allAfrica.com * Citizens Should Accept It - Emmah Isong Leadership (Abuja) NEWS 23 December 2007 Posted to the web 26 December 2007 By Atang Izang Abuja The Unified Command for Africa, otherwise called AFRICOM, an initiative of the United States, has received the support of a top pentecostal preacher. And he is urging Nigerians to accept the initiative in good faith. Dr. Rev. Emmah Isong, general overseer of the Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI), Calabar, in an exclusive interview with Leadership Sunday, appealed to the Nigerian public to take the latest development in American-African treaty as a necessary evil. The cleric stated: "I told Nigerians that it is too late to resist Western influence in African nations because of our level of poverty. We are politically free but not politically delivered; we are economically independent but not financially independent. Nigerians fear formalities: an example is the Bakassi issue. Isaac prophesied to Esau: one day the dominion shall be destroyed. Until we destroy that dominion by putting our home in order, please let's keep accepting whatever peanuts we are offered." The clergyman also spoke on a variety of issues of national importance, which include the endless Niger Delta crises, the activities of the anti-graft agency (EFCC), the election tribunal sittings across the nation and the reform programmes of the incumbent Yar'Adua-led administration. He predicted a better future for Nigerians politically and economically. Meanwhile, the AFRICOM issue has continued to elicit more and intense debates and criticisms from the wider spectrum of the Nigerian populace and stakeholders, even as the president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, seemed to have assented to the American idea of a unified command structure for the continent. Penultimate week, the Nigerian president, who was on official visit to the United States, told correspondents that the outcome of his meeting with President George Walker Bush at the Oval Office was "fruitful". After the historic meeting, the president spoke: "We have discussed security issues and the security within Nigeria itself, within the Niger Delta region and within the Gulf of Guinea. "And we have also discussed security issues ...peace and security on the African continent. And we shall partner with America to assist not only Nigeria, but also the African continent to actualise its peace and security initiative, which is an initiative to help standby forces of brigade size in each of the regional economic groupings within the African continent." Although President Yar'Adua has since denied that he assented to or okayed AFRICOM, many stakeholders that cut across diplomacy, security and military who spoke to LEADERSHIP Sunday differed on the issue. Gen IBM Haruna (rtd) When Leadership Sunday sought to know his position on AFRICOM Gen. Haruna who spoke on phone didn't mince words, as he retorted in a sharp and concise statement: "It is a worthless exercise and unacceptable to Africa. Rather, Africa should continue to defend its sovereignty." Brigadier-General Chukwuma (rtd) In the words of Brigadier-general Chukwuma, one-time Defence (DHQ) spokesman, "the government knows what it wants, so whatever the government decides to do, I am on its side". Dr. Joseph Golwa Dr. Joseph Golwa, who is the director-general of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, also spoke on phone to our correspondent, noting that President Yar'Adua made clear the decision of the country to partner with the United States on security. "On the matter, we stand by it. If the president took the decision, we abide by it," he emphasised. Dr. Golwa, however, said as an individual he was still studying the security implication of it. "This new thing America is trying to establish within the Gulf of Guinea region should be studied carefully, so that whatever development comes out of it should be in the interest of the security of the nation," he explained. Brigadier-General Fred Chijuka (rtd) In the view of the former Defence spokesman, Brigadier-General Fred Chijuka, the president's decision was based on advice given to him. "Nigeria has been on friendly terms with the United States; the relationship has been wonderful as they have trained our personnel with the manpower we don't have. I think I agree with him, but if it does work out, fine; it is subject to review". Dr. Kabiru Mato "I personally do not see any benefit from hosting such an invading army. It has not proven to have impacted any positively on all those previous cases and, as such, if history is anything to rely on, then, Nigerians must continue to encourage their government to take pro-active steps in ensuring that the command is not successful. In my view, it is an intrusion. It is another way of colonising the continent. "By the way, why wouldn't African leaders pay more attention to the need to have an African High Command that will play several roles among which is the intervention role in areas of intra-African conflicts?" Dr. Mato's comment on AFRICOM appeared in his Tuesday column in LEADERSHIP, Thursday, December 18, 2007. Danladi Elvis Bot (Research Fellow, African Centre For Security And Research Study, NDC) He said that establishing a United States Africa command to support a region that has demonstrated strategic interest follows the course of previous commands. "By establishing AFRICOM, it can be said that the US can acknowledge Africa's strategic importance and unite the US-Africa policy under one command." he stated. Bot, however, observed that, more important than an African command, the US government should try to correct some of the imbalances following through on some of its past pledges to sharply increase development assistance to African countries, removing conditions on eligibility for debt relief, and dropping its insistence that a substantial portion of its 15 billion-dollar AIDS programme be spent on abstinence-only project. "To ensure adequate security for American citizens, assets and investments which, any way, constitute the sole purpose of AFRICOM, it may have been necessary for the US government to first of all concentrate its efforts on urgently helping to build up Africa's ailing socio-political and economic base," he cautioned. General William E. (Kip) Ward, the AFRICOM commandant, while responding to questions from the US Senate Armed Services Committee, as part of his confirmation process, had this to say: "Africa's focus will be to build a stable security environment that will enable Africans to pursue broader goals, such as economic security. We believe that the security aspect - one part of the "three-pronged" approach - should be accomplished under US Department of Defence leadership. AFRICOM will support the other two prongs, with the state department conducting diplomacy, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) carrying out development work." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2007 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------