Thread by @DefenseNigeria

Northern Nigeria is bleeding folks, and its bleeding bad. More distressing, West Africa has become the focal point for the global war on terror. It used to be countries like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen etc. Is now Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria,

Mauritania, Guinea, Chad, Cameroon, Senegal.

West Africa is fast becoming the most dangerous place on earth. We all pretend these sensless acts of terrorism in the region is organic. As peddled by certain interest groups. Deep down we know its not.

The terrorists operations in West Africa is unprecedented in history. In Burkina faso 1 million people have been displaced. In Mali that number is 330,000. All in 2021 alone. In Nigeria the situation mutates into a hydra headed monster in an endless circle of violence

..each time incredible gains are made.

Where do we start?

It used to be just Boko Haram. The technical defeat of Boko Haram gave rise to splinter groups like Ansaru Islam, Islamic movement of Nigeria, Libyan Islamic movement fighting group, Nusrat Al Islam.

Unable to face the Nigerian military alone these groups synchronized their operations and carried out multiple attacks. They still suffered unacceptable losses and failed to expand to the rest of Nigeria beyond the northeast. It wasnt luck. They did try.

Then we had herdesmen. They had their 15 minutes of fame with attacks designed to trigger full blown civil war. We had lots of attacks on eastern Nigeria carried out by these herdesmen Interestingly enough the anticipated massive retaliation did not occur.

Then we had ISWAP.

Western pundits claimed if the Nigerian army could not defeat Boko haram, imagine what ISWAP, a larger more powerful militant group joining the fray will do to Nigeria. They predicted the inevitable disintegration of Nigeria. This was way back 2018. When ISWAP began taking

..a severe beating in the northeast and the Nigerian army began bragging of a final offensive to finnish off the group, a band of fighters spontaneously began carrying out senseless attacks in the northwest. Even local gang members have at least a motivating factor, a manifesto

..these band of fighters sprung up spontaneously, going from remote village to villages shooting civilians, opening another front. No statement, no claim of responsibility, no demand from the Nigerian government. Just sensless violence. Soon they came to be known as bandits.

The West have said bad governance is to blame and self hating partisan minded people embrace it, tacitly legitimizing the gradual balkanization of not just the country but the entire region. You hear the common phrase, Africa is plagued by leadership issues. Which invariably

..creates the breeding ground for terrorist groups to emerge.

Well, Africa has had leadership issues since the 60s, people dont decide to become terrorists and blow people up. Its not in the DNA of Africans.

Lets look at ground zero for terrorism in the region. LAKE CHAD

The Lake Chad Basin, which is part of the Sahel is a region with no stable governance. We talking bad governance and a lust for power on a scale that makes Nigeria look like Norway in comparison. In Cameroon half the population have known one leader all their lives.

An 80 year old man that till this day remains President for a staggering 41 years.

In Chad they just transitioned from a 36 year dictatorship to a new dispensation with the son of the late dictator in power. If poor governance leads to poverty and conditions

that makes it a breeding ground for terrorists as they always claim, one would think they will nip the bud by supporting conditions that aids good governance, like condemning dictators and supporting democratic movements.

The reverse is the case. Strong democracies like Nigeria

come under the most attack and condemnation. The significance of Nigeria using her military might to enforce democratic values in the region is played down. Instead autocratic regimes are not only given official recognition, they are offered "unsolicited" military aid

They sign Strategic Defence Cooperations with these countries and start building military bases in countries where poverty, not terrorism is their biggest challenge

Nigeria had a lucky break with the sudden demise of Abacha. It accorded Nigeria another crack at democracy.

The people of Chad were given that lucky break as well with the demise of Idris Derby, a man who squandered the nations oil wealth in less than a decade on bribing military commanders and aquiring arms.

Unlike Nigeria, the democratic process was stifled in Chad. It quickly led

..to a constitutional crises as his 37-
year old son was quickly appointed as the new strongman by the army. Opposition parties and the AU denounce "an institutional coup"and called for the establishment of a transition led by civilians.

The French government blocked the plan.

Lets talk about financing. In 2014 26% of the global kidnaping cases were in Nigeria. Boko Haram received $5.4 million in payment. $3 million of which came from Paris, paid for the release of a French family as they tried to hide it from the Nigerian government.

According to the former U.S Ambasaddor to Mali, in 2010 France paid $17 million in ransom. SEVENTEEN MILLION DOLLARS for the release of four French citizens.

So we have terror groups raking in millions of dollars from France, consolidating and extending their reach

In West Africa, the largest French speaking region in Africa. A coincidence?

France has deployed over 6,100 troops...who by the way dont know they are sacrificial lambs. Because each time a French soldier is killed, it is turned into a propaganda machinery to show the great sacrifises France is making on behalf of Africa.

The French government in turn complains western allies are leaving France to bear the burden alone.

"If you cannot send troops at least support us with logistics"..u dig? A clever bit of subterfuge to weasel their assets.

These countries unwilling to deploy troops are all too happy to oblige.

Ive had French folks on Twitter say "Africa is of no strategic significance, what do they stand to gain".

Africa is the continent of the future folks and they know it. As does China.

They naively allowed China into the World Trade Organization. China in turn stole their manufacturing, their jobs, their economic influence...and now China wants to steal Africa.

Not this time...not without a fight.