The stalled US arms sale

IN the thick of attacks by terrorists and bandits which culminated in the downing of a Nigerian Air Force jet in the North-West recently, Nigerians and lovers of the country must have rued the recent news item emanating from the United States which indicated that its lawmakers had begun the process of stalling a proposed sale of attack helicopters to Nigeria. The move was said to have been led by top Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Clearance for the proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and the defence systems accompanying them to Nigeria for the use of the military was halted. The deal was said to be worth about $875 million.

While rationalising their position, the lawmakers cited the need for America, which is at the vanguard of calls for the respect of human rights around the world, to balance global national security with the objectives of the attainment of human rights. Already, there are mounting concerns about the Muhammadu Buhari regime’s human rights record. Right now, it is assailed right, left and centre by a barrage of multiple security crises which, it would seem, it is completely befuddled about. Coincidentally, the United Kingdom Parliament was also recently quoted to have said that Nigerians under Buhari were at the mercy of non-state actors whose attacks, both on individuals and communities, had become a global concern. This was articulated by the British House of Lords’ Caroline Cox, Rowan Williams, David Alton, Mervyn Thomas and Ayo Adedoyin, in a protest letter they sent to the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.

However, a new twist was introduced to the issue when the Federal Government said that it was not aware of the $875 million ammunition deal with the US. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described the ammunition deal as “fake news.” He said: “There is no contract of arms between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the United States of America today apart from the 12 Super Tucano attack helicopters, of which six have been delivered. We are quite satisfied with the progress and cooperation that we received from the government of the US on this issue,” he said. But the National Assembly toed a different path. Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, said the National Assembly would send a delegation to meet with the United States Congress to resolve the issue.

Putting aside the contradictory claims, the gravamen of the US lawmakers’ claims, namely the human rights records of the Buhari government, cannot be ignored.  Truth be told, the predilection of the Buhari government for abusing human rights is rather legendary. It has been shamelessly flaunting its disregard for the sanctity of rights. Judging by the unassailable information in the public domain about the human rights records of Nigeria in the last six years under Buhari, it would be unconscionable for anyone to expect America, a country that prides itself as the bastion of democracy and human rights, to jettison its well-thought-out position.

There are so many cases to buttress the Buhari government’s fascination with the abridgment of human rights. The clampdown on #EndSARS protesters across Nigeria last year, the clampdown on lawful agitations by Yoruba nation protesters, the gross violation of human rights and alleged killings of residents of Imo State and the South-East of Nigeria in general, are only a tip of the iceberg. There is of course the yet unexplained manner of interdiction of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), as well as serial disobedience of court orders for which the administration has courted unprecedented notoriety. Also worthy of mention is the case of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Malam Ibrahim El-Zakzaky wherein the administration, through the Kaduna State government, has showcased its undisguised bias against the cleric, dispensing with court orders at will. The National Assembly and the hallowed premises of the law courts have been invaded by security agents on several occasions, and so have the residences of the leadership of the National Assembly and justices of the Supreme Court.

While the Nigerian government must amass enough armament to stem the tide of insecurity, it can hardly do this with an ignoble human rights record. The world is a global village and it is tracking all the infractions against people’s rights. It will thus be anomalous to canvass that they be overlooked so that Nigeria could procure arms. Were these comments to have emanated from the opposition or critical sections of the media, the Buhari government would have accused them of bias. However, the concatenation of comments from abroad should alert it to the fact that it is doing things wrongly and needs to make amends. There is no denying the fact that the human rights record of the Buhari government is poor and needs to be polished so that the world would be free to do business with Nigeria. There is a perception that it is vicariously abetting bloodshed. No country likes to work with the leaders of a country whose hands are steeped in the blood of innocent people. The time for change is now.

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