AFGHANISTAN AND LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

Looking at how events have unfolded in Afghanistan, it has become clear that international diplomacy has changed fundamentally by virtue of these events. The war and eventual withdrawal by the United States and allied forces leave much to be desired, especially how the Taliban forces took over the country in one fell swoop and Kabul on Aug. 15, there are a host of issues to be discussed and arguments will be postulated for and against the following issues: 1. What could the Biden administration have done differently? 2. What was the purpose of the war? 3. Who were the parties involved in the negotiations with respect to the exit? 4. Did the U.S. have an exit strategy? 5. Did the U.S. have an agreement with the Afghanistan forces? 6. At what point should the military have evacuated? 7. What is the fate of Afghans in and outside Afghanistan? Employing International diplomacy have not been a very effective approach looking at how the U.S. negotiations with the Taliban went and in view of the number of lives lost. Even as thousands of Americans and Afghans have been successfully evacuated from the country, it is still a global concern what will become of those who have not been able to leave Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan was initiated by the U.S. in 2001 after the terrorist attack of 9/11 and has lasted for 20 years but as it appears the U.S. mission to prosecute war against international terror and struggle against violent extremism with a core goal to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda has been achieved especially with the death of Osama bin laden however a lot of people are not satisfied with the way the U.S. exited the stage. The U.S. decision to pull out of Afghanistan should end a long running occupation of Afghanistan but as we continue to watch, the problems in Afghanistan continues to grow and it is becoming more obvious that the gains made over the past two decades in health, education and women’s right may be lost. As the situation in Afghanistan continues to intensify another major issue is the resettlement of the evacuated Afghan citizens. Recently some countries have refused to accept Afghan evacuees, nothing seems to be clear about the future of these Afghans but that President Joe Biden did not have a definite plan. President Biden’s counterparts in the G7 however think that the future of Afghan will depend on how the Taliban treat their citizens going forward but felt that the evacuation deadline of the 31st august should have been extended. The U.S. however did not budge knowing that there were more imminent threats from ISIS and other terrorist network seeking to attack the airport and attack from the Taliban was also rife had the U.S. stayed beyond 31 August. The U.S. decision to take the Taliban not for their words but to judge them by their actions may be as a result of better intelligence gathering. The issue now is what could the Biden administration have done differently? This argument will continue for a long time. Admitting failure or defending their decisions may decide how hundreds of U.S. citizens and afghan evacuees stranded in Afghanistan will feel including those who have been separated from their loved ones left behind in Afghanistan not to mention the soldiers who have fought to keep the peace and lost colleagues in the war. Joe Biden in his recent speech promised to continue with evacuation until every U.S. citizen stranded in Afghanistan is out. As at today it is clear that the U.S. have left Afghanistan unceremoniously, Biden’s speech notwithstanding. Coming all the way back to Nigeria, the lessons to be learnt are numerous, firstly, there is no gain in war, even with the little victory achieved the crisis it has created is unjustifiable. The crisis rocking many areas in Nigeria is a tip of the iceberg compared to the devastations of war, the spate of kidnapping, banditry and rape already being witnessed is child’s play compared to war time. We need to look beyond the problem and start looking for solutions, if someone’s house is on fire, will that person go out to point at the damages caused by the fire or look for a way to extinguish it. The Nigerian approach has always been to point at the damage rather than look for ways to fix them. If someone contacts a virus the best thing to do is to build one’s immunity and not to cry about the disease. No doubt, Nigeria faces quite a number of problems such as underdevelopment, corruption, insecurity, high unemployment rate etc. Unlike Afghanistan Nigeria has a democratically elected government and a working constitution but somehow justice has remained elusive as parts of the country remain under threat of hunger and violence leading to humanitarian crisis without humanitarian assistance and the Nigerian people no longer feel safe in their country as the situation continues to snow ball and citizens are been displaced from their ancestral homes while a good number of intellectuals are looking for a ways to flee the country, seeking asylum in other countries at any cost. In addition, it may be possible to argue that Nigerians do not have a self imposed deadline like Afghanistan (31st of August 2021) so there is enough warning and time for Nigerians especially the Nigerian government to rise up to their responsibilities by responding to the plight of vulnerable Nigerians who are crying for justice.