On Tchiani’s gambit against Nigeria

In a Christmas day interview with the state-owned National Television of Niger, the head of the ruling military junta in the country, General Abdulrahamane Tchiani, made some allegations bordering on security challenges in his country in which he linked Nigeria and France as joint perpetrators. General Tchiani accused France, the former colonial ruler of Niger […]

In a Christmas day interview with the state-owned National Television of Niger, the head of the ruling military junta in the country, General Abdulrahamane Tchiani, made some allegations bordering on security challenges in his country in which he linked Nigeria and France as joint perpetrators.

General Tchiani accused France, the former colonial ruler of Niger which was recently ousted from the country, of allying with terrorist groups in the Lake Chad area of Borno in the North East and in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi areas of Northwestern Nigeria in conjunction with the Nigerian government to destabilise Niger.  

In the interview, Tchiani pointedly accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and a former Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Rufai, of receiving undisclosed sums of money as inducement to allow the establishment of forward operating bases for the infiltration and destabilisation of Niger by insurgent forces based in Borno State.

“Nigerian authorities cannot claim to be unaware of these activities going on in those places,” Tchiani was quoted as saying in the interview. 

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Tchiani’s allegations were immediately refuted and condemned by relevant Nigerian authorities. Ribadu described Tchiani’s statement as “baseless and false.”

Nigeria, the NSA said, would never “sabotage Niger or allow any disaster to befall it.” Ribadu further explained that Nigeria had in the past rejected overtures by Britain and the United States of America to establish military bases in the country and would not change that policy now. He challenged the Nigerien and foreign media houses to visit the areas mentioned by Tchiani and verify if indeed the allegations of French military bases or insurgent activities targeted at Niger were happening.  

Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris speaking for the government said the allegation was a “diversionary tactic aimed at covering his (Tchiani’s) administration’s failures.”  

ECOWAS, the regional economic and political bloc which has President Tinubu as its Chairman of Heads of State, also refuted Tchiani’s allegations. In its statement, ECOWAS said Nigeria has “for years, supported the peace and security of several countries not only in the West African sub-region but also on the African continent.” ECOWAS, therefore, refuted any suggestion that such a generous and magnanimous country would become a state sponsor of terrorism.

It was not surprising that Tchiani’s allegations against Nigeria and France drew a lot of interest not only in Nigeria and Niger but in the entire West African sub-region and beyond. Coming from a sitting ruler of a state who also doubles as a military officer, the weight of these statements jolted the imagination of many who monitored and digested the contents.  

Could it be true that Nigeria will allow France to set up a base on its soil with the purpose of destabilising a sister country like Niger, with whom it shares many things? Could Nigeria, which itself had been grappling with terrorist insurgency for years, turn around to support such acts against a neighbouring country?

The cautious credence initially lent to Tchiani’s allegations by many turned to utter disappointment when concrete evidence by way of media investigation conducted in the areas mentioned by Tchiani proved that no such thing alleged by the Nigerien leader existed. Physical investigation in Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto and Borno states as well as interviews conducted with inhabitants of the areas including community leaders by both the Daily Trust newspaper and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yielded no evidence or traces of foreign military presence in those areas as alleged by Tchiani.  

“He who alleges must prove”, says a well-known aphorism. For making those grave and weighty allegations, the onus is on Tchiani to come forward with unexpurgated evidence of his claims. And since he has not been able to prove such, he must prepare to bear the consequences of his unguarded and impulsive claims which cast him in a negative light before the world.

“It is a dangerous and reckless gambit by Tchiani in his bid to shore up his junta’s flagging fortunes with the Nigerien people. At this stage of Niger’s self-imposed isolation, no thanks to the Tchiani junta, the least the people need is the ramping up of tensions with the kind of reckless statement made against Nigeria, the one country that has been working to resolve the impasse in the country. And it carries the risk of further escalating the difficult situation into which his junta has plunged Niger with its continued stay in power.

“This, more than anything else, questions Tchiani’s suitability and messianic claims in truncating the civilian administration of President Bazoum who is still being held.

“It underscores the need for Tchiani and his military colleagues to hasten and return Niger to civilian rule as their continued stay can only worsen the situation rather than improve it.” 

For the administration of President Tinubu, it is instructive that many Nigerians showed an inclination to believe Tchiani’s claims when he made them. There are some who still believe his outrageous allegations even after they have been disproved. This clearly shows the level of deficit in trust and disconnect that exists between the administration and Nigerians, which can be attributed to the lack of transparency and the opaqueness in the implementation of policies by the administration.

A matter like the recent agreement signed between Nigeria and France was shrouded in secrecy without full disclosure of the salient aspects of it to Nigerians.

In this regard, it should not come as surprising if some Nigerians were prepared to give Tchiani the benefit of the doubt over the Tinubu administration in his unsubstantiated allegations. Going forward, the Tinubu administration must work to close this gap in confidence and trust with the Nigerian people.