The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has commended the Nigerian Government for stating that it has no plans to allow foreign military bases in the country.

A statement issued by Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, National Publicity Secretary of ACF said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria must be appreciated for taking such a bold and reassuring stance. Every African must be proud of this development.”

The ACF added that the development is a victory for patriotic Nigerians who signalled readiness to campaign against the rumoured plans to host United States and French military bases in Nigeria following their rejection in Burkina Faso and Niger.

The ACF accused a civil society organization, Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA, of supporting the establishment of the military bases.

“ACF is greatly disappointed with a statement, credited to a supposedly non-governmental organisation concerned with promoting human rights, going by the name the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), supporting the possible establishment of the said military bases.

“We are an independent, sovereign African country in uncompromising solidarity with all sister African, especially ECOWAS, states in the struggle against all vestiges of the intolerable stranglehold of colonialism and neo-colonialism, that have for far too long continued to hold down Africa in conditions of underdevelopment.

“Enough is known about the experiences of countries like Burkina Faso and Niger that have hosted foreign military bases for years. Such bases have to date served only the interests of the advanced countries. Wheresoever they are located, the foreign military outposts operate outside of the control and in utter disregard for the national laws of their hosts, respecting only their own convenient rules.

“For Nigeria, it is inescapable that whatever is unhelpful and/or detrimental to the interests of African countries cannot be good for us, due to shared destinies in unbroken historical, socio-cultural, economic and political ties which predated and antedates the artificial balkanisation of our societies by European colonial control,” the statement added.

ACF commends FG for ruling out foreign military bases in Nigeria