Buhari: From Russia to Saudi Arabia with love

President Muhammadu Buhari’s trip to Russia is one whose takeaways would be talk topics for a long time to come. It was by far his most successful foreign trip. I greeted every takeaway with a gleeful applause and a chant of ‘From Russia with love. This is not trivial. Between Nigeria and Russia, there was indeed a love affair which saw Nigeria getting military help of equipment and MIG Fighter aircraft from the Soviet Union, to enable us prosecute and win the war against Biafra. Russia came to Nigeria’s help when the US and Britain, and indeed the West, whom we thought were our allies, refused to grant us assistance. I recall my media baptism of fire when our editorial team was herded into the office of Alhaji Abba Zoru then our Managing Director at Radio Television Kaduna, only to find an angry Governor Abba Kyari of Kaduna State threatening fire and brimstone. Our heinous crime was that we broadcast a commentary that was strongly critical of General Yakubu Gowon, then Head of State on a state visit to the UK. He chose Britain as his first state visit at the end of the civil war, and we felt it should have been the Soviet Union - Russia.

A president’s foreign trip however casual, must have takeaways that enable the country to move by giant leaps, to the benefit of its citizens. Given our intractable Boko Haram challenge and the burgeoning criminal activities of bandits, killer renegades and violent livestock rustlers especially in the North East where I am from, by far my most fundamental takeaways are the military agreements with Russia.

While we wait for two years to take delivery of the Super Tukanos winged fighter aircraft from the US, we can quickly return to the first love of our Air force, the MIG Alpha jets that we can now pick off the shelf in Russia. As Putin puts it, “cheaper, and quicker, yet more durable and efficient”. It was significant that President Buhari secured progress in the languishing bid for the technological upgrade and timely delivery of a balance of seven out of an order for 12 Attack Helicopters. To quote Presidential Spokesman Garba Shehu, “these, and an assortment of military hardware are direly needed by Nigeria to deal with the new wave of crime bedeviling the country.” The Nigeria-Russia military technical agreement will be revived anew, opening doors to the procurement of military hardware, on a “government-to-government basis, eliminating middlemen and reducing cost, as well as the training of military personnel, modernization of the armed forces, refurbishment and renewal of infrastructure and equipment which President Putin said he is ready to assist Nigeria to undertake.”

It was a renewal of marriage vows in a way - enabling Russia and Nigeria to forge ahead in the revival of key Nigerian projects that suffered from the lull of several years, in the relationship between the two countries. The Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill in Kogi State, the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, Ikot-Abasi, Akwa-Ibom State and the opening up of investments in critical sectors are fundamental takeaways. These also include that Nigeria and Russia, working through the NNPC and Russian gas giant, Gazprom, will develop Nigeria’s gas facilities, jointly set up a nuclear power plant for Nigeria and in the not too distant future.

I think President Buhari and Nigeria got off this Sochi Summit remarkably well fulfilled, given the far reaching agreements made. The easy part is over. It is the hard part that begins now and care must be taken that such high sounding resolutions do not again procreate still births like Ajaokuta and ALSCON. These were projects executed almost to completion only for disagreements driven by greed and corruption particularly involving the Nigerian actors, to bring them down to nothing. And Nigeria continuously pays a high price for all such failures. Agreements mean nothing if the outcomes are marred by twists and turns prompted by belligerent unproductive yet corrupt public officers trusted to achieve results for the good of the country. Shameful outcomes include the P&ID scandal for which Nigeria has been fine $9.6bn and is fighting in court. Another is the CCTV coverage of Abuja and Lagos for which Nigeria is repaying and servicing the project’s $460mn of a Chinese loan, sadly with the installations “stolen” while the feuds lasted.

With the Sochi Summit at Russia’s initiation, Buhari and Putin have relit the flame of bilateral relations between our two countries, and it now remains for the ministries and departments, nay, also the Nigerian private sector to ensure that they keep the flame in every area touched in the agreements, burning. Nigeria has been dogged by a syndrome of highly beneficial bilateral investment agreements brought crashing down by bureaucratic red tape, corruption, and outright sabotage. Wary of this, President Buhari has preferred a government-to-government approach and has reached agreements on this. Again a look out for the fifth columnists is advised. They abound in every regime, to hibernate a project however well meant and await the expiration of regimes, until their vested interests are satisfied. Say that about Ajaokuta and ALSCON. Therefore there needs to be put in place immediately, a follow up mechanism designed to ensure that timelines for delivery on the agreements are set and tracked to all logical conclusions.

As it is, President Buhari, smarting from the Russian trip is off again to Saudi Arabia to attend the Future Investment Initiative themed ‘What’s Next for Global Business’. It is going to be a significant summit given the socio-political paradigm shift in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the ascendancy of Mohammed bin Salman as Crown Prince. Nigeria cannot afford to learn the new Arab trajectory second hand and Buhari is best placed to give and secure commitments on derivable benefits to Nigeria. The trip and of course the holiday in London is well worth it.

As it is, President Buhari, smarting from the Russian trip is off again to Saudi Arabia to attend the Future Investment Initiative themed ‘What’s Next for Global Business’. It is going to be a significant summit given the socio political paradigm shift in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the ascendancy of Mohammed bin Salman as Crown Prince