When
the news of President Buhari’s allocation of funds, about N1.4b hit the
newspapers and online blogs, Nigerians raised eyebrows and condemned the
president for earmarking such an amount for a neighbouring country, when the
economy of Nigeria is haemorrhaging.
About
two weeks ago, it was reported that the Federal Government approved the
purchase of 10 vehicles at N1,145,000,000 for the Niger Republic to boost the
country’s security with Nigeria. While some financial analysts see the decision
as a waste, others believe it’s a welcome development. The latter group insists
that the first step in facing insecurity is to strengthen the borderline and
build a strong relationship with all border countries. Understandably, many
have expressed their reservations about the action of the president,
pigeonholing the approval to cronyism for his foreign Fulani kinsmen across the
border. However, many overlook the fact that what Buhari has done may have been
in the country’s best interest; to wit, to keep brotherly relations with a
neighbour.
President
Buhari’s gesture to Niger could also be considered likewise, as Niger has a
border of 1,608 kilometres with Nigeria. Niger is bordered by Libya to the
North-East, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to
the South-West, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the North-West. Also recall
that in 2021, a retired army colonel, Tony Nyiam, said in an interview that
President Muhammadu Buhari had publicly revealed he is from the Niger Republic.
In
an interview he granted to Arise TV, he was quoted as; “In one of the
briefings, when he was briefing us, he openly told us that most of his family
are from Niger and that he is a Nigerian officer and that he owes allegiance to
Nigeria.
“I
admired Buhari then, that a man whose family is partially from the Niger
Republic and yet is loyal to Nigeria, this was against all the pressure given
by other people that Shagari should pull out and allow the Chadians have their
way, General Buhari refused,” he said.
In
November 2020, the Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources, headed by President Buhari himself, signed a $2b refinery project to
import fuel from the Niger Republic, a country that only joined the league of
oil-producing countries in 2011. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in
justifying the MoU, stated that the Soraz Refinery in Zinder, Niger Republic,
has an installed capacity to produce 20,000 barrels per day while the country’s
domestic requirement was just 5000 barrels per day, thereby resulting in a
surplus of 15,000 barrels per day.
This
is not the first time that he’s been in the news for embarking on projects that
are central to the development of the Niger Republic. Two years ago, the Federal
Government said it approved the extension of rail construction from
Lagos-Kano-Katsina to Marradi in the Niger Republic for economic and commercial
benefits.
The
Buhari-led government stated that the rail extension is intended for Nigeria to
take economic advantage of imports and export to the Niger Republic, Chad and
Burkina-Faso which are landlocked countries.
While
there were also unconfirmed reports that President Buhari shares a cultural
affinity with the Republic of Niger, some are of the opinion that he’s a native
of the country. What many do not know is that President Buhari is not only
close to the people of the Niger Republic, but he also shares a tremendous relationship
with the people and government of Chad, Cameroun and the Republic of Benin, and
that’s long before he even became the President.
Buhari
started shaping himself in the arena of public and international recognition in
the late seventies when General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as the Federal
Commissioner For Petroleum, a position that opened him to the diplomatic
circuit of the international Oil trade.
One
of the most controversial acts many have attributed to Buhari as a military
leader was the report that in 1985, he voted for Niger Republic’s Idi Oumarou
to be Secretary-General of the defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU)
against the Nigerian-born, Peter Onu who was then the acting scribe. These are
actions of a man of strong convictions and beliefs. But whether Buhari’s
beliefs and actions advance the interest of Nigeria or the Niger Republic is
indiscernible to many.
Beyond
the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and the Niger Republic, City People
found that President Mohammadu Buhari and former Nigerien President, Mahamadou
Issoufou share a more cordial relationship than the office they both hold in
their respective countries. In 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari named a road in
the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after President Issoufou Mahamadou.
According
to President Buhari, naming a landmark project after former President Isssoufou
Mahamadau is a mark of deep appreciation for the maintenance of the brotherly
relationship between Nigeria and the Republic of Niger and in recognition of
the Nigerien President’s significant role in the promotion of peace in Africa.
In
a tweet, Mahamadou said the gesture shows that his relationship with Buhari and
that of both countries is “excellent”.
“My
brother and friend, @MBuhari, did me the honour to call an Abuja expressway
‘Mahamadou Issoufou expressway’,” he tweeted. “This testifies, beyond our
personal relations, to the excellent relations that exist between #Nigeria and
#Niger. His caring touches me. I thank him very much.”
The
new president of the Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, is also enjoying the
benevolent gesture of the Nigerian government and President Mohammadu Buhari
towards the government and the people of Niger. Within the first year of
President Bazoum’s assumption of office, Buhari has met him four times to
discuss the issue of insecurity and how both nations can join forces to end
incessant attacks, banditry, and terrorism.
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