NIGERIAN leaders owe their citizens a duty to protect the country’s sovereignty, the soul of its national pride. No serious country treats issues that bother on its national security with levity.
Ours cannot be an exception. Certain actions of the United States of America impinge on the sovereignty of Nigeria.
As if Nigeria is one of its states, the US authorities dumped an American criminal, Grayson Ernest Eugene, serving jail sentence in one of the prisons in Reebok, Brooklyn, New York, on the tarmac of the Lagos airport. He arrived manacled with their keys to his entanglements dropped by his side.Eugene’s complaints at the US Embassy landed him in police custody. He was subsequently arraigned at a Chief Magistrate Court in Ebute Metta, Lagos, charged for breach of peace. It has been the beat of Nigerian security agencies to keep harassing him. The man insists he is an American. Why is it Nigeria’s role to prove he is not? The action of the US Embassy in Lagos is suspicious because the US does not toy with welfare of its citizens. Suppose Eugene is a spy on mission for his beloved country? The government of this country must not take this issue lightly.
Another slight is the litigation instituted in a US court by some Nigerians against General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Head of State between 1998-1999, for torts committed by the State before and during his tenure. The alleged torts were not committed in Abubakar’s personal capacity, regimes before his committed them. Under Nigerian laws, General Abubakar has immunity for his actions in office.
In contempt of the sovereign status of Nigeria, a US court expects our former Head of State to stand in its dock and answer questions bothering on our national security. This is not a United Nations court and the alleged offences were not against the US government or its citizens. The Nigerian government has obtained an injunction to stop the trial.
Recently, the Americans pompously expressed their interest in establishing a military base in Nigeria to protect its interests, especially stable crude oil supply. Its efforts at total control of Nigeria’s security could not have been better put.
These actions demonstrate US government’s contempt for Nigeria. The US will not condone the dumping of a criminal citizen from another country in its territory or litigation against any former US president in a foreign land. America hardly allows its citizens to be tried abroad.
We are not advocating a diplomatic war with the US. However, the line has to be firmly drawn in this relationship. Eugene must return to his prison in America. His visit to Nigeria must be probed.
The Federal Government must tell America to stop insulting Nigeria by its overbearing attitude in our relationship. There are several ways to do this, but maybe it is not yet time to apply the full rights of our sovereignty in determining who are truly our friends.
