Since Buhari became president in 2015, he’s tried many different methods to tackle Nigeria’s worrying security crisis.
His administration has tried brute military force, paid ransom to terrorists, given them amnesty and verbally warned and pleaded with them to stop terrorising Nigerians.
“Can you cease terrorism and let me look good for one minute?”
Since all of these have failed to solve the crisis, Buhari is going for something new and is tackling insecurity by *checks note* buying exotic vehicles for another country.
Wait, what?
In February 2022, President Giveaway approved a ₦1.2 billion contract awarded to Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited. The contract covered the delivery of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 SUVs to the government of Niger Republic. Each one of these vehicles costs N806 million and looks something like this:
What Boko Haram terrorist will see this monster and not flee?
Why did Buhari use Nigeria’s money to make such a huge investment in Niger Republic? For security, apparently. He did it because Niger Republic “requested for logistic support”. In which case, if that’s how easy it is to get anything out of Buhari, we’d like to request a bottle of 10% GDP growth and a side dish of single-digit inflation.
The details of the Toyota affair first made their way online in a Sahara Reporters’ report in June 2022. But it wasn’t until independent journalist, David Hundeyin, tweeted a screenshot of an official budget office document on August 2nd, 2022 that it really caught the attention of Nigerians.
And it was at that point that it was too hot for the government to ignore.
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So, what did the government say?
When journalists questioned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, about the Toyota deal at a media briefing on August 3rd, 2022, she pretty much claimed that Nigeria is helping Niger to help Nigeria.
The minister said it’s not the first time that Nigeria is helping Niger and other immediate neighbouring countries like Cameroon and Chad to enhance their security capacity as it’s in Nigeria’s best interests.
But what exactly are these vehicles for?
Before we go on, remember, again, that this is what the vehicles look like:
According to the document in Sahara Reporters’ report, the vehicles aren’t billed to patrol the borders or pursue Boko Haram terrorists troubling both countries. They’re actually meant for the protection of VIPs.
The vehicles will be used to assist Niger in the transportation and movement of high-ranking officials, top government functionaries and foreign VIPs visiting the country. That’s it. Nigeria basically bought a convoy of exotic cars for Niger Republic officials to feel safer.
ALSO READ: How Buhari Has Freed 1,629 “Repentant” Boko Haram Members
What’s Buhari’s obsession with Niger Republic?
Buhari has maintained many times that Nigeria needs to keep a cordial relationship with its close neighbours to enhance the fight against trans-border terrorism. But his open bromance with Niger Republic is especially suspicious.
His administration’s decision to build a 284km rail line to Niger for nearly $2 billion continues to raise eyebrows. The president’s pattern of behaviour when it comes to Niger has inevitably given life to conspiracy theories that he’s actually a citizen of the neighbouring country. This wasn’t helped by the fact that he once kind of admitted he has first cousins from there, in a bid to defend his rail project.
If there’s any lick of truth to that theory, then we can explain Buhari’s pattern of behaviour as nothing more than Niger’s biggest export using Nigeria’s money to do diaspora remittance.
Like the Minister of Finance said, there’s nothing much Nigerians can do about it other than exercise their rights to ask questions. And Nigerians have been asking questions like, “What the fuck?” and “What about ASUU?”
But will Buhari provide answers? Or is he already preparing the next giveaway to his first cousins in Niger?
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