Controversy follows the
decision of the Nigerian government to purchase 12 A-29 Super Tucano light
attack aircraft from the United States.
David Kuranga, an
investment and political risk consultant, described the warplanes as “crop
dusters” and advised the government against going ahead with the purchase.
Mr Kuranga, who is the
managing director of Kuranga and Associates, in the statement, said the
warplanes fall below the standard of aircraft used by even the military of
African countries such as Egypt and South Africa.
“In a conventional match-up
or joint-task force, if Nigeria were ever asked to partner in a multi-national
coalition with middle-income nations like Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, or
Indonesia, the Nigerian “Air Force” equipped with the A-29 light attack fighters
would be joke!” he wrote in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.
“They are comparatively
slow, fly at lower altitudes, and are much more susceptible to anti-aircraft
artillery that even rebel fighters in Mali were in possession of,” he wrote.
Mr. Kuranga also said that
the warplanes are too expensive even as they are inadequate for serious
military operations. He said they would constitute waste of taxpayers’ money.
“The fact that the Nigerian
government is considering putting in over a 100 million dollars of state money
to purchase these inadequate aircraft, as a means of upgrading Nigeria’s air
defenses is a laughable! Further it is a poor investment and a waste of state
resources.”
He said he found it
baffling that the US authorities were seeking to block the sale of the obsolete
warplanes to Nigeria when they should be thankful that the Nigerian government
is relieving them of such antiquated aircraft.
He said Nigeria should aim
to buy more advance warplanes that will put it at par with other militaries in
the continent.
“These more advanced
fighters would put the Nigerian Air Force on equal footing with South Africa,
Egypt, and other middle income emerging powers. Fighter jets like the Gripen
SAAB JAS-39 are among the most cost effective and capable fighter jets in
operation today. The new Gripen JAS-39 has a price tag of around 40,000 million
a unit, but Saab, desperate for new customers has the option of versions of the
aircraft using the frames of the older model, already built and in storage at a
much lower price tag.”
Mr. Kuranga also wonders
why Nigeria is so fixated on only buying military equipment from the US when it
could get same from other countries sans the baggage attached to such
purchases.
“There is no rational
reason for Nigeria to make the United States its primary supplier of military
hardware. Their equipment is pricey, comes with serious strings attached, and
what they are willing to sell is by far inferior to what Nigeria can afford to
purchase from other sources. Further since, training and maintenance will
likely be linked to the source country of the aircraft, the fragile
relationship Nigeria now has with the U.S. is not fertile testing ground for
this scale of a purchase and partnership. Those advising the president to entertain
the offer of the U.S. to sell the A-29 turbo prop “crop duster” plane, are
seriously leading the administration down a path that is almost certain to go
awry.”
Meanwhile, the New York
Times in an editorial has kicked against the proposal to sell the warplane to
Nigeria.
In an editorial, published
on Wednesday the influential U.S. newspaper wrote that selling the warplanes to
Nigeria will be a “mistake” as the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is
yet to investigate serious cases of human rights abuses and extrajudicial
killings by the Nigerian military, especially in the fight against Boko Haram.
“Nigeria’s government
cannot be entrusted with the versatile new warplanes, which can be used for
ground attacks as well as reconnaissance. Its security services have long
engaged in extrajudicial killings, torture and rape, according to the State
Department’s latest annual human rights report,” the paper said.
Quoting a US State
Department report, the New York Times wrote that while the Buhari administration
has moved to curb graft and investigate some right abuses, the government did
not “investigate or punish the majority of cases of police or military abuse”
in 2015.
One of such major cases, it
wrote, was the wanton massacre of over 300 Shi’ites and the destruction of
properties by the army after members of the sect had an argument with the
convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, last December.
The leader of the group,
Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, who were wounded during the army siege on sect’s
enclave are still being held without charge in an unknown location, five months
after attack.
“That hardly seems like an
endorsement for selling the aircraft,” the newspaper said.
We don't want war sha
ReplyDeleteNaija might need warplanes since Boko Haram as declared war.
ReplyDeleteRubbish War Plane Is Not What Nigeria Need. NO LIGHT NO PETROL.ONE DAY NIGERIA WILL DIVIDE
ReplyDelete