Elected president of Nigeria on March 1st, President Tinubu made a private visit to France on March 22nd. He returned there in mid-May and then on June 22nd, 2023, as part of the summit for a new global financial pact. The president of Africa’s largest economy is very close to France, similar to Goodluck Jonathan who unfortunately played a chaotic role in the fight against terrorism in the Lake Chad region.
During his time, Goodluck Jonathan had abandoned the northeast of Nigeria to the Boko Haram terrorists, who had established a sort of focal point for the Islamic State. Tinubu, who has a criminal record in the USA, accused of drug trafficking and money laundering, will lead Nigeria with a sword of Damocles hanging over him. The question remains whether he will be a free and upright leader.
Since Macron’s arrival, France, which spares no effort to maintain its influence in its sphere of influence, has now been ousted from countries that were once considered its exclusive domain. Burkina Faso, Mali, and now Niger, the West has chosen to react by proxy, relying on Nigeria’s ability to mobilize ECOWAS military forces to intervene first in Niger, then in Mali, and then in Burkina Faso.
Tinubu’s warlike ambitions have quickly faced fierce opposition from the Nigerian parliament. While all countries plagued by terrorism are increasing their geopolitical alliances with various strategic security partners, Tinubu, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, preferred to seek the help of the UN in the fight against Boko Haram. The UN and its forces were expelled from the Central African Republic yesterday, and today from Mali and the DRC.
This attitude of Tinubu suggests that Nigeria could be the new Trojan horse of the imperialists in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the French sphere of influence. This is likely the reason why the continent’s largest economy has been sidelined to the detriment of Egypt and Ethiopia after their requests to join the BRICS.
“As President Jacques Chirac pointed out in 2008, ‘Without Africa, France would slide into the ranks of Third World powers.’ This perspective was reaffirmed in a 2013 report by the French Senate, ‘Africa is our future.’ Consequently, the mere existence of anti-imperialist governments anywhere in the region is intolerable to Paris.” – The Gayzone