NIGERIA A GIANT WITH FEET OF CLAY
- canhandula
- Jan 6
- 12 min read
OR
NIGERIA COULD DO BETTER FOR AFRICA
I happen to have worked in Nigeria three of my public years as an international civil servant. Once you have been to Nigeria, you cannot but fall in love with the country: huge, unpretentious if you are inside. Intellectual, profoundly religious, one way or another. I have lived in Abuja and I have been impressed by the religious mobilization on Fridays: huge crowds in the Mosques. Equally impressed on Sundays: huge crowds in the churches. You can literally sit in the middle of the road between 07h00 and 10h00 in Abuja, cars are parked at churches and people are hearing some word of God or another. If you are in the street, you are of the few ones.
Nigeria impresses you for the preservation and importance they give to its cultures. Of course, some girls wear wigs, abundantly and some times repulsively I must note, false Chinese nails, they put on false and exaggerated eyelashes. But that cultural pollution in towns, where people feel they can be more beautiful and draw attention to them has been generalized in Africa. Still, a minority really. I have witnessed and lived in Nigeria, the proud display of different cultures and Nigerian movies have validly replaced the need for either Hollywood or Bollywood in my list of things to see. So closer they are to my own culture.
Their music comes not from an inspiration, but from a lived experience. Of course Nollywood is heavily influenced by Hollywood, but those are market pressures that force the need for cultural approximation with the West. In summary, Nigerians are proud of their culture and they so demonstrate.
Nigeria has constituted for a long time the backbone of ECOWAS, the regional economic and political body. Nigeria has been instrumental in bringing about peace in Sierra Leone, although of course the British would want to claim that as their achievement. Nigeria did the ground work, then the British army came to claim the peace that had already been instituted, with the departure of Charles Taylor. Nigeria has tended to play a determinant role in military stabilization in the region whenever there is need to stabilize a situation in the area. It will be recalled in the Gambia for instance that Nigeria played a key role in the 2017 political transition, by leveraging its heavyweight position in ECOWAS, and thus ensured a peaceful transfer of power from long-time leader Yahya Jammeh to Adama Barrow.
Before I even went to work in Nigeria, I knew Nigeria through my work as a junior diplomat of Mozambique in Addis Ababa. I was part of a team of 4 diplomats that opened the Mozambique embassy in Addis Ababa, back in 1984. Names such as peter Onu, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and Adebayo Adedeji as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, both in Addis Ababa. You could not but be impressed by the diplomatic capital of Nigeria. Geoffrey Onyeama, a Foreign Minister of my time in Nigeria who had been the head of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) in Geneva. Those of us who are old enough, would have heard about Ambassador Maitama Sule at the United Nations in New York. Or Dr Babatunde chief Officer of UNFPA, both late. Or of Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, current chief executive of the WQorld trade organization. And you could go on.
Around 1989 I joined the United Nations, and many of my own bosses were Nigerian (in Tanzania, in Geneva, in Chad, in Nigeria, in Congo DR). I worked under various Nigerian supervisors, who brooded no nonsense and displayed the highest standards of professionalism and allegiance and protected and promoted their teams.
It all of course came together when I finally came to work in Nigeria; a Foreign Minister always available to facilitate our work. A Nigeria nation full of life, colour, friendship, competence, invention, and where food is never a dull affair, be it in the family environment or in the street. And a highly intellectual Nigeria. With their rich literature, you cannot remain unimpressed. You just have to read: they portray African realities, not novels of other Continents. Mention authors like Buchi Emecheta, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ben Okri, Flora Nwapa, and Akwaeke Emezi, Dan Fodio, and the list goes on[1].
So, for us other Africans, Nigeria starts to become a complex entity we do not understand when, together with this image of big brother, we also witnessed instability in Northeast (Lake Chad area).
There are also serious long-lasting unresolved conflicts between settled farmers and itinerant cattle-keepers. Unfortunately these groups are associated with religious affiliation, but let us not fall in the western stereotyping: nothing prevents a cattle-keeper from being Christian, the same way as there are Muslim farmers.
There is extreme religious fervor that culminates in sporadic, repeated massacres for religious reasons. The Christians are profoundly Christian and the Muslim are profoundly Muslim. One may notice that in general Christians do not kill for faith, while Muslims indeed can and do kill for faith (the Kaffir). The situation is not helped by the national politics that have become also polarized to a point where being Muslim or Christian is very important in the choice of a head of State. It matters much.
How does then Nigeria deceive us, many of us Africans?
Of course, first and foremost, that Nigeria should have huge numbers of internally displaced populations because of the Boko Haram phenomenon for such a long time. And that as a result, one of the countries that never needed food aid, Nigeria should now have to accept the arrival of a new UN Agency in its territory, WFP. Nigeria never needed WFP neither the food assistance until the insecurity in North-East became a reality (2009) that was mishandled, leading to its persistence.
We must open a digression here to claim our positive role: In terms of protection of these displaced populations, UNHCR took the lead and promoted a regional Protection dialogue for the affected countries (Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon). I have the pride of having been the promoter of the second such Regional Protection dialogue in 2019, two years after the first, when I was the Representative in that country. The intention being, first, to promote the assistance and protection of civilians in times and conditions of war, and then contribute to a reflection of avenues for solutions. Clearly, I still left the situation very critical.
I was also accredited as ambassador of UNHCR to ECOWAS, but I really did not perform that task to the necessary depth, because refugees from Cameroon took our full attention from 2018. In truth and as witnessed by myself ECOWAS summits showed a genuine effort at defining paths that strengthened national sovereignty and promoted regional cooperation. But some other presidents were Trojan Horses through whom, the various attempts at strengthening regional cooperation and regional sovereignty were undermined by European powers.
Durning my tenure in Nigeria, ECOWAS was reaching a decisive point for introducing a regional currency to ease intra-African movement of goods and people. Concurrently, Cote d’Ivoire was plotting with France to hijack the initiative and maintain currency colonialism. President Ouattara and French President Emmanuel Macron announced in December 2019 that the FCFA would be replaced with the new currency ECO. The announcement was controversial because first, it became a declaration that took the wind out of the ECOWAS joint effort, secondly because it attempted to retain the peg of the ECO to the Euro, with the French Treasury guaranteeing it, similar to the FCFA arrangement[2]. It clearly showed that Cote d’Ivoire was protecting the European and French interests, not the ECOWAS interests. That put President Ouattara clearly as a defender of foreign interests.
Of course, for me, the very word ECO sounds vestigial of colonial forces.
These diversions are necessary because one cannot examine the regional or continental role of Nigeria without looking into ECOWAS.
For many African people, the second major frustration with ECOWAS was their response to the efforts of Burkina, Niger ands Mali to get rid of the French continued colonial relations. During and after the military coups in Mali in 2021, in Burkina in 2022 and in Niger in 2023, not one single person died, and on the contrary, the peoples of these countries displayed strong support for the initiatives of the new military leaders. Perhaps the army is the most organized institution; after all, it has been at the forefront of political changes in Nigeria as well. Above all, they are nationals.
After the July 2023 coup in Niger ECOWAS instituted an ultimatum and a series of sanctions. ECOWAS issued the military government of Niger with an ultimatum for the reinstatement of the deposed president within one week. ECOWAS said that if their demands were not met they would "take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order" in Niger including the use of force". Cote d'Ivoire was more than mobilized to go fight against their brothers. This position differed from the measures taken with recent events in Guinea or Guinea-Bissau which did not involve the threat of force for reinstating the overthrown government. President Embalo organized a coup in order to deny the winner of the presidential elections from taking over. He may have left, but he left his relatives in power in Bissau. Nothing ECOWAS did, neither did the AU[3].
ECOWAS sanctions on Niger, included the closure of land and air borders, and the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS and Niger. The assets of Niger state enterprises were frozen by the ECOWAS Central Bank, ECOWAS also cut off more than 70% of Niger's electricity supply coming from Nigeria.
These three countries did something that all other African countries should have done, should do and shall have to do: ask all foreign military forces to leave their countries. It has been proven time and again that no foreign army can defeat an internal enemy. Not in the AES countries, not in DRC, not in Mozambique, not in Somalia, not in Mali. Foreign forces in the end finance the continuation of insurgency in order to prolong their stay and exploit the natural resources of the countries they purport to help, Just look at Cabo Delgado, just look at Eastern DRC and you will understand that it is only an internal surgery without hesitation that will solve those problems.
Are we working for some other foreign interests? More pointedly, is Nigeria working for France and America?
The very negative reaction of ECOWAS to the political changes in Mali, Burkina and Niger can only be explained by the strong foreign influence in the institutions of ECOWAS. Like the AU Summits, foreign representatives particularly European and American, overwhelm these summits and clearly make a concerted effort at pushing through their interests in all decisions that are taken. They fund these institutions! Why should they not attempt to “have a word in”? The AU for instance depends on external donors for about 70 per cent of its funding[4]. Fortunately, but still significantly, ECOWAS funding is 90% dependent on the national levies, with a small part foreign funding. It still gives foreigners an entry into the definition of the political priorities and pursuits of the organization.
Then the real bomb: President Trump of the USA announced in 2025 that Christians are being killed in Nigeria, and as a defender of Christians, the USA was ready to descend on Nigeria with fire and brimstone. Weeks later he actually did order the bombing of Northwest Nigeria[5]. Suspiciously near the border with Niger, from where the American, French and EU armies were requested to exit two years earlier, a humiliation that Europe and America, especially France, will not easily forget.
The French in Benin near Niger, now the Americans bombing Sokoto near Niger, and not in Borno State to the Northeast where Boko Haram had been killing people more than a decade now! Is it because those being killed in NE are Muslim and therefore not worth of attention? What exactly is the message, and what exactly are we to interpret the Nigerian government's permission to bomb its territory?
Not that Christians are not killed. The fact though in Nigeria is that Muslims are also killed. Does any country claim the global defense of the Muslims that should come to help Nigeria? Who then gives America the authority and power to decide on Nigeria if not the Nigerian Government? And why does the Nigerian government not ask for the bombing of NE?
Nigeria has opened in Africa a dangerous precedent. And our Presidents should be alert and should be talking to their peer in Abuja. because that negates an international order and gives the powerful the excuse to come and bomb other countries. Today America, tomorrow China, and then Turkiye and then other emerging big-wigs.
Are the Americans gone or are they still roaming around looking for ISIL? And ISIS, and ISWAP, and Al-Shabab, and JNIM, and… and… We seem happy to adopt the names of more and more groups created by a new industry: fighting terrorism. Crusade mission! Those of us who are conversant with the Crusades are worried by the attempt to revive in Africa the underlying spirit. Crusades were a series of military campaigns launched from Europe and sponsored by the catholic popes between 1095 and 1291 against Muslim rulers for the recovery of the Holy Land, encouraged by promises of spiritual reward.
In a Continent where Christians and Muslims are big constituencies, we do not want the war on any religious grounds to come to us. That is a culture of violence characteristic of Europe and America as proven acros the centuries, and we should let it stay there.
Is it really about Christians or is it about natural resources in the area, and the return of colonialism in countries that managed to free themselves of the foreing, most notably, French exploitation?
Is this not just another attempt at placing a Trojan Horse at the door of the SAHEL/AES?
Please hear us and if you do not, you will have to hear it from our youth: We are claiming new leadership, we the old and retired, but more specifically, the youth that are condemned to a life of selling second-hand clothes, reselling what others bought to sell, riding motorcycles in search of a living for them and their young families. Please, a motorcycle does not earn enough to educate the children, take them to hospital and provide them with nice clothes. That is why they are always in the market buying second-hand clothes that seem to have been rescued from the mouth of a cow! For a celebration!
Our leaders should know that the youth are not at all happy with the current state of the social contract between the people and the state. Indeed, the state, whichever country you wish to look at, has been hijacked by a small elite of people living in the capital. Our state has become impotent in the face of the commercial, economic, financial, political and environmental onslaught of the international capital.
The same capital that is not happy that some countries have managed to pay back substantial parts of the loans they owed to the IMF.
The same capital that is telling Botswana that it is a bad idea to want to acquire a controlling share of the diamond exploration in its territory.
The same capital that imposes on our central banks the idea that lending rates should be high, thus killing our own internal production capacity and imposing a financial exclusion of the majority of the population, and here I mean in Mozambique.
The same capital that imposes an early age of retirement from civil service in Africa, when in Europe, that age has been increasing, first to 65 years, and now to 70 years[6]
The style of leadership of Africa is no longer relevant to the conditions under which populations have been wallowing for the last 50 to 60 years, while the leaders collect rent from the natural resources they are not ready to appropriate for us, according to the social contract. We dare say that we do not have leaders, what we have are chiefs, who perfected the art staying in power and sitting on the national resources, waiting for some foreigner to come with the capital to sell. And then proceed to participate in the looting through what they call small fake PPP enterprises, without shedding one single dollar!
The
leaderchief who brings his entire family into the palace and proceed together to loot the nation. And the children suddenly become entrepreneurs.The
leaderchief who is not content with is salary and his official perks.The
leaderchief who after the elections does not know how to talk to the people.The
leaderchief who is extremely happy to be associated to the white peer president, as it makes him feel important.
What do our Nigerian friends, colleagues and acquaintances say about this state of affairs?
Why would Nigeria allow their country to be bombed by someone who comes from another continent at the pretext of defending Christians?
Who gave the Christian mandate to America? If it is God, let us talk to that God. Let Him manifest himself to us.
Above all,
Let Nigeria not be an American base.
Let Nigeria not be a French Trojan Horse.
Let Nigeria show leadership.
If not, I will be asking Mozambique to raise up and become a leader nation in Africa, now that I have no authority on somebody else’s country. Not that we have that experience, but someone has to raise to the occasion that is passing us all, looking.
I am a Christian, in fact more than that, I am a Catholic, I was a seminarist for seven years, I did my share of theology, and I am a catechist. My father was a catechist. But three things should be understood:
I do respect the right and the human dignity of others of not being Christian. Please.
Nobody should be defender of Christians and start in Africa a crusade that in centuries past created an animosity between religions that will never be forgotten.
I will not accept that America speak for Africa.
Jose
Tette, January 2026
Comments