It’s Time We Invite the U.S. to Set Up a Military Base in Nigeria. 

 By MS Abubakar, PhD, CAS

“Niger chose anger. Mali chose Wagner. Nigeria must choose a strategy.”

As a Northerner, I must confess a contradiction. When French and U.S. troops withdrew from Niger Republic in 2024, I celebrated on my street in Abuja. Like millions across West Africa, I had condemned the idea of a new foreign base in Northern Nigeria. My fears were not invented. They were fed by a powerful narrative: that France, in particular, orchestrates instability in the Sahel to protect uranium interests and CFA franc dominance. In Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, the junta and the youth believe France sponsors or tolerates jihadists to justify its presence. I believed it too.

But conviction without evidence is dangerous. So, I asked harder questions.

1. The “Foreign Base = Instability” Myth Doesn’t Hold Up

America operates over 700 military facilities worldwide. In Africa alone it has Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, bases in Kenya, Ghana, and drone operations in Niger before 2024. Did Kenya become a failed state? Did Ghana lose its democracy? No. In fact, Ghana ranks higher than Nigeria on the Global Peace Index and Human Development Index. Kenya, despite Al-Shabaab threats, has maintained state capacity and elections.

The common factor is not the base. It is governance. Where institutions are strong, foreign security cooperation is managed. Where institutions are weak, any presence—French, Russian, or American—becomes a political football.

2. Our Problem is Structural, Not Foreign. 

Banditry in Zamfara, Boko Haram in Borno, ISWAP in Lake Chad, and kidnapping along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor are not imported problems. They are Nigerian problems with Nigerian roots: endemic poverty, where 63% live in multidimensional poverty per NBS, exclusion of rural communities from basic services, low HDI, ungoverned spaces, and porous borders the size of Western Europe.

No foreign soldier can fix bad governance. But a foreign base with ISR drones, satellite intelligence, and logistics can degrade the killers while we fix the system. That is the distinction I missed in 2024.

3. The Wagner Experiment in Mali Proved the Point 

After expelling France, Mali invited Russia’s Wagner Group. Three years later, attacks increased, 300+ civilians were killed in Moura, and Wagner became accused of human rights abuses. If Russia had the capacity to stabilise the Sahel, Mali would be proof. It is not.

America brings something different: not just guns, but integrated intelligence, airlift, MEDEVAC, and training. The U.S. Africa Command’s “by, with, and through” doctrine means they build local capacity. That is what Nigeria needs now.

4. Our Military is Brave, But Overstretched 

I say these words with respect: the Nigerian Armed Forces are arguably the third most powerful in Africa. Our soldiers have fought in ECOMOG, Sudan, and Somalia and against Boko Haram for 15 years. Their courage is legendary.

“Courage without equipment is martyrdom. Our soldiers deserve partners, not just praise.”

But courage without equipment is martyrdom. We have lost senior, serving, and retired officers—generals and colonels—to ambushes and IEDs. That tells you the enemy has better ISR and night-fighting capacity in some theaters. Our air force flies sorties, but lacks persistent drone coverage. Our army clears territory but cannot “hold” due to logistics gaps. A U.S. base can fill those specific gaps without commanding our troops.

5. Sovereignty is Negotiated, Not Surrendered 

The fear of “neo-colonialism” is valid. But sovereignty is not an all-or-nothing idea. Japan hosts U.S. bases yet remains sovereign and industrialized. Germany does too. The key is a Status of Forces Agreement negotiated by Nigerians, for Nigerians. Terms can include: Nigerian command over operations, no unilateral raids, joint patrols only, technology transfer, and mandatory training of NAF and NA personnel.

“Sovereignty is negotiated, not surrendered. A base is a lease, not an occupation.”

A base is not an occupation. It is a lease. We lease land to MTN and Airtel. We can lease a corner of the north to a partner who helps us kill terrorists faster.

6. There Are Economic and Strategic Upsides 

Beyond security, a U.S. base means infrastructure: better airstrips, hospitals, roads, and skilled jobs for locals. It means Nigeria becomes a hub for Sahel intelligence. That raises our diplomatic weight in ECOWAS and the AU. Currently, after Niger’s exit, the U.S. is looking for a reliable anchor state in the region. Why shouldn’t that be Nigeria?

The Call 

I was wrong in 2024. Expelling partners did not bring peace to the Sahel. It created vacuums. Nigeria cannot afford a vacuum.

So, I am calling on fellow Nigerians, especially Northerners like me, to reconsider. Let us pressure the National Assembly and the presidency to open talks with Washington on a limited, transparent US military presence. Let us demand oversight, not rejection.

The Sahel is burning. Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali chose anger. Nigeria must choose strategy.

We should let the U.S. set up a military base in Nigeria to end the bloodshed, not because we’re weak.

Nigeria must not bleed alone when help is available.

Sokoto: Gov. Aliyu’s New Harvest Of Projects

 

By Umar Yusuf

 

In politics, some leaders discuss their plans, while others quietly get to work. The latter category often allows projects and results to speak louder than press statements, political advertisements and endless public relations exercises.

 

Since the emergence of the Governor Ahmed Aliyu-led administration, commissioning ceremonies—whether for completed projects or the flag-off of new ones—have become a recurring feature of governance in Sokoto State. As the state once again enters another round of project commissioning activities this June, it becomes increasingly clear that Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto is determined to reinforce a governing philosophy that has become synonymous with his administration: promises made must be pursued and delivered.

 

The ceremonies scheduled across different parts of the state are not isolated events. These ceremonies are part of a broader continuum of infrastructural renewal that has defined the administration since Governor Aliyu assumed office nearly three years ago.

 

To appreciate the significance of the projects currently being commissioned, one must first recall the circumstances under which the present administration came into office.

 

At the time Governor Aliyu took over the reins of leadership, many sectors of public life in Sokoto State required urgent intervention. Concerns exist across education, healthcare, transportation, housing, and rural development. Yet perhaps no challenge was as visible and as painful to ordinary citizens as the crisis surrounding potable water supply.

 

For many residents of the Sokoto metropolis and surrounding communities, access to water had become both difficult and expensive. Families spent considerable portions of their income purchasing water from vendors. What should ordinarily have been a basic social service had become a daily struggle.

 

Recognising the importance of water for public welfare, Governor Aliyu moved swiftly. He showed from the onset that he had no intention of treating water scarcity as a routine administrative challenge. To his government, water was an emergency requiring immediate and sustained intervention.

 

Massive investments were directed toward the rehabilitation and expansion of water schemes throughout the state. Ageing facilities were revived, abandoned projects were revisited, and new infrastructure was introduced to improve distribution. Projects such as the rehabilitation of the Old Airport Water Scheme, the Tamaje Water Scheme, and other strategic water facilities helped restore supplies to many communities that had endured years of shortages.

 

Today, even critics of the administration acknowledge the significant improvements in the water situation compared to previous conditions. The turnaround has not only reduced hardship for residents but has also restored confidence in the government’s capacity to respond effectively to public needs.

 

Water, however, represents only one chapter of a much broader story.

 

Over the last three years, the Ahmed Aliyu administration has embarked on an ambitious program of infrastructural development that touches virtually every sector of governance. Across the state, roads such as the Mabera-Mani Road, the Gawon Nama Axis, and several township roads have been constructed or rehabilitated, improving mobility and commercial activities.

 

Healthcare: Hospitals and primary care centres have received upgrades, equipment, and rehabilitation work aimed at improving service delivery. Educational institutions have similarly benefited from renovation projects, the provision of learning facilities, and investments intended to improve the learning environment.

 

The administration has also pursued housing projects, including the ongoing construction of hundreds of housing units for civil servants and vulnerable groups. Agricultural support programmes, youth empowerment initiatives and interventions targeted at stimulating local economic activities have equally featured prominently within the government’s development agenda.

 

What is perhaps most remarkable is the geographical spread of these interventions. Rather than concentrating development exclusively within the Sokoto metropolis, the government has consistently sought to extend projects into local government areas and rural communities.

 

This approach reflects an understanding that development is meaningful only when it reaches the people wherever they reside.

 

It is against this backdrop that the current round of commissioning activities should be viewed.

 

Last Friday’s commissioning of the Illela Jumu’at Mosque was more than a ceremonial event. It also provided an opportunity to reflect on the administration’s third anniversary and the progress recorded thus far.

 

The choice of Illela itself is significant. Situated along the border corridor, the town occupies an important position within the state’s commercial and social landscape. Investments in the area therefore carry implications not only for local residents but also for regional economic activities and cross-border trade.

 

Today, attention shifts to another important milestone with the commissioning of 100 housing units for internally displaced individuals in Illela Local Government Area.

 

At a time when insecurity has displaced thousands of citizens across different parts of Northern Nigeria, housing interventions targeted at vulnerable populations deserve recognition.

 

Providing shelter is not merely about constructing buildings. It’s about restoring dignity, rebuilding lives and creating conditions for displaced families to start over.

 

The decision to invite Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, Governor of Borno State, to perform the commissioning is equally symbolic.

 

Governor Zulum has earned national recognition for his commitment to rebuilding communities affected by insurgency. His participation underscores the importance of collaborative approaches to addressing displacement and humanitarian challenges.

 

Beyond the housing project, Professor Zulum will also perform the foundation-laying ceremony for the Illela International Market.

 

This project may ultimately prove to be one of the most economically consequential initiatives of the administration.

 

Markets are more than places where goods exchange hands. They are engines of local economies. They create jobs, stimulate investments, attract traders, and expand commercial opportunities in their surrounding communities.

 

Given Illela’s strategic location as a gateway community to the Republic of Niger, an ultramodern international market possesses the potential to transform trade activities while strengthening Sokoto State’s position within regional commerce. The benefits could extend far beyond local government boundaries.

 

The following day will witness another housing initiative in Rabah Local Government Area, where the foundation stone for an additional 100 housing units for internally displaced individuals will be laid.

 

The project demonstrates that the administration’s housing interventions are components of a wider policy framework aimed at social welfare, community rehabilitation and inclusive development.

 

Then comes the commissioning of the Mana Water Scheme on June 18, to be performed by the governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf.

 

For some observers, the commissioning of another water project may appear routine. In reality, it is anything but routine when viewed against the backdrop of the severe water challenges that existed before Governor Aliyu assumed office.

 

Water remains one of the clearest indicators of governmental responsiveness. Every new scheme commissioned translates into reduced hardship for households, improved sanitation, better public health outcomes and enhanced economic productivity.

 

The Mana Water Scheme therefore represents another important step in consolidating gains already recorded within the sector.

 

The commissioning activities reveal that tangible outcomes ultimately measure governance.

 

Political speeches have their place. Campaign promises are necessary. But nothing can substitute for concrete impact, measured in flowing taps, functional roads, improved hospitals, modern schools, housing estates, and thriving markets.

 

These are the parameters through which citizens eventually judge governments. It’s ultimately about what people can see, touch and benefit from.

 

A road either exists or it does not. Again, a water scheme either supplies water or it fails to supply water. The same applies to housing estates, hospitals, schools, markets, and countless other public assets.

 

In this regard, the Aliyu administration appears determined to ensure that its record is defined by visible interventions rather than abstract promises.

 

Naturally, no government is beyond criticism. Challenges remain and expectations continue to rise. There are sectors where citizens still demand faster progress and broader interventions. Such demands are legitimate in every democratic society. However, it is also crucial to recognise and acknowledge progress whenever it occurs.

 

The projects being commissioned across Sokoto State this week provide further evidence that the administration continues to invest in infrastructure, social welfare, and economic development. More importantly, they demonstrate consistency in governance priorities rather than the abandonment of campaign commitments.

 

As the commissioning ceremonies unfold, they collectively represent something larger than individual projects scattered across different local government areas.

 

They represent the harvest of deliberate planning, sustained investment and a governing philosophy anchored on delivering visible benefits to the people.

 

For Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, this season of commissioning is therefore not merely a celebration of completed projects. It is a reminder that development is a continuous journey and that the true measure of leadership lies not in promises made but in promises fulfilled.

 

Umar writes from Sokoto.

Now, nowhere is safe (1)

By Hassan Gimba.

This article was first published on the 4th of April, 2022. It is as relevant today as it was then. Only that it is now: no one is safe, not only nowhere. What with generals being killed on the roads (read: General Alkali), abducted from their fortified homes (read: General Tsafe), or whisked away on the highways (read: General Rabe) and killed in the bushes, not in active service or as prisoners of war (POWs) but as shackled captives.

Will today’s leaders act on our insecurity before tomorrow, when they must leave their offices without their convoys and security details?

First, they came for the Communists;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the socialists;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists;
And I did not speak out.
This was because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me.
And there was no one left.
To speak out for me.

The above four stanzas, variations of which have been named “First they came…”, are the poetic rendition of a 1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). He made it on 6 January, 1946, in his speech for the Confessing Church in Frankfurt. Even though it speaks about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy – including, by his own admission, himself – in speaking out following the Nazis’ rise to power and the subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group, one can relate it to Nigeria’s situation.

Let us take, for instance, when Boko Haram started their mayhem in Borno and Yobe States. The attacks primarily targeted security agents, leading many people to remain unconcerned. When they targeted the people, it became evident that we should have taken collective action earlier to prevent the menace from escalating. However, we refrained from taking action because the security agents were the primary targets. And by the time they came for us, we knew we had goofed.

Some years ago, when kidnappings, killings, and general banditry started escalating, leading to a worsening of insecurity in the North West, many of us started sounding the alarm, but to no avail. Those who should have come down heavily on the recalcitrant, undesirable elements to save the nation thought it affected us, not them. Now, nowhere is safe.

On December 24, 2018, under the topic Insecurity: North Under Siege, on this page, I wrote, “North Central has become a traveller’s nightmare, from Rijau to Birnin Gwari and Gwanin Gora to Rijana, through Kaduna, and down to the suburbs of the Plateau.” Travelling poses a personal risk, as even four-star generals face arbitrary killings. Herdsmen kill every moving object and sack villages, burning everything down to ashes. Kidnappers are also having a field day. Are some of them, especially the herdsmen and kidnappers, another face of Boko Haram, getting the much-needed cash for their operations?

Travelling confidently from one town or village to the next after 7 pm is difficult. Even in broad daylight, people embark on road travel with trepidation. Journeying by plane is no longer for luxury but for safety.
“Our security apparatuses possibly need a total overhaul and help from elsewhere. There has to be synergy among the different actors, adoption of modern policing methods, and a revival of community policing. Those who had the power to overhaul our security system and make it more proactive were indifferent because they believed it only affected us, not them. Now, nowhere is safe.”

Also on this page, on 15 June 2020, writing on the topic The North and Insecurity: What has changed? I said, “Our leaders and, of course, all men and women of goodwill must be concerned.” We all need to help find a solution; Frankenstein-like monsters have been reared, and peace is threatening to elude us. We live in fear of what fate awaits our children and our children’s children.

‘Just recently, the South West established a security outfit named Amotekun, ostensibly to protect its people. However, it is important to acknowledge that Amotekun has been a part of our lives for a considerable period. People hire private security guards for protection. That is Amotekun. We barricade streets at both ends, and the inhabitants hire private security guards to patrol them. That is also Amotekun. The private security industry will soon thrive as more Nigerians seek their services. Soon, regions, states, and local governments may all set up their own Amotekun because the centre can no longer hold it.

“Crime will become pervasive and entrenched in our society if we cannot do something about it now. Already, there are illiterate, semiliterate, and even literate people who are hungry but willing to die for a phone or a few thousand naira. If we don’t address the situation now, they may resort to killing for an earpiece, a few hundred naira, or a morsel of food in the future. The law-abiding can no longer sleep soundly, and the rich will discover no haven anywhere, even with all their wealth. All shall be consumed. Wake up, we must.” Those who could protect us didn’t wake up because they believed they were safe, even if we weren’t. Now, nowhere is safe.

On March 1, 2021, still on this page, while making a comment under The North and the Effect of Janus, I wrote: “Since kidnapping for ransom became a fad on the Abuja-Kaduna Road and in the bushes of the northwestern and central states of Nigeria, I started shouting here that it is a financial drive by Boko Haram. The kidnappers belong to their economic arm. They are only ignorant foot soldiers being used as cannon fodder.” Those who should have listened didn’t, and now there is no safe place.

Yet still on this page, on December 24, 2018, I wrote: “In the North West, armed bandits, perhaps Boko Haram with a different face, are threatening to take over, with Zamfara State almost under their control… they ransack communities at will, kill, maim and take as many as they can with them for ransom. The bandits can come to a marriage gathering and just demand the bride, who would be handed over to them, with thanks.

“Those who have declared war on Nigeria are abducting farmers and voiceless Nigerians, but we let them play the music while we dance.”

“What has happened to our intelligence-gathering ability…? It is quite a wonder how scores of marauders riding motorcycles with sawed-off silencers can leave the bush, come to towns, operate for hours, pick up hundreds of students, and then return to the bush unchallenged. In the not-so-distant past, our security agencies used to have operators called “stool pigeons”. They were the backbone of human intelligence (HUMINT) gathering… Now, we can scatter such HUMINT operatives across the towns such that the moment insurgents or their economic arm, the bandits, come out, the operational headquarters of our security agencies will be aware. They could be farmers, hunters, villagers, and even herders scattered throughout the area.

“The innocent child sees its father as a superhero who will protect it, and the innocent citizen should consider their country in the same way.” Unfortunately, we are discovering the harsh reality that life continues in Nigeria, regardless of the circumstances. The people’s innocence has shattered, and unfortunately, their faith in their country has suffered severe damage. We should fear the day when citizens stop respecting a government or society that cannot protect its own.

As long as we fail to bring criminals to justice and treat them with leniency, we will continue to empower them. They see how others were given “amnesty” and “deradicalised” for taking arms against the state, wreaking havoc on communities, and letting blood flow. They see that the worst thing that could happen to them is “condemnation”. But condemnations, like rebukes, are meant for those who recognise your authority over them. This class of criminals does not recognise the condemning authorities.” However, those who mattered kept condemning, and now nowhere is safe.

Hassan Gimba, ANIPR, is the publisher and CEO of Neptune Prime.