Presidency rejects Campbell’s claim on Nigeria

The Presidency on Thursday reacted to the claims made by former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell on the African giant falling apart.

In a rebuttal to the article published in the current edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, made available to correspondents by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) in Abuja, the presidential aide wrote:

“Dear Sir, The latest article on Nigeria in Foreign Affairs titled ‘The Giant of Africa is Failing’ is unfair both to a magazine with such an esteemed pedigree and to its readers.

“Ambassador Campbell has been predicting the collapse of Nigeria for several years. He is of course entitled to his opinions, even where events consistently prove him wrong.

“But facts should not be bent to support distorted opinions.

Let me give you one example.

“The authors write:

“At an April meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Buhari reportedly requested that the headquarters of the U.S. Africa Command be moved from Germany to Nigeria so that it would be closer to the fight against jihadi groups in the country’s north.”

“President Buhari did not request that AFRICOM move to Nigeria. The transcript of the call with Secretary Blinken is available on the State Department’s own website.

It’s not just a question of the invented addition of ‘to Nigeria’ with regard to AFRICOM. It sums up a piece that attempts – subtly but revealingly – to shift facts to suit an argument.

“Nigeria faces multiple challenges, not least of which is the dissemination of fake news and prejudiced opinion.

“This is something we have come to expect from partisan blogs and politically motivated lobbies. It is still a surprise, and a disappointment, to see them joined by Foreign Affairs.”

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