Tackling Nigeria’s ‘biggest monster of all’ – corruption

WASHINGTON: The US will offer to help Nigeria’s new leader track down billions of dollars in stolen assets and increase US military assistance to fight Islamic militants, US officials said, as Washington seeks to “reset” ties with Africa’s biggest economy.

Next week’s visit to Washington by President Muhammadu Buhari is viewed by the US administration as a chance to set the seal on improving relations since he won a March election hailed as Nigeria’s first democratic power transi- tion in several decades.

US co-operation with Buhari’s predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, had virtually ground to a halt over issues, including his refusal to investigate corruption and human rights abuses by the Nigerian military.

“President (Barack Obama) has long seen Nigeria as arguably the most important strategic country in sub-Saharan Africa,” US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken told Reuters. “The question is, would there be an opportunity to deepen our engagement and that opportunity is now.”

The improving ties with Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, come as US relations have cooled with two other traditional Africa powers – Egypt and South Africa.

US officials have said they are willing to send military trainers to help Nigeria counter a six-year-old northern insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist movement.

Since Buhari’s election, Washington has committed $5 million (R61.8m) in new sup- port for a multinational task force to fight the group. This is in addition to at least $34 million it is providing to Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger for equipment and logistics.

Buhari’s move on July 13 to fire military chiefs appointed by Jonathan clears the way for more military co-operation, US officials say. “We’ve made clear there are additional things that can be done, especially now that there is a new military leadership in place,” a senior US official said.

Another senior US official said Washington was urging Buhari, a Muslim from the country’s north, to step up regional co-operation against the militants and to provide more aid to afflicted communities to reduce the group’s recruiting power.

Buhari has said his priorities are strengthening Nigeria’s economy, hard-hit by the fall in oil prices, boosting investment, and tackling “the biggest monster of all” – corruption.

“Here, too, he is looking to deepen collaboration and one of the things he is focused on is asset recovery,” the official added.

“He is hopeful we can help recover at least some of that.”

Johnnie Carson, a former assistant secretary of state, said Washington should not let security issues overshadow the need for closer trade ties.

“Nigeria is the most important country in Africa,” said Carson, currently an adviser to the US Institute of Peace.

How Buhari will handle the campaign against Boko Haram is still an unknown.