Canadian visas and USAID dollars: Nigeria’s leadership must stop begging for respect, start earning it
This has been a double whammy week for Nigeria, with two incidents that have dented our national pride and image. First, Canada had the effrontery to deny the Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, General Christopher Musa, and other military officers visas to attend the Invictus Games in Vancouver. Then, there was the matter of […]
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This has been a double whammy week for Nigeria, with two incidents that have dented our national pride and image. First, Canada had the effrontery to deny the Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, General Christopher Musa, and other military officers visas to attend the Invictus Games in Vancouver. Then, there was the matter of the impact of the USAID funding freeze imposed by US President Donald Trump and allegations that USAID may have been funding Boko Haram.
Reactions from Nigerian officials have been defiant and sometimes impulsive, such as National Security Adviser Malam Nuhu Ribadu’s outburst that Canada “can go to hell.” The CDS also doubled down yesterday, proclaiming that Nigeria will not tolerate disrespect from any country.
Beyond the emotional damage these incidents have caused Nigeria, they expose the rut the country has driven itself into. We may be outraged because our pride has been wounded by someone other than ourselves, but the question is: has Nigeria done enough to earn the respect it demands? When crucial parts of our country’s well-being—our health sector and national security—are compromised by foreign aid freezes or foreign fund injections, does that suggest we have had the visionary leadership needed to position us as a country not to be trifled with?
Beyond his outburst, Ribadu said something right: “This is yet another reason we must work hard to make Nigeria work.” At the same occasion, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, added that the visa denial should serve as a reminder for Nigeria to “stand on its own, stand strong as a nation, and ensure it is no longer taken for granted.”
What the two men did not say, however, is that if Canada takes Nigeria for granted, it is because Nigeria’s leaders have taken the country for granted for far too long. The leadership style we have pursued and the system of producing leaders in this country have favoured the emergence of individuals who put their personal interests ahead of the nation’s.
There is a reason the USAID funding freeze is causing considerable concern in Nigeria. USAID has been funding health, education, economic development, agriculture and governance projects in Nigeria. It has funded the water resource management programme, WASH, nutrition development, and humanitarian development, among others.
The freeze could significantly affect the AIDS relief programme that provides vital HIV prevention, care, and treatment services to thousands of afflicted Nigerians. In short, the cut in USAID funds poses a severe threat to Nigeria’s public health challenges. This is a problem because, for decades, the leadership of the country has taken these sectors for granted.
For decades, we have underspent and insufficiently invested in these vital sectors. Poor policy implementation, weak governance and accountability, and the absence of transition plans for immunisation and HIV programmes have ensured that, without the crutch of foreign aid, these sectors cannot stand on their own. Our system is so compromised from a fiscal perspective that we cannot adequately cover the gap created by the funding freeze because we are busy servicing debts.
Beyond the impact of the freeze on some key sectors, one of the most controversial talking points has been the allegation that USAID has been funding Boko Haram. Claims by US Congressman Scott Perry have gained considerable traction, and their implications have been dissected and analysed thoroughly. The key question is: what is the evidence and what is the motive?
Barely a month ago, the CDS, Gen. Musa, was interviewed on Al Jazeera, where he made some arguments. In that interview, he stated that some Boko Haram suspects were caught with dollars and urged Nigerians to inquire where the money was coming from.
My column of January 9, 2025, titled “The Problem with General Musa’s Al Jazeera Interview,” addressed the shortcomings of his postulations. Who is supposed to know where the money is coming from if not those with access to the suspects and intelligence reports?
Whether USAID is funding Boko Haram or not should be a secondary concern at this moment. The primary concern should be: why is it that, in over a decade, Nigeria and its leadership have failed to identify where the funding is coming from, and who is responsible for it? Why haven’t we taken the lead in securing our country and are instead content to point fingers at any foreign entity that moves with childish insinuations?
The same foreign entities we rely on for aid to provide water and much-needed drugs for our people. The answer is simple: it reflects a lack of proactive leadership and weak governance. No country with that kind of leadership failure will command respect within the comity of nations.
How else could you explain our reluctance to protect our borders and then blame foreign agents for destabilising our country? Of course, foreign agents exist to advance their country’s interests. That is their job. Your job is to defend your country. That is why your office exists. That is why a significant portion of our budget has been devoted to defence, yet we are somehow left with a country that is as porous as a sponge in water.
The notion that foreign agents could easily enter Nigeria, fly helicopters, and distribute cash to terrorists reflects a failure to acknowledge our weak governance structures that have left vast swathes of the country ungoverned and an army of disgruntled citizens.
The call by both Nuhu Ribadu and the CDS is resonant. It is high time Nigeria stopped looking to pin our failings on perceived foreign enemies. Nigeria needs the kind of leadership that doesn’t complain over emotional injuries, but one that prioritises self-sufficiency, emphasises the development and welfare of its people, and builds the necessary infrastructure that supports decent living and basic amenities.
Crucially, we need leadership that is proactive, that takes the lead in advancing our interests, rather than reacting when others’ interests are imposed on us. We must stop depending on foreign aid to fund key sectors of our national well-being and advance this country from a vulnerable third-world nation to a first. This requires that the leadership at all levels cut down on unnecessary lavish spending and redirect these resources into building national infrastructure that will develop the country.
Singapore has shown that this is possible within a short period. Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of that country, demonstrated that with the right leadership, a country can break free from the shackles of poverty and exploitation and become an economic force in the world. He outlined the roadmap in his book, ‘From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000.’
Yew’s roadmap includes leadership that can provide: a) clear vision and long-term planning, b) resilience and tenacity, c) an innovative approach (Nigeria desperately needs this), d) strict governance, and e) meritocracy, among others. These are some of the qualities and strategies that played a vital role in Singapore’s remarkable transformation under Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership. Today, Singapore is not reliant on foreign aid to provide healthcare or water for its populace, and it is not opening its doors to foreign agents to destabilise the country. It is a nation that is highly respected because of the leadership that turned a small city-state into an economic power in the world.
Ironically, Kano State alone is 10 times the size of Singapore, and Nigeria is far richer, with far more resources. With visionary leadership at all levels, from local to state and national, committed to building a nation rather than a few wealthy individuals, Nigeria can easily position itself in a way that no country, be it the US or Canada, would take us for granted.