Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, speaking at the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights annual dinner in Detroit on April 19, 2009. Azikiwe is the chairman of the board of MCHR.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
News Analysis
Acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan met with President Barack Obama on April 11 at the White House as a prelude to the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, D.C. Jonathan was appointed by the Nigerian Senate to take over in the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who has been seriously ill for several months.
The new head of state’s visit comes amid a pivotal point in the country’s history and its relations with the United States. Nigeria still claims to be the leading exporter of crude oil to the U.S. from the African continent, although reports last year indicated that the Southern African nation of Angola had surpassed the West African state in total barrels traded.
ThisDay newspaper published in Nigeria said that the discussions between Jonathan and Obama centered around efforts to stabilize the political situation in the oil producing region of the Niger Delta and the legislative plans underway to restructure the oil industry inside the country. (ThisDay, April 12)
ThisDay newspaper noted that “The US is Nigeria’s biggest customer in the international crude oil market and much of its energy security is directly affected by militant activities in the Niger Delta.” In regard to the plans to reshape the oil industry the same article continues that “Multinational oil companies have expressed worries over the revised fiscal regimes which they claim are unfavorable to their operations.”
The debate surrounding the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has been described as the most extensive overhaul of the petroleum sector since national independence from Britain in 1960. Nigeria’s oil industry has been dominated since 1956 by British, U.S. and European firms who contribute virtually nothing to the development of the country.
In a April 7 Financial Times article it states that in this debate over the future of oil in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous state, the character of relations with the U.S. will be determined. “The Financial Times says that “At stake are tens of billions of dollars of potential investments, and reforms that could breathe new life into an industry that provides 80 percent of the government’s income and one in eight barrels of crude that the US imports.” (Financial Times, April 7)
After the ascendancy of Acting President Jonathan, a new cabinet was appointed where some of the ministers under Yar’Adua were reappointed to different portfolios. Diezani Allison-Madueke was reshuffled to the oil ministry where she will be responsible for handling the PIB.
The Financial Times quotes Osten Olorunsola, Shell’s regional vice-president for gas, in the same above-mentioned article saying that “The PIB is definitely unlikely to pass [through the national assembly] in its current form before the elections (2011). Not passing anything would magnify the overall level of uncertainty.”
Oil minister Allison-Madueke is a former employee of Royal Dutch Shell where she spent 14 years and rose to become its director of external relations. The Financial Times says that “Some industry groups are said to have lobbied for her appointment, reasoning that her background would make her sympathetic to oil companies’ claims that the bill’s tougher terms would jeopardize $50bn of planned investment.”
Prior to the visit of Jonathan to the U.S., the two countries signed a Bi-national Commission Agreement, the first of its kind with Africa under the Obama administration. The two states have extensive economic relations in the oil industry.
In a French Press Agency report it states that “The State Department said bilateral US-Nigerian trade was valued at more than $42 billion dollars in 2008. Nigeria is the United States'largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, thanks in large part to its petroleum industry.
“Nigerian oil comprises eight percent of US imports, while about half of the oil produced in Nigeria goes to the United States. The United States also is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria, including in the offshore oil and gas industries by Exxon-Mobil and Chevron.” (AFP, April 5)
Nigeria and U.S. Security Concerns
Another major item on the agenda during the meeting between Obama and Jonathan was the question of the U.S.’s so-called war on terrorism. Nigeria has been targeted recently because of an incident involving a 23-year-old passenger aboard an airline flight traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25.
Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab was arrested aboard the flight and charged with attempting to ignite explosives on his person. The corporate media reported that Abdulmuttalab had links with al-Qaeda and had traveled to Yemen for meetings and training in explosives.
Yet Abdulmuttalab’s father had warned the U.S. embassy in Nigeria in regard to concerns involving his son’s behavior. Nonetheless, the former Nigerian student who studied in England, did not have his multiple-entry visa revoked.
Umaru Abdul-Muttalab, the father of Umar Farouk, is a well-known banker and former high-ranking Nigerian governmental official. According to Nigeria ThisDay, Jonathan met with Umaru Abdul-Muttalab prior to his departure for the United States.
“Muttalab was believed to have discussed his earlier trip to the U.S. with Jonathan. During that trip, he met with American security officials regarding his son’s failed terror attack and for which the young man is being prosecuted.” (ThisDay, April 9)
In response to the December 25 incident in Detroit, Nigeria along with numerous other states around the world were targeted by the U.S. for special scrutiny at airports inside the country and those bound for it. There has been strong objections against the listing of Nigerians as possible security threats to the U.S.
Behind the Nuclear Security Summit
The meeting held by the Obama administration and representatives of 47 nations is taking place in the aftermath of the signing of a new agreement with Russia. During the signing, Obama made special mention of both Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as states posing possible threats to international security resulting from their nuclear programs.
Iran has maintained that its nuclear programs are strictly for civilian purposes. The DPRK is reported to have developed a limited nuclear weapons capability and has also tested missiles that have drawn protest from the United States and the United Nations Security Council.
However, the State of Israel, which has been reported to possess nuclear weapons capability, has not been questioned or pressured by the U.S. and other imperialist states about its military intentions. The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would not attend the Nuclear Security Summit due to the intentions of Egypt and Turkey to question the Zionist state over its reported possession of a nuclear arsenal.
The summit represents another effort on the part of the United States to dictate the terms of nuclear weapons capability. Those states that are allied with the U.S., such as Pakistan and India, are allowed to possess nuclear weapons, whereas nations that take a political line independent of imperialism, are threatened with sanctions and military actions.
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