THE United States US Consul-General in Lagos, Will Stevens, has reiterated that his country remains Nigeria’s partner in the fight against insurgency.
Stevens was addressing the perception that apart from selling military hardware like Tucano jets and Attack Helicopters, the US does not support Nigeria to fight its plethora of security challenges.
In an exclusive interview with The Punch, the Consul-General, who is on a three-year tour of duty in Nigeria, said that both countries had only chosen to be discreet about the corroborative efforts aimed at defeating the “bad guys.”
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According to him, “We work together but you won’t see us saying these things; there is a lot of partnership on the field. For example, the US has been a key partner in Nigeria’s fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Stevens explained how the US Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) work closely with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLA) by sharing intelligence and training security operatives.
“I think that is the best kind of support; learning from each other and learning together. Nigerian operatives know more about the drug traffickers than an American DEA agent coming in from Houston.
“One mantra I say all the time is that we don’t need African solutions to African problems, we need African solutions to global problems,” he said.
The Consul-General noted that the US was concerned about the insurgents terrorizing Nigeria because “they are transnational threats, and the same bad guys that deal in drugs, move wildlife products are sometimes involved in oil theft, illegal bunkering and the likes. They are bad guys and they don’t care.”
He added that the US security and support systems “are largely about partnerships and we put our Nigerian partners at the forefront.”
Sinafi Omanga is a multimedia journalist and researcher with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. He has a keen interest in humanitarian reporting, social justice, and environment.
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