Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi said the Secretary General of the United Nations is the only person who is naively talking about peace in the ongoing war in Sudan.
Professor Akinyemi, in an Interview with ARISE NEWS, acknowledged that the Sudanese Armed Forces have a legitimate claim to power, as they have and also follow the normal processes in the army, while the Rapid Response Force was only formed by Sudan’s former president, Omar Al-Bashir, as an insurance against being overthrown.
“In fairness, we must concede that the Sudanese Armed Forces is the legitimate one. They have the Sudan defense academy, their officers are well trained, they go through the normal processes and they get promoted when they pass examination. The Rapid response force is a collection of thugs. The ganger weed who committed so much atrocities in Darfur. They don’t get any training; they don’t go to any institution. They were recruited by Al-Bashir, the former president of Sudan who was looking for the people who will do the dirty work of subjugating Darfur. So, then all these untrained civilians were then recruited and armed and they subjugated Darfur and as compensation, he issued a decree recognizing as rapid response force. He needed them as an insurance against being overthrown or being dependent upon the Sudanese army.
“Whoever is calling for intervention and peace is losing the battle and the rapid response force is losing the battle. Whoever says we don’t want external intervention is because he is winning the war and the general of the Sudanese armed forces is the one telling the United Nations secretary general, we don’t external forces, we don’t want external intervention. The Sudanese themselves can handle this matter. It is because he is the on who is on to right now” he said.
Speaking on the fate of the Sudanese civilians, the Former minister stated that in crisis like this, the civilians don’t count. He however, faulted the Sudanese civilians as part of their own problem.
“In this case of Sudan, the civilians are not innocent. They have behaved like spoilt brats. Always on the street, always dividing among themselves”.
He also likened it to the situation in Nigeria, stating that “Nigerians do not take Nigeria seriously.
“Nigeria is not a banana republic. Nigeria has so many resources and there are so many international vultures who have their eyes on these resources and who know that because of the cleavages amongst ourselves, we are not serious about protecting our resources. there are several sessions of Nigeria that would rather form alliances with external forces to get a crack at this mineral resources just to prevent any other party in Nigeria form having access to it. In any case, our definition of Nigeria is one that we need to sit down around a table and have a good conversation among ourselves”.
Also speaking on the delayed evacuation plan of Nigerians in Sudan, Professor Akinyemi said the major problems facing all the Nigerian embassies is the lack of funds from the headquarters. He also expressed hope that some airlines will step up and help in evacuating the Nigerians stuck in Sudan.
Chioma Kalu
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