It is getting clearer that what told Vice President Yemi Osibajo to Washington DC has energy for a hub. He is working hard to connect matters to green energy and highlight Nigeria's disadvantaged position with respect to the advanced world in this regard and is building a case for debt forgiveness on that.
You see something of a strategy emerging here: borrow, portray your lender in a bad light to blackmail him while at the same time you put in a begging word here and there - all in a bid to get your debt cancelled. Rinse and repeat.
My thought are that Washington wants to use Nigerian energy resources as a rapid deployment means to relieve Europe in the wake of Russia's hard stroke of energy ban on the continent. I don't know what America is offering, but it will definitely include measures to roll back China plus the possibility of certain measures to prepare for wider strategic positioning, given the current state of East-West relations.
Nigeria is seeking debt forgiveness barely 14 years after managing to liquidate its debt stock to grant West energy security. This is exactly the definition of cyclical diplomacy as a result of strategic economic stagnation. It is that bad and that simple. Nigeria has no leverages, simply put and it is back to where it left off 14 years ago.
Well, it is actually worse than having no leverages. This state of affairs amounts to having no plans beyond living to consume. You just want to be out of debt so you can indulge in further consumption.
Nigeria should be using the European energy crisis as a means for obtaining the transfer of advanced technological knowledge at this time, not debt forgiveness. Nigeria should be asking for cooperation with the United States in STEM, for example or the extension of cutting edge technology laboratories to Nigeria. We are asking for debt forgiveness with a beggarly strategy that shows us as a people without honour. That's failure, no matter how you look at it.
How do I think it will go?
Well, things are likely to get decisive quickly due to the onset of winter and the general prognosis for Russia as it battles Ukraine and how China seeks to take advantage of the situation. I believe Nigeria will get what it wants in some forms, maybe more of debt rescheduling. But the West will want something far reaching with respect to its doctrine of containment of China. The US will insist on having a military base in Nigeria. I predict that public opinion will either be neutral or somewhat favourable and we will see how it goes from there.
The US is definitely seeking to consolidate its hold on global power after the recent weakening of its grip in India and the Middle East in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The next phase of global polarity is a squaring off between it and China as Russia slides into insignificance. Yemi Osinbajo in Washington points to groundwork for that emerging world order. That is why it is a purely business meeting with less of glamour and press coverages. You can also try to figure out how the 2023 polls will attract more US attention beyond the need for peace and stability in African most populous country.
Your post has been curated manually by@alend and thanks