AFRICAN COMMAND (AFRICOM); THE POLITICS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NIGERIA'S SECURITY AND STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

📄 Project Abstract

The expanding U.S. oil demands, as necessitated by its bourgeoning capitalist economy; the declining oil production in the Middle East; the fast growing West Africa oil sector, which is seen as alternative source of U.S oil supplies, largely concentrated in the new Gulf of Guinea, (about 70% of African oil); and the need for the U.S. to effectively surmount the existing threats by the various militant groups operating in the creeks of Niger Delta, which it considered as a hindrance for its oil interest, are all medley of events which saw to the birth of AFRICOM in October, 2008. Altogether, Nigeria is a nation enmeshed in serious security crisis, ranging from ethnic conflicts, periodic religious clashes, militancy in the Niger Delta and worse still, terrorism, which an external military force like AFRICOM may not understand. Hence, the study interrogated the appropriateness and the possibility of AFRICOM achieving effective peace and security in Nigeria, and the ultimate consequences w...