By; MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM, Kaduna.
Former Senate President, Ameh Ebute has faulted the comment made by US congressman, Tom Marino on Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
It could be recalled that the US Congressman in a letter to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of running an autocratic government as he called on US government not to offer any assistance to the government to fight Boko Haram insurgency.
The former Senate president who disclosed this in a letter sent to the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister dated September 6, 2016, asked Nigerian Government to petition the Congressman Marino through diplomatic channels available.
According to Ebute, the congresman need to be told to limit himself to what he is knowledgeable about instead of interfering into Nigeria’s politics which by all indications he knows nothing about. “I therefore crave your indulgence to use your office to send a strong message to Congressman Tom Marino, the US Congress and the United States Government that the era of imperialism is over and discussions about mutual cooperation should not be exploited to pass ignorant judgment on Nigeria or any other nation for that matter.
“The offer for assistance in the fight against insurgency is not entirely for the benefit of Nigeria since Nigeria is already defeating Boko Haram. The gesture is one that rather would go a long way to secure the West Africa sub-region from terrorism as it has become a global concern. To the extent that a Nigeria free of terrorism will contribute to a more secured world and the Americans would actually be helping themselves by offering this assistance since that country is the one in the crosshair of terrorists.
“What is saddening is the realisation that within Nigeria there is a section of the population that erroneously think Marino has done them the favour of providing ammunition to continue their unyielding attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.This however cannot be further from the truth as the letter is an attack onNigeria as a country, which in Marino’s view is nothing but an outpost of the US,” he said.
He explained further that Marino’s letter contained so many in accuracies and outright lies’ insisting that the letter was driven by the belief that his country remains an imperial lord over Nigeria and other nations and stressed that that is a sentiment Nigeria must not allow.
