Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - The federal government has again denied reports alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the establishment of a French military base in Nigeria.
The denial came in response to a claim published by an online news outlet, which suggested that France would establish a military base in Abuja under the pretext of setting up a language academy to train Nigerian military personnel in French.
Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, the Acting Head of Crisis Monitoring & Public Communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed the claim in a brief comment, stating that the report was “not true.”
The original report had claimed, citing anonymous sources,
that President Tinubu had yielded to pressure from French President Emmanuel
Macron during a recent visit to Paris. It further alleged that the project was
being discreetly advanced to avoid scrutiny and possible resistance from
Nigeria’s National Assembly due to its sensitive strategic and security
implications. The report also drew a connection to the launch of a French
language laboratory at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna in January
2024.
The federal government had previously addressed similar
concerns. In May 2024, the Minister of Information and National Orientation,
Mohammed Idris, categorically stated that Nigeria was not in discussions with
any foreign power regarding the establishment of military bases. He urged the
public to disregard such reports and reiterated the government’s focus on
strengthening existing international security cooperation without compromising
Nigeria’s sovereignty.
Likewise, the French Embassy in Nigeria had also denied
involvement in any such military arrangements, aligning itself with Nigeria’s
official position. These reaffirmations followed a letter reportedly sent by
northern elders to President Tinubu and leaders of the National Assembly,
warning against entering into defence agreements with the United States and
France. The elders raised alarms about foreign lobbying to redeploy troops
formerly stationed in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Nigerian soil. They argued
that such agreements could compromise Nigeria’s strategic autonomy and pointed
to the failure of foreign military interventions in the Sahel to curb
terrorism.
France has faced growing resistance across West and Central Africa, where public opinion has increasingly turned against its post-colonial influence. Mass protests have erupted in several Francophone countries, including Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, with demonstrators calling for a complete severance of ties with France.
France’s colonial history in Africa, particularly its policy of direct
rule and post-independence ties with African elites, often labelled
“Francafrique”, has fueled long-standing resentment. French troops, companies,
and influence have remained deeply entrenched across the region, leading to
criticism that France continues to benefit economically while contributing
little to regional stability.
In recent years, a wave of African nations has expelled French military
forces from their territories. Until 2022, French troops operated in countries
such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, and
Senegal. However, with the end of Operation Barkhane in 2022, France’s flagship
counterterrorism mission in the Sahel, countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina
Faso terminated defence agreements with France, accusing it of ineffectiveness
and undue interference.
Following President Emmanuel Macron’s June 2021 announcement of a gradual
military withdrawal from the Sahel, French troops were pulled out of Mali in
August 2022, Burkina Faso in February 2023, and Niger by December 2023. Chad
joined the list in November 2024, with France beginning a phased withdrawal of
the roughly 1,000 troops stationed there. The process is expected to be
completed by January 2025.
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