Post #406

Who Knows What Trump Wants?🇺🇸 Where the White House’s interest in Nigeria comes from 💥 After a public polemic over the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, the United States went even further and carried out airstrikes on IS targets in northwestern Nigeria, on December 25. This once again raises the question: what lies behind this apparent obsession with interreligious relations on the other side of the world — humanitarianism, geopolitics, or a desire to get access to Nigerian resources? 🔸 The last option is suggested by a similar situation with Venezuela, where Trump has openly claimed its oil. Nigeria, however, is different. There've been no such statements, nor are there few signs that American economic interests have been infringed. Nigeria is Africa's largest exporter of crude to the US, and the Dangote refinery actively purchases crude and technology from the US itself. ⏩ However, this may well be linked to the recent noise around proposals to resume oil exploration in Nigeria's Ogoniland. There may be a deal with the US companies getting new oil permits, and in exchange the US will "help" Nigeria's government deal with extremists. This is particularly interesting given that the president's national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu is responsible for both issues. 🔸 This can hardly be simple humanitarianism. Christians are persecuted and human rights violated here and there. It is hard to believe that the White House resident would spend missiles out of sympathy for ordinary Nigerians. ⏩ The last option is geopolitics — more precisely, an attempt to establish some basic format of permanent US presence in West Africa, just to keep Nigeria and other countries withing the US sphere of influence. ⏩ It's not clear what the balance may be between these considerations. Today the oil factor seems to be an unlikely driver of the US interest in Nigeria — I would bet on geopolitics — however, it may well turn out vice-versa when the whole story unfolds. ➡️ Follow to stay informed - @devilsbelow