By Ochereome Nnanna
By the time he reads this article, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James F Entwistle, should be back to his native North Carolina. He assumed office in Abuja on October 13, 2013 at a time the political heart rate of the last transition programme was upbeat.

James Entwistle

His period in Nigeria was a defining moment for the otherwise special relationship between our country and his. Nigeria has always been pro-West (and specifically pro-America to the extent of mimicking the American-style presidential system of government in 1979 and 1999) as opposed to our openly declared Non-Alighment foreign policy. For decades, America was Nigeria’s number one crude oil customer and our economy was chained to the apron strings of America and her almighty Dollar.

But by June 2014, the US suddenly stopped buying our oil. I am not saying Entwistle was personally responsible for that. I am saying it happened under his watch, and ultimately, under the watch of President Barack Obama, our supposed “Black brother”. It was also while Entwistle was here that Boko Haram abducted the 276 Chibok School girls, and our government came under great pressure to rescue the girls. America made promises but did little to help

We urgently needed the assistance of our great ally, America. But America foot-dragged. We sought to buy sophisticated military weapons but were turned down because America, with Entwistle as her Ambassador, was more interested in the safety of Boko Haram than the innocent Nigerians they were slaughtering. Our military was accused of being responsible for the alleged extra-judicial killing of over 8,000 Boko Haram suspects. Entwistle said his country did not know who the Boko Haram insurgents were, despite the fact that the Nigerian terrorists were already designated by the Global Terrorism Index, GTI, as the most murderous terror machine in the world in 2014.

You will recall that America also footdragged in recognising Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation, choosing instead to pander to the evil propaganda of Arewa Consultative Forum and other Northern interest groups hell-bent on pushing out Jonathan to enable the region to regain power.

Nigeria was forced, at first, to turn to the black market for arms (as evident in the private plane caught with cash in South Africa). Later on, we had to buy arms and ammunition from Russia. That was the equipment we deployed to drive Boko Haram into Sambisa Forest before President Buhari’s regime came to continue the ongoing mop-up operations.

Therefore, when James Entwistle was the American envoy here, these two acts of unfriendliness (boycotting our oil and refusing to sell arms to us to fight Boko Haram) were depolyed with devastating consequences against the regime of President Jonathan. With dwindling resources from our crude oil and inability to rid the North East of Boko Haram, Jonathan’s regime was mortally wounded and became a persona non grata in the North.

America’s body language obviously favoured the newly-merged opposition coalition, the All Progressives Congress, APC, against the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. American private interests, including the media, played major roles in burnishing the image and credentials of APC flag bearer, Buhari, presenting him in chimeric colours quite different from what we knew him for.

As soon as Buhari assumed power, he made his first overseas trip to America as if to thank President Obama for the roles his country played in weakening Jonathan to pave the way for his own entry. He even published a few articles under his byeline in top American newspapers. He made broad policy pronouncements from there, including his infamous “97%/5%” formula for the sharing of the spoils of electoral victory, in total disregard of Nigeria’s constitutionally-mandated Federal Character principles.

I find it ironic that only one year into Buhari’s regime, many of the media that were gung-ho in their embellishment of Buhari’s prospects as Nigeria’s president have been eating the words in large spoonfuls. Some now use terms that impugn our President’s touted integrity. In fact, a former US Congressman and intelligence chief, Pete Hoekstra, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal, WSJ, in June this year, saying Buhari was Nigeria’s “problem”, not “solution”.

Within the same period, Bruce Fein also wrote in the same WSJ, saying Buhari “duped” the US by promising to conduct the anti-graft war within the rule of law and due process only to disobey court orders and keep Col Sambo Dasuki, Nnamdi Kanu, Ibrahim El -Zakzaky and others in detention. Not only that, Buhari has tended to pursue only those fingered in the alleged looting of Federal Government monies under the Jonathan regime, ignoring those equally fingered for allegedly looting their state treasuries to fund his presidential campaign. Some of them have even been indicted by probe panels, but the anti-graft agencies are playing blind, deaf and dumb. In spite of the fact that many of the APC chiefs crossed over from the PDP, the chairman of Buhari’s anti-graft advisory panel, Professor Itse Sagay, says there is no evidence of corruption against any APC ex-office holder.

While some American media viewpoints, including a former congressman, were thumbing down the Buhari regime’s performance in the economy and anti-graft efforts within his first year, Entwistle addressed a few journalists in his office, giving Buhari a “pass mark”! He ignored the fact that our President is sharing plum federal posts among his kinsmen, acolytes and loyalists while neglecting his self-styled “5%”. Is that how they do it in Entwistle’s America? Does Obama only go after George HW Bush’s officials, or does he allow the criminal justice system to go after culprits without minding their political leanings? Does he run after the Republican Party leaders in order weaken the party’s capacity to challenge his own Democratic Party as the presidential election draws near?

What about the marauding armed Fulani militias masquerading as “herdsmen”, invading communities and driving people off their land like Omar Al Bashir’s Janjaweed of Sudan? Despite President Buhari’s belated directive for these criminals to be apprehended, little has changed. Yet, Entwistle pats our President on the back. Entwistle has done a job. His mission has been accomplished. But nemesis visited him just before he started packing his belongings to go back to America.

On June 9, 2016, Entwistle wrote a fateful letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, alleging that three members of the House who attended a programme in Cleaveland, Ohio, USA organised by his Embassy had committed sexual offences while there. He named the “culprits” as Mohammed Gololo, Samuel Ikon and Mark Gbillah. He even said he had video evidence which he would tender to the Hon Nicholas Ossai Committee set up to probe the incident.

Entwistle was invited twice to testify or submit his evidence. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, later told a shocked nation that the US Mission in Nigeria had decided to close the case, as the Ambassador had no evidence to back his allegations! What an ambassador!

James Entwistle’s mission to Nigeria did not do us (or him) any good!