Surprisingly, Nigeria and Iran helped the US overcome the Arab oil embargo imposed on the US and some European countries for their support to Israel in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War between Arabs and Israel. A war Henry Kissinger and his Bilderberg colleagues plotted to raise oil prices by 400 percent in an effort to save the collapsing dollar as de facto reserve currency.
Washington looked for someone it could call a trusted friend in Nigeria, like the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who was put in power in a military coup of 1953 as America’s trusted friend in a Washington-London sponsored coup that overthrew the democratically elected nationalist prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh whose only offense was for daring nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil (BP) assets in 1951. Singled out as someone it could entrust its vast interests in Nigeria, particularly Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, Olusegun Obasanjo soon became Washington’s sweetheart.
His senior officers’ training in Britain in 1974 became an excellent opportunity for Washington to quicken the development of strategic friendship.
The coup of July 29, 1975 which elevated him to the position of Chief of Staff and second-in-command to Gen Murtala Mohammed, paved the way for the formalization of this long lasting marriage — still strong.
But it’s the assassination of Gen Murtala Mohammed on February 13, 1976 in a coup covertly organized by the CIA and MI6 to stop him from going ahead with his planned oil industry nationalization agenda which cleared the way for Obasanjo to become head of state and to supervise American interests in Nigeria.
His official receptions in both the White House and Camp David on October 11, 1977 cemented this friendship. That’s why in a toast, Carter said ”.…I’m very proud to see our relationship with Nigeria improving rapidly…even though there have been differences of opinion in the last few years which are now being rapidly alleviated….I’m determined…to join in with General Obasanjo to assure that these demonstrations of progress are continued at an accelerating rate in the future.”
After Nigeria’s long military rule and economic mismanagement covertly supervised by Washington, Washington still needed Obasanjo, who was kept on standby all these years, to return to power as a democratic president both as a payback for the long friendship and for protecting and promoting American oil interests in Nigeria.
Not because Abiola was sole financier of the demand for slavery reparations that made him an enemy of Washington to the extent that he shouldn’t be allowed to become Nigerian president. Abiola’s presidential ambition was part of the carefully orchestrated plan to use him to pave the way for Obasanjo. Why and how?
The CIA constructed the whole events leading to the June 12, 1993. The consensus in Washington was that should Abiola be refused presidency, to appease South Westerners, the north would be willing to support the candidacy of Obasanjo as a democratic president.
Even Abacha’s incarceration of Obasanjo too was part of this carefully orchestrated plan so that having Obasanjo incarcerated for a failed coup he was falsely indicted in a video the CIA presented to Abacha; Obasanjo could automatically be transformed into Nigeria’s own version of Nelson Mandela.
Little wonder, Washington poured millions of dollars on the ”Free Obasanjo” campaign led by Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young, his closest Atlanta allies.
To demonstrate to Obasanjo how he narrowly escaped Abacha’s hangman, Yar’Adua had to die in prison. This was their kind of proof why Obasanjo should ever remain grateful to Washington for protecting and saving his life.
And that was what happened with Obasanjo becoming president in 1999. Not only did Obasanjo embrace Washington. As de facto petroleum minister, he ensured that Washington that the Washington controlled the country’s oil.
Since the chef too has to eat what he cooks, during the Obasanjo years it was alleged that Andrew Young, Carl Masters and long with the Clintons and the Bushes, individually benefited handsomely from Nigeria’s oil.
The Third Term’s failure that led to Obasanjo vacating power made it difficult for Washington to be calling the oil shots. And despite Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s sickness, he stopped Washington from calling the oil shots.
His replacement with Goodluck Jonathan was hoped to reopen the closed easy access to Nigeria’s oil.
Unfortunately, they failed to properly see the hidden shrewd nationalist Jonathan is made of, and the fact that surrounding himself with like minds, mostly people like Oronto Douglas, whose oil producing communities and leaders suffered unspeakable hardship and humiliation in the hands of American-led international oil companies, like Shell and Chevron. In other words, Jonathan administration was so determined to fight western oil vultures.
Frustrated and disappointed as he discovered himself treated as a nuisance to the Jonathan administration, Obasanjo cried out to Washington. And the following events soon seem to prove to Jonathan how dear Obasanjo has since to Washington since 1975. As a result, the Jonathan administration has since been hit left, right and center by the CIA.
No wonder, when Obama wanted to include Nigeria among the African nations he intended to visit in 2013, Obasanjo protested to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and won. During Nelson Mandela’s burial in December 2013, Obasanjo protested to Thabo Mbeki which resulted in Jonathan being sidelined.
Adding Washington’s fear of Pax Nigeriana threatening Pax Americana in Africa, CIA seems determined to frustrate Jonathan’s reelection in 2015.
This was what former fellow of the Jimmy Carter Center and Washington insider, Prof. Richard Joseph, could not hide in his recent Brookings Institution’s publication, where he made it clear that Washington supports APC, when he said, ”The ruling People’s Democratic Party has controlled the patronage laden presidency for 15 years….Will Nigeria follow the path of another complex federation, India, which evinces many of the same problems and has now rallied behind a party that promised growth and development reforms?”
One of the strategies being adopted to humiliate Jonathan and pave the way for APC in the 2015 presidential election seems not far different from the Ronald Reagan-George Bush strategy in 1979, which frustrated Carter’s reelection chances in 1979 to the extent that Reagan won the election instead.
On November 4, 1979 — exactly a year to the November 4, 1980 President Jimmy Carter of Democratic Party was seeking a reelection while Ronald Reagan wanted at all costs to unseat him — 52 American diplomats and citizens were purported to have been taken hostage in American Embassy in Tehran, Iran by Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line.
During the 444 days, from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter was so humiliated and frustrated that his campaign spent more time on how to free these Americans than how to win against his opponent. Paradoxically and coincidentally the hostage saga ended the same on January 20, the same day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President of the US.
It was later revealed through confessions by some Iranians involved in the hostage scheme, that it was orchestrated by George Bush, the former CIA Director, who was running with Reagan.
While we hope that our Chibok Girls have not become victims of part of the CIA plot to humiliate Jonathan out of office in 2015, the good news is that should this Washington support APC against Jonathan become known to Nigerians, no doubt the 2015 presidential election will be Jonathan’s because Nigerians, angry with the US interference in Nigeria, will reject any presidential candidate that Washington openly supports.
That happened in South Af
rica when ANC, protesting US open support of Thambo Mbeki gave Jacob Zuma a landslide victory as the party’s leader, especially because South Africans are never in a hurry to forgive Washington for its support of Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Similarly, despite the use of International Criminal Court as an instrument of political blackmail, Uhuru Kenyatta, went ahead to humiliate America’s preferred presidential opponent, Raila Odinga in Kenyan 2013 presidential election.
In Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro defeated his American supported counterpart, Henrique in Venezuelan presidential election in April 2013.
Despite America’s fierce opposition of his candidacy as prime minister in last month’s election, Narendra Modi, India’s staunch nationalist, still led his Bharattiya Janata Party to a historic landslide victory.
And so the list goes on.
Given this scenario, Jonathan’s landslide victory in the 2015 presidential election is assured, especially should there be more evidence that Washington is out to humiliate him out of power.
