President Umaru Yar'adua will not allow Nigeria be used for any such base
LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will not allow his country to be used as a base for the proposed US African military command AFRICOM, officials said.
"The president restated the position of Nigeria not permitting a US base in our country or sub-region but to work towards the establishment of an African standby force," Governor Bukola Saraki of the north central state of Kwara told reporters after Yar'adua met with top past and present Nigerian leaders.
Peter Egom, a senior research fellow at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, says the United States is primarily expanding its military presence in Africa to protect its interest in the region's oil resource.
"America does not have to come to Africa to defend her interest. American needs to have willing partners, co-operative partners, to defend American interests in Africa," said Egom.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Nigeria last week to outline his country's plan to set up AFRICOM, saying it was in line with US defence policy. "It's not unusual for the US to have regional military commands. We have regional military commands in various parts of the world," Negroponte told reporters at the end of his visit.The US government announced early in the year that the Defence Department was creating a US Africa Command headquarters to coordinate all American military and security interests throughout the continent.
The US military involvement in Africa has been shared among the US European Command, the US Central Command and the US Pacific Command, and AFRICOM is currently based in Germany, while a continental location is evisaged in the longer term.
"We will like to eventually situate offices of AFRICOM in an African country. The process of selecting that country is ongoing and we certainly will not do it anywhere that does not welcome the presence of the US military command," the top envoy said.
Source: Yahoo Canada
VOA News
"The president restated the position of Nigeria not permitting a US base in our country or sub-region but to work towards the establishment of an African standby force," Governor Bukola Saraki of the north central state of Kwara told reporters after Yar'adua met with top past and present Nigerian leaders.
Peter Egom, a senior research fellow at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, says the United States is primarily expanding its military presence in Africa to protect its interest in the region's oil resource.
"America does not have to come to Africa to defend her interest. American needs to have willing partners, co-operative partners, to defend American interests in Africa," said Egom.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Nigeria last week to outline his country's plan to set up AFRICOM, saying it was in line with US defence policy. "It's not unusual for the US to have regional military commands. We have regional military commands in various parts of the world," Negroponte told reporters at the end of his visit.The US government announced early in the year that the Defence Department was creating a US Africa Command headquarters to coordinate all American military and security interests throughout the continent.
The US military involvement in Africa has been shared among the US European Command, the US Central Command and the US Pacific Command, and AFRICOM is currently based in Germany, while a continental location is evisaged in the longer term.
"We will like to eventually situate offices of AFRICOM in an African country. The process of selecting that country is ongoing and we certainly will not do it anywhere that does not welcome the presence of the US military command," the top envoy said.
Source: Yahoo Canada
VOA News