Diplomatic Commotion as Nigerian Senate Gives U.S. 7-Day Ultimatum

Senate President David Mark

The President of the Nigerian Senate, David Mark, has issued a 7-day ultimatum to the government of the United States over what it says are unacceptable actions by the US administration for including Nigeria in its list of countries sponsoring terrorists. In a statement to the media, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Ayogu Eze, said that it was unfair for the US to have punished Nigeria for the activities that did not originate from its territory.

He went on to say “I am sure that you have been observing the trend in the media and we are referring to the issue of America listing Nigeria as one of the 14 countries to be placed under watch. “I am speaking on behalf of the Senate and on behalf of the Senate President to state categorically that we are very unhappy about the development and when we resume, we are going to take up this matter seriously if America has not taken Nigeria off that list. We also want to advise America that in their own best interest, they should conduct this matter very well in a manner that will not result in diplomatic row between America and Nigeria because the American president had, himself, clearly admitted that this was a failure of the system and manpower of Americans and I don’t see where Nigeria comes in there. Moreover, this is just one instance of a Nigerian who, it is clearly established, has no link with any fundamentalist group or any interest group within Nigeria, not even with his parents”.

In continuing, the Senator reiterated that “This was a boy whose disappearance was reported to security agencies, the American authorities and all the relevant authorities and the Americans did nothing and for them to turn round to punish Nigerians for the sin of an isolated case like this is completely unacceptable to the Nigerian government and to the Nigerian Senate. We have also watched with keen interest several other breaches that have taken place since this boy’s attempt. There was an uninvited guest who went to the White House, he and his wife were found in the White House. That was not a Nigerian. America should look inward and search their souls, there is something wrong with their system and they should not punish Nigerians who are very law-abiding and good international citizens for the failure and irresponsibility of American operatives, Nigeria will not take that.”

The Senator then concluded by saying that Nigerian citizens who returned from different destinations, especially those who travelled from America, went through hell in order to meet their families for the Christmas holiday and the bad experience had scared a lot of them who were even afraid to return. According to him, “It is not America alone that has citizens to whom the government is responsible, we also have citizens and we are responsible to them. We will not allow Nigerians to be molested wherever they go. I think this message should be put out clearly. When we resume, if the situation is still there, it is going to be one of the major issues that we are going to tackle and the Senate President has told me to state categorically that he is unhappy about this, and, being the chairman of the National Assembly, it means also on behalf of the National Assembly,”

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