I read some analysis by our respected senior diplomats, teachers and long time practitioners in this business and really surprised their analysis, like most responses from Nigeria to the Trump challenge have been emotional, patriotic outburst.
They are not rooted in facts and strategy.
What we are talking about is aerial superiority. He who controls the skies win the war. The United States has unmatched advantage in the skies, our artillery firepower cannot contain U.S aerial dominance.
Our critical infrastructures can be crippled and command and control to include political leadership decapitated in one day of sustained missile attack, we do not have any aerial capacity to touch even U.S. facilities in Nigeria.
The U.S. has capacity to insert Special Forces personnel in any part of Nigeria without our security system noticing.
It has been done before.
That means anybody can be abducted in seconds. Speed, shock and awe are the ingredients of modern warfare.
You will not see any U.S. boots on the ground in Nigeria to engage.
The situation is precarious for us. That is why you don’t sign a Nuclear non-proliferation treaty. But we have done that.
It is only a Nuclear deterrent that a country like Nigeria can use to deter the United States.
We have to start serious investment in our research and development capacity and set a reasonable target where our country cannot be a walk-over like this.
But right now, given what we have, rattling is not our option. It is diplomacy and commitment to address the insecurity situation in our country.
Make some force projection that will take down Islamic militants and Fulani herdsmen and terrorists.
Seal Nigerian borders and prevent bad actors from coming in in droves and causing mayhem in our local communities.
Kingsley Dike, the author, is former Foreign Affairs Reporter with The Guardian Newspapers and retired Intelligence Analyst with the United States Army. He was Professor Joy Ogwu’s Research Assistant during his compulsory National Youth Service at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.
