Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Prof Bola Akinterinwa, has warned that Nigeria’s realities are not far different from Afghanistan.
He therefore urged the government to rid itself from Boko Haram terrorist agents.
He spoke on Wednesday while featuring as a guest on NTA ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ breakfast show.
The Taliban or the Mujahedeen retook Kabul, the country’s capital city, about two decades after the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan beginning in early July.
Afghanistan civilian President Ashraf Ghani, 72, subsequently fled the country when Kabul fell, abandoning the presidential palace to Taliban fighters.
The United States finally withdrew its forces on August 31, 2021 after 17 days of evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of allies, and Afghan allies.
The Taliban had celebrated the withdrawal of the US from the country, claiming “the defeat is a victory for all Afghans”.
Commenting on the Taliban takeover, ex-NIIA director general Akinterinwa noted that no one should take the Boko Haram of Nigeria for granted because though international terrorists may have different names but they have a common interest and the same blood flows through their veins.
“The situational realities in Nigeria are not in any way different from what obtains in Afghanistan and therefore there is the need for a great caution to prevent the Afghanisation of Nigeria.
“In terms of the implication for Nigeria, no one should take the Boko Haram of Nigeria for granted. The issue is that the Boko Haram we know in Nigeria includes the Boko Haram in the blood of ISIS, in the blood of the northern alliance. The international terrorists may have different names but they have a common interest.
“The issue in this case is that Nigeria must look at how the Boko Haram within the government of (former) President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari have succeeded in going to the Nigerian Defence Academy.
“So, for whatever reason, nobody should take any sudden invasion, attack on Aso Rock, we should not be given excuses. This is the time the Aso Rock must be strongly fortified and ensured that Aso Rock is free of whoever is the Boko Haram agent there because as it is, the current international challenge is how to determine where the next attack will be.
“Africa has been identified as the next place to host all the roaming terrorists. If you remove all the terrorists from Afghanistan, from Syria, from Yemen, from Somalia, where are they going to?
“It has been argued that Nigeria should be the next place. So, the Government of Nigeria should first of all focus from preventing Nigeria from becoming the terra incognita of international terrorism than even fighting the Boko Haram on ground. This is the issue. We are in a very dangerous area and we should not allow this to complicate those who are agitating for self-determination and secession. There are different battlefields of threats confronting the Buhari administration.”
