By KEMI KASUMU
Following the heat that United States of America, United Kingdom and the rest of the West are facing as backlash for the unprecedented sanctions slammed on Russian Federation to punish Moscow for his special military operations in Ukraine, they, particularly Europe reportedly, are looking towards Africa for a bailout in terms of being able to satisfy their oil and gas needs.
Whereas this development is considered to be a bright one as it holds a lot of prospects for upping the economic boom for the continent, particularly Nigeria.
However, some repositories of knowledge in Nigeria have come together to ask the leadership of the country to watch it while considering accepting to be what those Europeans want it to be; a new bride for the supply of oil and gas as a replacement for Russia, whose oil and gas they boycotted through the sanctions.
One of those that have spoken is a professor of nutritional biochemistry and biotechnology off the department of Biochemistry, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, Lappai, Niger State, Prof. Aliyu Mohammed Paiko, who said the Federal Government of Nigeria should borrow conditions from Russia in reaching agreement with the European country before it supplies them.
Prof. Paiko’s thought came in form of his contributions as an interlocutor at a specially created social media discourse, posted by The DEFENDER through one of its official’s page, on Thursday.
The post: “Now that the West is seeing Africa as next destination for oil and gas rescue, AU must help its oil producing members set conditions.”
Among the several interlocutors, Prof. Paiko who is also Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, IBBUL, said: “We should borrow conditions from Russia, so that we don’t enslave ourselves to our greedy colonial masters.
That they are running to us with such desperation implies that we can set stringent rules that they cannot refuse.
“Russia and China are resetting the new world economic order. Let’s follow in their footsteps or regret later. The hunter is now hunted and haunted with nightmares,” he said.
Another interlocutor, Chris Chinyere Onyeukwu, in his own contribution feared that setting collective conditions for Europe at the continental level may be difficult because African country suffer from problem of disunity. He cited how Africa watched United States of America kill Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, whose problem with the West was because of his effort to make Africa a better continent.
“How can you set a collective conditions when you are not united? Long time ago, the late Bob Marley told them that the only way to Africa’s greatness is through their unity, but nobody listened. Colonel Muammar Ghadafi wanted to stir it up and he was killed,” Chris Chinyere Onyeukwu said.
Idris Ahmad said: “Oil producing countries in Africa must rise up to the new found love so that the greedy slave masters wouldn’t take advantage of us again.
Representative of The DEFENDER in the discourse, simply called in this report as The Anchor, came in responding to Chris Chinyere Onyeukwu:
“I can assure you that the only problem that the whole of Africa can have is resident in Nigeria, the most focused country by West. That is where people don’t learn from past mistakes, unlike Libya. And it is the reason the steps President Buhari has taken, but which westernised brains here are sabotaging, should be supported. With the African Free Trade Zone Agreement now being implemented, there will be common morality running across the 55 countries. From Nigeria to Upper Volta and from Republic of Benin to Sudan,” he said.
Also speaking, hejirika said: “With the outcomes of the Russian-Ukraine conflict not pleasant at all, the West will become desperate and is surely heading back to Africa to start stealing resources they did decades and centuries ago! Africa must watch it this time.”
Another interlocutor, Malam Zakaria Muazu, however, blamed leaders of the country for not seeing the reality that were being reeled out at the discourse, when he told Ihejirika his fear.
“Chibueze Iheukwumere C Ihejirika, our leaders don’t have eyes to see because they are greedy beyond reasonable doubt.”
The Anchor said: “Chibueze Iheukwumere C Ihejirika, You got it.”
In an internet call after the discourse, Prof. Mohammed Paiko reiterated his position on the matter saying Nigeria had got rise up and not allow any country in the world no matter its technology power or money to, anymore, take it for a ride, adding that Nigeria too can be as great as those other developed country and that this is the time to test the capacity to achieve that.
The professor did not mince word as he repeated that Nigeria should borrow conditions from Russia so that the country will not be enslaved or will enslave itself again to the colonial masters of the old.
Another interlocutor said: “If America can just wake up one day and say it is freezing foreign reserves of Russia, it can do worse than that to any African country. So, Nigeria and other African countries should begin now to think about alternative because, to continue to put your destinies under the control of the West, it is doom lying in wait. Let Nigeria take note. Any country that has made desired contributions to our national development we must not break up with it in the name of one Western sanctions of so.
“Today we have begun to have new road system in the country and our railways system is back and fully in operation. Our development partnership with China has made these happen. There was a kind of such partner we had in the past, which caused us to sell our national assets only for us to discover that they were doing all those things for us to return to being subservient to them. Are we not today? But we are.
“Our local resources don’t work. We now import fuel whereas we have the crude. While that import is on, they are attempting forcing us to remove oil subsidy. It means they hate our country and we must be wise. Our national career does not exist anymore. They bring their airlines to reign on us in our country and they even tempt to make us pay for flight tickets in their own currency. That must stop,” he said.
