Insecurity Does Not Make Nigeria A Failed State — Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
said Nigeria cannot be ranked as a failed state because of ongoing
security challenges.

Mohammed stated this in response to a recent declaration by the
Council on Foreign Affairs (CFA) in the U.S. that “Nigeria is at a
point of no return with all the signs of a failed nation.”

The minister in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), yesterday, in Abuja stressed that “Nigeria is not and cannot
be a failed state’’.

Mohammed said the declaration by the Council did not represent
an official U.S policy.

“This declaration is merely the opinions of two persons, former
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and a Senior Fellow at the Council on
Foreign Relations John Campbell, and the President Emeritus of
World Peace Foundation, Robert Rotberg.

“Declaring any nation a failed state is not done at the whims
and caprices of one or two persons, no matter their status. Just
because Nigeria is facing security challenges, which we have
acknowledged and which we are tackling, does not automatically make
the country a failed state. Yes, the Council on Foreign Relations
is a prominent U.S. public policy Think Tank, but its opinion is
not that of the U.S. Like former U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan said,
”You are entitled to your opinion but not your facts.”

Mohammed reiterated that Nigeria did not meet the criteria for a
nation to become a failed state.

He listed the criteria to include inability to provide public
service and inability to interact with other states as a full
member of the international community.

“Yes, the non-state actors may be rampaging in some parts of the
country, they have not and cannot overwhelm this government,’’ he
said.

The minister noted that it was not the first time it was
predicted that Nigeria would fail or break up.

“We were even once told that Nigeria would break up in 2015.

“But their doomsday predictions have all failed and will fail
again,’’ he said.

The declaration by CFA that Nigeria was a failed state and would
eventually collapsed was contained in a research finding recently
released through Campbell and Rotberg.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
said Nigeria cannot be ranked as a failed state because of ongoing
security challenges.

Mohammed stated this in response to a recent declaration by the
Council on Foreign Affairs (CFA) in the U.S. that “Nigeria is at a
point of no return with all the signs of a failed nation.”

The minister in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), yesterday, in Abuja stressed that “Nigeria is not and cannot
be a failed state’’.

Mohammed said the declaration by the Council did not represent
an official U.S policy.

“This declaration is merely the opinions of two persons, former
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and a Senior Fellow at the Council on
Foreign Relations John Campbell, and the President Emeritus of
World Peace Foundation, Robert Rotberg.

“Declaring any nation a failed state is not done at the whims
and caprices of one or two persons, no matter their status. Just
because Nigeria is facing security challenges, which we have
acknowledged and which we are tackling, does not automatically make
the country a failed state. Yes, the Council on Foreign Relations
is a prominent U.S. public policy Think Tank, but its opinion is
not that of the U.S. Like former U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan said,
”You are entitled to your opinion but not your facts.”

Mohammed reiterated that Nigeria did not meet the criteria for a
nation to become a failed state.

He listed the criteria to include inability to provide public
service and inability to interact with other states as a full
member of the international community.

“Yes, the non-state actors may be rampaging in some parts of the
country, they have not and cannot overwhelm this government,’’ he
said.

The minister noted that it was not the first time it was
predicted that Nigeria would fail or break up.

“We were even once told that Nigeria would break up in 2015.

“But their doomsday predictions have all failed and will fail
again,’’ he said.

The declaration by CFA that Nigeria was a failed state and would
eventually collapsed was contained in a research finding recently
released through Campbell and Rotberg.