US Military Base: Nigeria Begins Diplomatic Inquiries
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja with agency reports, 10.02.2007
There are strong indications that the Federal Government may have commenced high level investigations into the existence of a United States military base for Africa in far away Stuttgart, Germany.
The military base christened Africom, will mark a significant re-ordering of the US military, and an increased interest that can be explained in three words - oil, terrorism and instability.
Presently, the US gets about 10 percent of its oil from Africa and added that the Pentagon was being careful to stress the aim of the new command.
Further investigations revealed that over one-third of approximately 500 staff of Africom will be diplomats and aid specialists rather than uniformed military, the Nigerian government is said to be “very uncomfortable with the move”.
“The Nigerian government is not taking the issue lightly at all and the government is seeking diplomatic solutions to the development. The whole thing about this Africa Command by the US is all borne out of their interests in the oil rich Gulf of Guinea, which they have all been angling to take over. The Nigerian government would not fold its arms to allow the US government re-colonise it,” one of the sources said.
The source revealed that the meeting by top Nigerian Defence official at thePentagon, a few days ago did not in any way affect the US decisions on the establishment of the base in Germany.
Explaining the choice of Germany by the US, one of the sources saidStuttgart houses the former Air Force base, which served as the facility where over 400,000 US soldiers who fought the Second World War withdrawn between 1948 – 1992 were kept.
The source stated further that those facilities are still being maintained by US and NATO till date. “It is cheaper for them because it has all the communication gadgets you can think of”.
On the implication, he said, “we will be at their mercy. They will guide our gates where the crude goes through, number of crude as well as help arrest the criminals if possible.
“Nigeria cannot do anything because she is behind. We are not committed to what they want. They will use it (Africom) to muscle us up. Libya is the only African country that has the money to put up the kind of facility the US wants but she has no strategic interest in Gulf of Guinea. Her interest is in Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Gulf of Guinea has no economic interest to Libya because if she gets oil from Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, which is not far from her, it can send it through the Mediterranean Sea. “The implication is that we’ll be at their mercy, they will guide the gate, number of crude as well as help arrest the criminals if possible. The more we delay the more they move faster, the oil companies are even happier with this new development”, the source disclosed.
The establishment is coming on the heels of displeasure by some African leaders over the US’s decision to go ahead with the establishment after they have registered their misgivings over the moves.
THISDAY had recently reported that the US had concluded plans to establish a military base in Africa with the intent of protecting the oil rich Gulf of Guinea and also to forestall the economic incursion of China intoAfrica, especially Nigeria.
One of the sources had told THISDAY recently that the Nigerian government was too late in stopping the US moves and Pentagon had already concluded plans to launch the base.
“The US has completed all the ground work and have move into the offshore of Sao Tome and Principe, Angola and Guinea to secure positions for their submarines and other security facilities. Nigeria is the only country that has the minimum requirement and the financial capacity to provide those facilities because the other African countries cannot afford to put down even one per cent of what is required.
“It is a challenge for President Musa Yar’Adua to quickly work within his own defence structure and provide the needed funds if government really want to stop the US establishing military base in the sub-region”, the source had warned.
A delegation of the government of Equatorial Guinea had visited Nigeria in August where they signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian Navy in the area of security, training and equipment.
