allAfrica.com * Why US Wants to Establish Military Base in the Country -Malu Daily Trust (Abuja) INTERVIEW 24 November 2007 Posted to the web 24 November 2007 By Suleiman Mohammed & Olumide Bajulaye Lagos Some years ago when he was the Chief of Army Staff, General Victor Malu opposed the presence of American military in Nigeria. This earned him the fury of the then Commander-in-Chief, and Malu was consequently retired. Two weeks ago, the Americans renewed their moves to set up their African Command (AFRICOM) in Nigeria, but the Council of State rejected this. In this interview, Malu explained how the US first made its efforts, why he opposed it and what setting up an American military base here would mean. WT: The Council of State recently rejected the setting up of a US military African Command (AFRICOM) in Nigeria. When you were army chief some years ago, you rejected similar moves. What informed your action then? Malu: What the Americans wanted to do was not to set up a command. The Americans because of five years of Abacha's administration that blocked Americans from developing or updating their intelligence on armed forces of Nigeria took the opportunity of somebody who had no knowledge about military in the name of Obasanjo to come and associate with him and convinced him that they wanted to train us for peace-keeping. Americans cannot claim that they want to train us for peace-keeping. We've succeeded in peace-keeping where Americans have not succeeded. What they wanted was to update their intelligence on the armed forces of a wretched country like Nigeria with all the sanctions on it. So they came and told Obasanjo that they wanted to train us for peace-keeping. In Liberia, of the 16 member states of the ECOWAS, 10 of them took part in the peace-keeping. Some sent a token of 11 men, some 16 men, but it was still a contingent from those countries. Why America would choose to come and train Nigeria that provided the cream of the peace-keepers? It didn't take anybody with analytical mind before they know what the Americans wanted. Any other person would have told them thank you, but we don't give our intelligence or armed forces on a silver plate. But that was what Obasanjo jumped on. And unfortunately, for him I was the COAS. Making me COAS does not mean I was a slave. I am a general who knew my job, who wanted the job to be done in a respectable way. So I went and met General Danjuma to explain to him that these people are not coming to train us for peace-keeping. In fact, they are not capable of training us on peace-keeping. Peace-keeping is not a nuclear, it is not a biological, it is not a chemical warfare. That is what an infantry man does, that is what we do in Liberia better than anybody else. Ambassador Howard Jetter, who later became American ambassador to Nigeria, represented the American government on the Liberia crisis. He wrote a report to the American government on the completion of our mission after we have supervised one of the most successful elections in Africa, and told them that from his personal observation, if America in future wants to assist any of the regions that has its military component such as ECOWAS they should not talk about sending anybody, that the troops he met are competent, they are determined, they have the skills to do the type of job he doesn't think any Americans would come and do in a third world country. I had two copies of that report. I made a mistake, I gave them to General Danjuma, I knew I can never get the copies again. I would have reproduced that report verbatim so that Nigerians would know what I was talking about. To make matters worse, even when we have reluctantly accepted because of the pressure from our Commander-in-Chief, to allow the Americans to train us, the Americans insisted they must live in the barracks with the soldiers. I left Abuja and flew to Sokoto to go and meet the governor, to plead with him to give us an area outside the barracks we would prepare it for the Americans. The governor accepted to do that. But the Americans turned it down insisting that they must live in the barracks with soldiers. I asked General Danjuma who was my GOC as far back as 1970, I said sir, you are my GOC in 1970, would you have allowed any army of any other country to come and stay with your own troops in the barracks? Well, at a point I didn't know whether he understood me or not, but this was the type of argument that was going on. I don't have direct evidence but I have every conviction in my mind that it was due to the interference of the Americans when they found out that I was becoming a stumbling block that they gave Obasanjo as a condition for their cooperating with him that he must get rid of the COAS. So the retirement of chief of air staff and chief of naval staff was just a sacrifice because Obasanjo wouldn't have known how to explain to Nigerians what General Malu did to be retired. So he had to sacrifice them. I called the two of them and apologized to them that you are leaving this job on my account. Personally, I don't have any disappointment I did take the job because of the name, not a question of the pride that people are calling me COAS. I wanted an imprint on the Nigerian Army. It is the only job I have done. I like this profession. I want to be on record that when General Malu was COAS, he transformed the Nigeria army. WT: How do you see the current rejection of the American AFRICOM by the Council of State? Malu: Once in a while we get some cheering news and I was very excited when I saw that. Because a lot of people called me when I was in London. I said I don't want to respond, until I come back. No nation can claim they have more interest than you your self. Most of the foreign officers who come here on the pretence to train us or do something or the other are people we have trained together. We attended courses together in their country and beat them. We attended courses with them in the UK and do better than them in those courses. So, how do they come back to start teaching us? If you are coming to obtain intelligence at least find a good excuse that will make it like you are doing something for us. In the case of America in particular, America has never done anything for any country because they like the country. They look at what they will benefit out of it. The issue of African Command is nothing but because of the oil interest on the Gulf of Guinea, going out to the Coast of Liberia and so on. Americans are finding an easy place where they can extract oil, and you know is a much shorter route than going around to go to the Middle East. African has the capability of taking up such a command. First of all, the achievement of ECOMOG that was documented everywhere today was something we recommended to the ECOWAS that look you have done what has never been done anywhere else. Keep those troops that were deployed from ECOMOG. We are saying you should keep them separately, but retain them as units, wherever, they are just like other soldiers in your country. Continue to train them. What should be done in the interim is standardizing equipment, because that was one of the problems we had in ECOMOG command. Some people came with equipment that were not compatible with anybody. People from Senegal thought it was America that equipped them and when the Americans started getting dissatisfied with us they took them back. Nigeria came with equipment that was compatible with even Ghana that is our closest friend, so what we recommended was that maintain those troops they have brought a large operational experience, keep on training them in the mean time. Unfortunately, by time we achieved this feat and came out, that is when Obasanjo came out of the prison and started criticizing General Babangida, criticizing late General Abacha for maintaining troops on the ECOMOG. He did not even bother to understand what ECOMOG is all about. Because that was a popular thing in Nigeria then. To say that so much money was spent on ECOMOG is a total lie. WT: There is this report people are finding difficult to believe. Right now, the American soldiers are occupying the last floor of the Defense Ministry. Malu: I was in service before that happened. I remember I resisted that I was not going to have any American soldiers sitting with me in the building. That is to prove to you what I am trying to say. When America came we had a defence headquarters in the same place we have some blocks reserved for the Navy and the Air force. Americans are not interested in any of this, it was only where the army was. Having people sitting on one floor on top of you is like sitting with you, watching and observing everything you are doing. Obasanjo in his insecure mind brought those people here to protect him against the over throwing of the government by the Nigeria Army. Who wanted to over throw the government? By 1985 I went to IBB to ask him for a favour, that he should exclude me from any political appointment and I had just left Lagos then for Port Harcourt, so I say the second request is that I want to have field experience, I have stayed too long in Lagos. IBB is alive today ask him he will confirm it to you. So is it many years after I become old that I want to overthrow government to become what? The only message I have for the Nigeria Army is that Obasanjo did not give me any kobo to run Nigerian Army. I was going around preaching to them that if anybody wanted to overthrow the government let them do it after General Malu had left the service. WT: Do you know what informed the latest moves by the Americans to set up their military base in Nigeria? Malu: I have explained that to you already, you know the crisis in the Middle East with the potential of what will even happen. If America wants to create democracy by use of force they would have invaded Saudi Arabia. Look at countries that they felt they could attack with just too much sympathy. Is it not the same Americans who equipped the Iraqis with every possible type of weapon to humiliate the Iranians for taking them hostage in the 80s? The reason is that, because of the crisis in the Middle East they are now looking to other places. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2007 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------