Nigeria’s compromised sovereignty

…also published in Daily Trust

Though one isn’t so naive as to assume that Nigeria’s sovereignty is uncompromisable, yet the obvious tendency of a typical Nigerian holding a position of authority to unnecessarily concede it is particularly disappointing.

As one of the basic elements of civilized statehood, sovereignty symbolizes the dignity of a country and represents its source of inspiration in its quest for political stability and socio-economic development befitting its potential. It also symbolizes the motivation that inspires particularly ambitious countries in their struggle for regional, continental and global politico-economic influence. After all, it’s a country’s level of success accordingly that determines the amount of respect it and its citizens attract on the global stage. This of course explains the obsession of many countries with the issue of sovereignty, and indeed the sheer seriousness that characterizes their reactions whenever they rightly or wrongly feel that their sovereignty is challenged or compromised.

Though in international relations where bilateral and multilateral relations between countries are unfortunately effectively subject to the jungle philosophy of “Might is right”, which has rendered many countries too helpless to resist some foreign-dictated measures and policies violating their sovereignty, nonetheless those among them fortunate enough to have patriotic and responsible leaders succumb only to the extent where it’s absolutely unavoidable. In other words, they succumb only after they have exhausted their resistance capabilities. Yet still, they never succumb for free or in a way likely to cost them their sovereign dignity in the eyes of the world. For instance, whenever a country with such calibre of leaders faces pressure from a foreign power(s) to comply with any foreign-dictated policy, it puts up resistance discreetly leveraging whatever in its disposal to equally and creatively manipulate the circumstances in a way that would pressurize the foreign powers into either abandoning the policy or, at least, making concessions that would provide appropriate compensation for the country.

By the way, in the 60s, 70s and 80s when western intelligence agencies were particularly active in masterminding the elimination of patriotic leaders in developing countries who proved particularly resistant to foreign-dictated policies, patriotic leaders like Patrice Lumumba of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Murtala Mohammad of Nigeria and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso respectively were eliminated in circumstances bearing the hallmarks of foreign intelligence agencies-masterminded killings. 

Anyway, though Nigeria has never been invulnerable to the influence of foreign powers, its pre-1999 successive civilian administrations and military regimes had done relatively well in upholding the country’s sovereignty in its foreign relations. However, since its return to democracy in 1999, its successive administrations have been unnecessarily submissive to foreign influence to the extent of compromising the country’s sovereignty. The sheer inferiority complex betrayed by a typical Nigerian top government official interacting with foreign dignitaries especially in private has rendered Nigeria too cheap in the eyes of foreign powers.

For a glimpse of how Nigerian top government officials interact with foreign dignitaries privately, one can refer to the leaks revealed by the WikiLeaks on two separate private meetings the then United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Sanders had with the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sunusi Lamido Sunusi, and the then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan respectively. The way both Sunusi and Jonathan discussed the issues they unnecessarily raised during their respective meetings with the ambassador suggested how they probably betrayed a typical Nigerian top government official’s characteristic inferiority complex when interacting with a foreign dignitary, which ridiculed their respective positions as Central Bank Governor and Acting President of a sovereign country, respectively.

Earlier this month also, while senator Ben Murray-Bruce was rightly decrying the SSS’s siege on the National Assembly on live TV coverage of the incident, he however unashamedly stated that he had contacted the UK and US embassies in Abuja urging them to revoke the visas of any government official involved in the siege, so that they and their families wouldn’t be able to enter the US, Canada and any country in western Europe anymore. Obviously, as a typical Nigerian top government official, the senator was prompted by his belief that no measure could be more effective in restraining the masterminds of the siege than the threat of revoking their US, UK, Canadian and Schengen visas. Anyway, not long afterwards, the British High Commission in Abuja reacted to the development stating among other things that it’s “closely monitoring the situation and other political developments in Nigeria.” in a tacit but staunch warning to the government officials behind the siege.

Likewise, foreign powers violate Nigeria’s sovereignty through many so-called non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the country, which facilitate it for them in return for financial inducements, or in hopes of being beneficiaries of such inducements. 

Barely a month ago, an NGO in the country calling itself The Leadership and Accountability Initiative petitioned President Donald Trump of the United States through the US embassy in Abuja begging him to intervene in what they call “worsening political situation in Nigeria.” The petition was presented to the embassy by the NGO’s Head one Pastor Nwazuruahu who also vowed to equally petition the United Nations and the European Union among others, over the situation in the country under President Buhari.

Instances suggesting how Nigeria’s sovereignty is being persistently compromised with the complicity of many Nigerians are simply too numerous to count, which, among other things, explains why the country is hardly respected among the comity of nations. It also explains why despite being the largest African country in terms of population with also supposedly the largest economy in the continent among other advantages, Nigeria is never considered worthy enough to be part of the stakeholder countries influencing things even in Africa, let alone the world.