Editorial: Buhari takes stock after the uneventful US Jamboree

Buhari takes stock after the uneventful US Jamboree

Muhammadu Buhari is currently not a happy man. After the United States jamboree, which technically ended when Barack Obama jetted off to Kenya, essentially abandoning Buhari in the US, Nigeria's "Baba Go Slow" is SLOWLY taking stock of the entire affair.

International Diplomats were not surprised this unusual abandonment of a visiting president, as they are aware that Buhari badgered in the invitation for the visit through his US campaign manager, David Axellrod, who was also Obama former Campaign manager, as such his visit overlapped Obama's long scheduled African tour. Buhari's US jamboree, which analyst say cost Nigeria N2.2billion was described by the US Foreign office as a private visit and not an official one and therefore takes a second place to Obama's official program.

For the first time, Buhari has come in terms with the realities of democratic governance and international diplomacy. His phantom expectations from the United States' government, which he had hinged his boastful comments of crushing Boko Haram in two months, for the first time was callously deflated.

After so much pomp and hype, Buhari returned to Nigeria early hours on Thursday without any concrete agreement with the United States that would help an ordinary Nigerian. Buhari returned with no documented agreement with the US pledging any help on the Nigerian economy or the war on terror.

Buhari takes stock after the uneventful US Jamboree: The jamboree provided a photoOP for some Nigerian governors longing to shake hands hands with Barack Obama

Based on this, Buhari had recalibrated  that Boko Haram would be defeated by a new African force within 18 months, contrary to his earlier promise during the campaigns to rout Boko Haram in two months.

Buhari said in an interview with The Associated Press that the terrorists would be defeated with the help of troops from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger as part of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, which Buhari said would be ready to launch operations at the end of the month.

"We are going to deny them recruitment. We are going to deny them free movement across borders. We are going to deny them training. We are going to deny them receiving reinforcements in terms of equipment," said Buhari.

Buhari met Tuesday with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey and CIA Director John Brennan to request more US help against Boko Haram.

"The United States is very clear of the situation. What we need is intelligence, we need training facilities, we need some equipment," Buhari told AP.

Buhari's hope of getting military equipment from the US government was however dashed. The US government told the Nigerian leader that its arms are tied by an American law, the Leahy Act, which prevents it from selling arms to countries with human rights abuse records. Visibly displeased Buhari told the US government that the refusal of the US to arm Nigerian troops because of “so-called human rights violations” and “unproven allegations,” would only help Boko Haram. 

“Regrettably, the blanket application of the Leahy Law by the United States on the grounds of unproven allegations of human rights violations levelled against our forces has denied us access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute the war,” Buhari said. 

Addressing an audience of policy-makers, activists and academics in Washington, Buhari complained that Nigerian forces had been left “largely impotent” in the face of Boko Haram’s campaign of kidnapping and bombings. 

“They do not possess the appropriate weapons and technology which we could have had if the so-called human rights violations had not been an obstacle,” he said. 

“Unwittingly, and I dare say unintentionally, the application of the Leahy Law Amendment by the United States government has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorists.” 

He appealed to both the White House and the US Congress to find a way around the law — introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy in 1997 — and to supply Nigerian troops with high-tech weapons under a deal “with minimal strings.”