Insecurity: FG rules out foreign mercenaries

The federal government has declared that Nigeria does not need foreign mercenaries to address the insecurity in the country.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, stated this in at the State House, Abuja, yesterday during a joint press briefing between him and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who was on an official visit to Nigeria.

Tuggar said Nigeria had consistently proved effective in leading other countries in addressing security challenges to peace and security.

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“And we do this whenever we partner with other countries and have their support, including major powers that are outside of our region, outside of Africa, and we appreciate that sort of approach.

“And this is why we work well with countries like China. Where we have a problem is whenever Nigeria is left out of such arrangements, it becomes more challenging.

“And it is not just a one-off thing. It is not a fluke. It is because of Nigeria’s place and position on the continent and in our region, and that is why we take a firm stand and say, let us work together towards solving our problems by ourselves, let us shun this idea of allowing others to come in to solve our problems for us.

“So, private military companies, as far as we are concerned, it doesn’t matter whether they’re from north, south, east, west, we don’t think it is going to provide the panacea. But when you work with us, then we are able to lead others in solving the problem.”

He expressed Nigeria’s willingness to work with countries like China in domesticating production of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic.

“This is what we are looking for so that we don’t have to go out looking to procure because of the delays and so many rules and regulations, we need to be able to produce locally.

“Nigeria is a very responsible country working with the constitution. We’ve never had any expansionist tendencies, which is why others reposed so much confidence in us and in our leadership.

“And we will continue to work with countries such as China in addressing these challenges and rely on countries such as China, also, to work with us towards ensuring that private military companies’ outside interference remains outside.”

Tuggar said the Chinese minister’s visit was building on the gains of the Forum on China, Africa Cooperation held in 2024 and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to China.

In his remarks, the Chinese minister said the strategic planning of President Xi Jinping and President Tinubu had yielded results.

“First, we’ve achieved a new leap in the characterization of our relations our two Presidents jointly announced the elevation of China-Nigeria relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

“Second, we’ve worked together to establish a new platform. The first plenary session of the Intergovernmental Committee between China and Nigeria has been successfully held, contributing to the elevation in the quality of our cooperation.

“Third, our cooperation in the international arena has reached new heights. Our two sides have coordinated closely in international and regional affairs and worked together for the collective rise, development and vitalization of the Global South.

“Over more than half a century since the establishment of diplomatic ties, no matter how changes occur in the international landscape, China and Nigeria have always in the spirit of mutual respect and equality, deepened our friendship and pursued practical cooperation, setting a fine example of South-South cooperation, and an important exemplar of China Africa cooperation,” he stated.

‘Currency swap a good move’

On the proposed currency swap deal between Nigeria and China, Yi said, “We’ll favourably study and consider the issue, our cooperation is going well in many ways in terms of finance.

“For instance, we welcome the panda bonds to be issued. We welcome Nigeria to issue panda bonds in China because we have full confidence in Nigeria’s credibility. By issuing panda bonds, Nigeria will gain good revenue and safety is guaranteed through financial support, we are working to contribute to Nigeria’s infrastructure development, particularly the railway.

“Just a few days ago, Chinese banks supported through financial funds, the building of phase three of the railway modernization project, and it has been delivered. So many details are taking place between our cooperation.”

‘We oppose interference in African affairs’

Yi noted that China opposed interference in internal affairs of African countries.

“At the FOCAC in Beijing Summit, President Xi Jinping announced six propositions and 10 partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization and peace and security are an important part of it,” he said.

He said China would like to work with Africa to deliver on the global security initiative in Africa and together achieve a modernization featuring peace and security and build an all-weather, China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

“China will firmly support Africans in addressing African issues in the African way. African people are the real masters of this continent. They have every wisdom, capability and right to resolve their own issues.

“China opposes foreign interference in the internal affairs of African countries, firmly supports the African Union and the sub-regional organizations in playing a constructive role, supports major African countries in strengthening their leading positions and promotes the resolution of disagreements and disputes through dialogue and consultation and the settlement of hotspot issues through the political way.

“China will firmly support Africa in strengthening peace and security capacity building. We will work with Africa to establish a partnership for implementing the Global Security Initiative, or GSI, and make it a fine example of GSI cooperation.

“We will work to advance the partnership action for common security and provide 1 billion yuan of grants in military assistance to Africa and help train 6000 military personnel and 1000 police and law enforcement personnel for African countries.

“China will also continue to support the building of the African standby force and the rapid response forces and support African countries in carrying out counter-terrorism peacekeeping operations. China will firmly support Africa in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests, practising true multilateralism and not letting power politics and bullyism find their place in Africa.

“At the United Nations Security Council, China’s vote will always go to Africa, and we will continue to speak up for the legitimate voice of African countries in the multilateral arena. As the second largest contributor to peacekeeping operations, China will continue to support the United Nations in carrying out peacekeeping operations in Africa.

“China supports Nigeria in rallying countries in the region to achieve strength through unity, to build synergy through reconciliation and to promote security through cooperation in order to achieve peace and stability in the region. And China, would like to make its contribution to the best of its ability to that end,” he said.