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U.S., British Assistance Arrives in Nigeria
U.S. and British military advisers and negotiators arrived in Nigeria to help find more than two hundred schoolgirls abducted in the country's northeast three weeks ago (BBC).
Their arrival comes as the World Economic Forum is meeting in the
capital of Abuja at a conference meant to highlight investment
opportunities as Nigeria, which was recently named Africa's largest
economy. Chinese premier Li Keqiang addressed the group as Beijing emphasizes its investment and aid role in Africa (WSJ).
Meanwhile, U.S. officials and lawmakers are revisiting a 2011–12
government debate over designating Boko Haram a foreign terrorist
organization, a label that was not applied until November 2013 (NYT).
Analysis
"U.S. policy in Africa is driven first and foremost by a preference for stability and preserving a stable status quo. Were mass, disruptive protests to erupt or the political leadership to change in Nigeria,
it would not automatically be disastrous for Washington, but neither
would American diplomats and policymakers have an easy go of it. The
United States has a great interest in seeing that the democratically
elected leaders of one of Africa's most important countries be committed
to – and capable of – maintaining stability and fighting extremism,"
writes Laura Seay in Politico Magazine.
"There's
been something similarly distorted to some of the social media
reactions to the Boko Haram atrocities over the past week. It's great
that the kidnappings and the massacres are finally arousing the world's
indignation. But sometimes the implication of the conversation has been
this: Africa is this dark and lawless place where monstrous things are
bound to happen. Those poor people need our help. But this is more or
less the opposite of the truth. Boko Haram is not the main story in Africa or even in Nigeria," writes David Brooks in the New York Times.
"Alongside its challenges, there's another part of Nigeria's story:
its expanding economy – now called Africa's largest, its
entrepreneurial spirit, its feisty free press, its fashion and
entertainment industries, its 170 million population domestic market –
in a word, its potential – is also on display. WEF has been criticized
for staging such a high-profile meeting in a place like Nigeria. I say,
'What better place?'" writes Tami Hultman in AllAfrica.
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