After initially saying that the country may
disintegrate after the 2015 election, the United
States Government has now changed its mind
saying there are no signs that Nigeria will fall
apart – regardless of the February general
elections.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle,
stated that Nigeria is facing huge challenges, but
that the problems at stake were surmountable.
The American envoy says Nigerians should
discard the thought that the country will break
apart after the 2015 election.
Entwistle spoke in Lagos on Thursday, January 8,
during an interactive session with journalists on
the recent donation of a US naval ship to the
Nigerian Navy.
The US diplomat said: “I have been plagued by
the question (on Nigeria’s possible disintegration
in 2015) and I have gone back to look and I can’t
find any government report that said Nigeria
would disintegrate in 2015. Maybe some think-
tank or somebody outside the government said it;
I don’t know.”
“But in my opinion as the US Ambassador to this
country, I am not worried in the least that Nigeria
is going to disintegrate in 2015.
Regardless of
what someone may have said, the question is
that we are now here in 2015: Do we see signs
that Nigeria is going to disintegrate or fall apart
or something? I don’t know what you think. But I
don’t see those signs.”
“But I see signs of growth, optimism and I see
that to minimise the challenges that you have, in
this life, you have to keep on keeping on and I
think the future is quite bright.”
He also refuted the insinuation that the President
Barack Obama administration has imposed an
arms embargo on Nigeria following the reported
refusal of the American government to sell Cobra
helicopters to the Federal Government to
prosecute the ongoing war against terrorism.
Entwistle added that the US Diplomatic Mission
to Nigeria, was “still talking about a number of
other types of equipment and different types of
helicopters that might be more appropriate” for
the Nigerian military services.
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