N1.4bn donation to Niger Republic in order

A former Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandede, has said there is nothing wrong with Nigeria making donations to other African countries.
Such gestures, he said, are important especially because it is part of ECOWAS protocol for countries in the subregion to assist one another.
He made the comments during a PREMIUM TIMES Twitter Space conversation on Wednesday.
He was commenting on a recent report that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the purchase and donation of vehicles, worth N1.4 billion, to neighbouring Niger Republic.
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the report to journalists. She said the donation was to help Niger Republic address its security concerns and that such donations by Nigeria to its neighbours were common.
She also said it is the president’s prerogative to take such decisions after a careful assessment of the situation.
The news triggered outrage among many Nigerians who called out the federal government for playing the big brother role to African countries amid dwindling revenue and with university lecturers on strike for months.
Mr Babandede, who agreed with the minister’s explanation, said Niger Republic is part of the free movement zone of Nigeria and so, any strategy to enhance security in that neighbouring country is important for Nigeria.

The former NIS boss said the “noise” surrounding the revelation is unnecessary because Nigeria’s border starts where Niger Republic’s ends and is also part of the Multinational Joint Task Force.

When asked what is in it for Nigeria, he said the country stands to gain a lot but that the country has to be more “strategic in her donations.”
“We have helped Namibia and others but we did not follow up the strategic investment and for that, Nigerians can complain about lack of capacity.”
On his part, Seun Kolade, a professor, queried the federal government for failing to clarify the purpose of the donations other than just stating “security” as the reason for the giving.
He said it is necessary for the president and the government to state what kind(s) of security interventions he wanted to make and why cars had to be purchased.
This, he said, will create room for transparency and trust between the government and the people.
“There is also the failure of political communication. It would have been great if the government came up and explained or stated its intentions rather than keep mute,” he said. “Part of these government interventions is that it has also raised questions about priorities and ethnic sentiments. It will be nice to see a breakdown of the government’s commitment to all these countries.”

While Umar Yakubu, the executive director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, noted that every serious country must have security, defence, and foreign and political policies.
He also urged Nigerians to discard the argument that the country is giving out aid to other countries amid economic problems because the president has the power to do so and that doing so is beneficial to Nigeria.

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