By UCHE NNADOZIE
Something does not sit well with the security advisory issued by the United States to her embassy in Abuja.
Last week, the Department of State also known as Foreign Affairs Ministry, all the way from America issued a public notice asking its non-essential embassy staff in Abuja to evacuate their families.
Two days after, America asked all staff to remove their families from the nation’s capital. This was due to their intelligence which suggested something akin to imminent and coordinated terror attacks at sites covering nearly all public spaces. In summary, their notice implied that Abuja should be shut down!
It was around the same time they raised similar alarm in South Africa.
Let’s be clear, America has the right to notify its citizens of any untoward situation in any of its missions abroad including Nigeria.
It has done that a number of times. But what I don’t understand is why they issue these notices without letting the host country’s authorities share first hand in whatever piece of intelligence they have.
The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not let this lie low. He responded swiftly: “It is quite unfortunate the US issued that type of warning without having any type of discussion with us,” Ramaphosa said during a press conference.
“Any form of alert will come from the government of the Republic of South Africa and it is unfortunate that another government should issue such a threat as to send panic amongst our people,” said Ramaphosa.
In Nigeria, it is only the Inspector General of Police Usman Baba, that summoned courage to respond like an official of a sovereign nation.
He said: “I should have been informed if there is anything like danger. You are in my territory and you didn’t tell me about the security alert. It is nonsense. It is an unnecessary alarm. You didn’t tell me but you told your people to avoid Abuja.”
This clearly shows an angry and frustrated IGP. He is the man saddled with civilian safety in the country. Therefore understands the enormity of the disrespect Americans have foisted on him in particular being the head of the lead agency responsible for internal security.
Nobody anywhere in the world will take the sort of condescending relationship that the US tends to foist on countries that are less-endowed especially. The Americans are simply putting the cart before the horse or just being belligerent. There’s nothing to point to any form of aggression between Nigeria and the US to warrant this sort of hostility.
Their public terror alarm is such that can cause internal instability because it’s short of causing dislocation of the people and inciting the public against the government. This is subtle intervention in our internal affairs. Yet we are supposed to be their allies.
In Africa today, America cannot say Nigeria is not one of her greatest friends – in trade, culture and socio political endeavours.
Seeing the security challenge we face, why would America move to embarrass the country in the manner it did if it was simply about security? What will it cost that country if she called the National Security Adviser, the National Intelligence Agency, Department of State Security or the police to share intelligence of whatever it is they saw and how to tackle same.
Are they more interested in showing off their capabilities and impunity rather than helping a friend manage a crisis?
Now that they have pulled out their people, have they not left us to clear our mess by ourselves? What is the unspoken reason behind that country’s action such that she reduced herself to agents of instability in such a rabble rousing manner?
Surely sharing intelligence with Nigeria would not have reduced their influence or stopped them from pulling their citizens from Abuja.
READ ALSO: FG: US, UK raised false, irresponsible terror alerts in Nigeria
In spite of their hawkishness in Abuja and Pretoria, American intelligence community could not intercept the attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband, Paul. The old man was severely attacked by a hammer wielding intruder in their home in San Francisco, California. He suffered blunt forced trauma after he was hit many times to the head.
The intruder shouted “where’s Nancy?” after he gained entry into the No 3 woman’s home. This simply attests to the fact that it was politically motivated thereby trending towards terrorism. But the almighty American intelligence didn’t see that under their noses, yet had time to see the one in Abuja and make a mess of it. Who were they trying to impress?
The worst are those Nigerians celebrating the unfortunate situation by taunting politicians. In South Africa, while the people joined forces with their government to reject the insult, in Nigeria, some citizens are mocking the country and the government.
They don’t know that such matters of national pride directly affect us especially when we travel abroad.
America should not be encouraged by our people to play politics with our internal security struggles. For if things go really bad, they will simply pull all their people and leave us to stew in our mess. They don’t care about us, that’s why it was their citizens they evacuated.
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