The recent volte face exhibited by the United States of America to sell fighter jets to Nigeria after years of dilly dallying is, of course, a salutary news, at least to a government that has striven hard to curry the favour of this world superpower.
The arms deal, according to US government officials, will see Nigeria purchasing no fewer than 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, fitted with sophisticated targeting gear, for nearly $600 million.
President Donald Trump is said to have declared his intention to approve the sale of the aircraft even while the US National Security Council has yet to conclude work on the matter.
The recent volte face and change of heart by the US governmentto eventually sell the fighter jets, which Nigeria had unsuccessfully tried to purchase since 2015, is, to say the least, a big surprise, especially from a new administration being led by a man viewed as unfriendly to Africa
That the US Congress is also set to expedite action on an arms deal, which the Barak Obama administration dithered about throughout its tenure, also speaks volume about the recent decision of the American government to have a change of heart about Nigeria.
There is no doubt that the Nigerian military has been bogged down by obsolete arms and equipment in its more than seven years crusade against the insurgent group, Boko Haram, which, with its possession of more sophisticated arsenal and weaponry, succeeded in sacking large areas of the North Eastern part of the country until recently.
Emboldened by their initial success against ill-equipped troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the rag-tag Boko Haram insurgents even stepped up their deadly attacks, seizing several communities across states like Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, which were the worst hit by the terrorist group which then declared them part of its self-styled “Islamic caliphate.”
The decision by the US to grant Nigeria’s long request for weapons is, therefore, a cheery news, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the fact that various moves made by the country in the past for the purpose of procuring modern fighting equipment for its security forces, particularly during the period when the Boko Haram insurgents held sway, were rebuffed by the Americans.
The US government, until recently, hinged its excuse for shunning Nigeria’s seemingly incessant and beggarly requests for military assistance on the equally incessant allegations of human rights violations by the country’s security forces, particularly in the North-Eastern part of the country.
The recent volte face and change of heart by the US government to eventually sell the fighter jets, which Nigeria had unsuccessfully tried to purchase since 2015, is, to say the least, a big surprise, especially from a new administration being led by a man viewed as unfriendly to Africa.
The new rapprochement between the US and Nigeria is commendable, but the Federal Government must be cautious.
Diplomatic experts have said that the arms deal will improve US-Nigeria relations, especially with Nigeria offering the largest consumer market of 170 million people in Africa and being the continent’s biggest economy as well as its second largest oil producer.
It is also the opinion of some others that the US could find Nigeria handy in its global war against terrorism, because of the country’s strategic location on the edge of the Sahel region, where extremist Islamic sects like the Boko Haram may want to expand their sphere of influence.
Some have also said that Nigeria needs such fighter aircraft to nail the coffin of the Boko Haram insurgents, especially in the North Eastern part of the country, from where the sect’s nocturnal activities continue to claim lives, causing incalculable damage to the economy.
But as plausible as these reasons sound, there is, indeed, the need by the nation’s national security experts to do a painstaking review of this new arms deal with the US so as not to accept a problematic ‘gift’.
Already, tongues are wagging in international military circles that these light attack aircraft being offered Nigeria by the US are nothing more than what can be referred to in military parlance as “crop dusters,” warning against their purchase.
According to critics, these war planes on offer are of the standard below those ones in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of some African countries, including Egypt and South Africa, and are susceptible to anti-aircraft guns.
The fighter jets are also said to be too expensive, in spite of their inadequate capability for serious military operations.
Therefore, the proposed arms deal, if seriously handled, should eventually convince the Nigerian government to reason beyond the mundane on why the country needs to make such an expensive purchase of military hardware at a time it is still stuck in the quagmire of economic recession.
In other words, Nigeria’s National Security Council should not shy away from taking a thorough and painstaking look at the somewhat curious reasons adduced for the sale of the fighter jets to Nigeria and why the country was picked as the country to buy the same military hardware that it was denied over two years ago.
Questions should be asked and verification made about the age and capability of these fighter jets. Inquiries should also be made about the manufacturers as well as the integrity of the aircraft.
It is imperative that Nigeria procures more advanced fighter jets that will, at least, bring its Armed Forces on an equal footing with their counterparts in Africa.
It is when these are done that the tax-payers’ money is deemed not to have been frittered on military hardware that may turn out to be antiquated and even add to our arsenal of obsolete weapons.
