Whenever Nigeria sneezes neighbouring countries in the West coast of Africa get terrified.
Our size , natural resources, military might and human resources towers high enough to earn our nation such respect. Rhetorically, Nigeria is beyond the measures described above is often referred to as the giant of Africa.
This title was not earned as a result of artificial dominance, neither was it earned as a conquest badge. It was earned on the strength of the nations dominance in education, trade and commerce and the industrious nature of her citizen etc.
The prominence of Nigeria had never been premised on its military prowess not nuclear powers. Except on few occasions when the nation had to contribute in spearheading intervention of ECOMOG forces in distant Sierra Leone Liberia etc it had never been so involved in neighbouring big brother posture in testing its military seniority. Burkina Faso and Mali reactionary forces pushed out legitimately elected government without a thought of Nigeria’s resistance and has remained in the tight fist of military rule.
Shockingly Nigeria had a democratically elected government headed by a former military brat Gen Mohammadu Buhari who understood the chemistry and consequences of military government in a close neighbouring country.
In a linear thought of a parasitic beneficiary, the small neighbours mostly cowed on Nigeria’s power provision, petroleum products etc in most dastard cases corrupting the system to bypass established official transaction all in means possible to service there economies.
However, from Gambia to Gabon, Niger to Mali, Togo to Cote Divoure the diplomatic transactions between Nigeria and these small neighbours have always been to the greater benefits of the so called brother allies.
In military sense it is dangerous to be so surrounded by military controlled government yet it is an opportunity to deepen democracy on the home front with maximum benefit to the citizenry so as to mesmerize whatever military governance had to offer in the pseudo state like country and to make democracy attractive than to launch a war on borrowed credit amidst the consequences of indirectly inviting gorilla war men to the border states of Nigeria and the avoidable invitation of external forces around the country on pretences of peace making.
Nigeria’s bleeding economy does not classify an ability to prosecute a war in a country that unappreciably benefitted a rail system on borrowed funding.
At its best, the big brother posture of Nigeria should be limited to ECOWAS economic principles and not on a wasteful venture of incurring avoidable external aggression at a time the recovery of Nigeria’s ailing economy should be on the front burner.
In conclusion, if shots should be fired, it should targeted at the cancerous corruption milking the nation. It should e so fired at the dragons preventing the refineries from roaring back to life, It should be fired at the impediments holding down the full potential utilisation of the nation’s human and natural resources.
God bless and flourish Nigeria.
By Gbenga Osobu