In an interview on Trust TV, Professor Sadeeque Abba, a renowned scholar of International Relations at the University of Abuja, has shed new light on a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s foreign policy during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He recalled when Jonathan was president and when Obama was the president of the United States, describing that period as one of “delicate strategic balancing” in Nigeria’s international relations.
According to him, pressures mounted on Nigeria to align more closely with Western security interests, particularly the United States, which sought to expand its presence in West Africa.
Prof. Abba stated, “Let me take you back to the time of Jonathan. May Allah bless Jonathan, and may Allah also bless David Mark, who was the Senate President. America wanted to create its own presence in Nigeria as far back as 2012, and Jonathan’s greatest ‘sin’ that is why America wanted him out under Obama was that he refused to allow America to have its own base in Nigeria, courtesy of David Mark.”
He emphasized that the Jonathan administration’s refusal to host an American military base reflected Nigeria’s commitment to sovereignty and non-alignment principles that have guided the nation’s foreign policy since independence.
Prof. Abba argued that such decisions, though unpopular among some global actors, underscored Nigeria’s determination to maintain its independence in global affairs.
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