December 5, 2016

Aliyu Tanko
BBC News

By turning to Russia and Pakistan to buy war planes and helicopters,
Nigeria has shown that it is not dependent on the US.

Many thought that after the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015,
the US would relax the arms embargo imposed on Nigeria because of its
alleged poor human rights record.

But the chances of the embargo being lifted are slim, especially after the
military was accused by rights groups of committing widespread atrocities
against the minority Shia population in the north and the secessionists
campaigning for the creation of Biafra state in the south-east.

Only recently a report in Nigeria's Punch newspaper
<http://punchng.com/boko-haram-us-blocks-nigeria-buying-aircraft-brazil/>said
the US blocked Brazil from selling US-manufactured light attack aircraft to
Nigeria when the deal was almost done.

Nigeria has shown it has other options and says the warplanes and
helicopters it has ordered from Russia and Pakistan are needed to ensure
that the gains it has made against militant Islamist group Boko Haram are
not reversed.







-- 
Ann Marie

"The art of living consists of knowing what to pay attention to and what to
ignore."  -- Mardy Grothe

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