparently based in South Africa”, insisting that “the monies were transferred in the normal way.
“Unfortunately, the South African company could not come up with the goods, the couldn’t deliver the weapons and the company that negotiated for the deal asked for their money back and the company refunded the money.
“In the course of refunding the money, the South African authorities decided to grab the money and hold on to it and yet again raises questions over the propriety of our country and the integrity of our security services”, he said.
He however agreed that the Nigerian authorities were at fault not to have declared the seized $9.3 million adding that “it is now a question of negotiation between the two countries as to how to get it back.
He further noted that “these sort of things (movement of high volumes of cash) happens all the time, because there is nothing illegal about it”, adding that “when you are in a middle of a war, it is bound to happen.
He went down memory lane to remind Nigerians that “it happened when we were fighting a war in Liberia, it happened when our boys were fighting in Sierra Leone, it happened when our boys were fighting in Chad, during (Shehu) Shagari’s regime, it happened under Abacha when we had a war effort, though thankfully it didn’t come to an actual war and it happened under successive governments”.
Mr Fani-Kayode, who insisted that there is nothing illegal in such covert transactions”, maintained that “these things are best explained and defended by the intelligence agencies”, adding that “they have their code of conduct and the way they operate”.
“$10 million is not that much when it comes to buying sophisticated arms and helicopters”, he said.
The former aviation chief also noted that since Nigeria was declared the largest economy in Africa, South Africa has in every point in time tried to discredit and make Nigeria look like it is country full of criminals.
He also alleged that the South Africans seized and exposed the arms deal “simply to embarrass our government, embarrass our security agencies and to ensure that it puts another obstacle to our effort to prosecute our war and procure arms for ourselves.
Jonathan Owes Nigerians An Explanation – Gbajabiamila
The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday called on President Goodluck Jonathan to address the nation, over the second botched arms deal, noting that something was fundamentally wrong.
Gbajabiamila, a member of the All Progressives Congress, who said the details of the deal are sketchy, noted that a second arms deal scandal, shortly after the first, did not bode well for the image of the nation.
“If barely just a week ago, we had a case of $9.3 (million) and then a week after another $5.7 (million). Isn’t this about $15 million? It doesn’t really speak well of Nigeria as a country, as an entity. It projects Nigeria as a banana republic; Where you can just do arms deal off the shelve, like you’re going into a grocery store to buy groceries.”
“The way I look at it, without actually apportioning blames as such but sometimes they say – if it talks like a dog, walks like a dog, by God it’s a dog.
“There’s something wrong fundamentally; Where a whole country boxes millions of dollars into several suitcases, charters a jet and takes that money out of the country. It raises more questions than answers”.
He further asked why one of the planes in the Presidential Fleet was not used for the purchase, if it was legal.