{"id":109103,"date":"2025-12-30T05:01:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=109103"},"modified":"2025-12-30T05:01:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:01:32","slug":"col-festus-aboagye-warns-against-outsourcing-african-security-following-us-airstrikes-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=109103","title":{"rendered":"Col. Festus Aboagye warns against \u2018outsourcing\u2019 African security following US airstrikes in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 43 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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In a searing analysis of the changing security dynamics in West Africa, renowned security expert and retired diplomat Colonel Festus Aboagye (Rtd) has warned that the recent U.S. kinetic intervention in Nigeria could signal a dangerous slide toward neocolonial dependency.<\/p>\n

In a policy paper dated December 28, 2025, titled Regional Security at the Brink: U.S. Distributed Footprint, Security Partnerships and Sovereignty Trade-Offs in Post-Niger West Africa<\/em>, Col. Aboagye dissected the Christmas Day 2025 airstrikes in Sokoto State. <\/p>\n

He argues that while the strikes targeted terrorists, they exposed a \u201ctroubling divergence\u201d in how Washington and Abuja perceive the conflict\u2014a gap that extremist groups are already beginning to exploit.<\/p>\n

The Sokoto Strikes: A Shift in Doctrine<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Christmas Day operation marks a definitive transition for the United States from an advisory role to direct kinetic intervention on Nigerian soil. <\/p>\n

While the strikes were coordinated, Col. Aboagye highlights a narrative clash: the U.S. framed the violence through the lens of religious persecution, whereas Nigeria views it as a multifaceted security crisis affecting all citizens regardless of faith.<\/p>\n

This \u201creligiously charged rhetoric\u201d, Col. Aboagye warns, provides a potent recruitment tool for terrorist organisations. <\/p>\n

He notes that the U.S. has adapted to its withdrawal from Niger by creating a \u201cdecentralised military footprint\u201d across Ghana, Benin, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, and Chad.<\/p>\n

The Danger of \u2018Outsourcing\u2019 Stability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Col. Aboagye expressed deep concern that Africa is gradually \u201coutsourcing\u201d its security to external powers whose containment strategies may not align with the continent\u2019s long-term peace.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe international community must remain vigilant that the \u2018regional security\u2019 narrative does not become a vehicle for undermining African sovereignty under the guise of protecting lives. This is the challenge for the African Union,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He describes the current trend as a \u201cgeopolitical vacuum\u201d created by regional fragmentation, particularly the divide between the AU and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).<\/p>\n

A Proactive Framework: The 5-Point Policy Mandate<\/strong><\/p>\n

To counter this externalised interventionism, Col. Aboagye proposed five radical institutional shifts for the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC):<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Recommendation<\/strong><\/td>\nStrategic Objective<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Continental Oversight<\/strong><\/td>\nRequire foreign powers to notify the AU of any strike within 24-72 hours.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
African-Led Analysis<\/strong><\/td>\nMandate the ACSRT to issue independent reports to prevent Western \u201cnarrative weaponization.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Regulate Drone Usage<\/strong><\/td>\nDevelop an AU Continental Drone Policy to limit the duration and scope of foreign UAVs.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reinvigorate the ASF<\/strong><\/td>\nFast-track the African Standby Force<\/strong> to include counterterrorism capabilities.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sahel Reconciliation<\/strong><\/td>\nConvene a dialogue to re-engage AES members (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) without political strings.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The \u2018Sovereignty\u2019 Reality Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

The retired Colonel was intellectually honest about the hurdles facing these recommendations. <\/p>\n

He questioned why the African Standby Force (ASF)\u2014which has faced 20 years of underfunding\u2014would suddenly become operational now. <\/p>\n

He also noted that the AU has no real enforcement mechanism to stop a superpower from ignoring notification requirements.<\/p>\n

However, he maintained that these obstacles do not diminish the necessity of the measures. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to prevent the gradual entrenchment of coastal states as permanent launch platforms for external military operations outside a collective AU strategy,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

As 2026 approaches, the \u201cSokoto Precedent\u201d stands as a litmus test for whether African regional organisations can reclaim their agency or remain spectators in their own security landscape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ColonelIn a searing analysis of the changing security dynamics in West Africa, renowned security expert and retired diplomat Colonel Festus Aboagye (Rtd) has warned that the recent U.S. kinetic intervention in Nigeria could signal a dangerous slide toward neocolonial dependency.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1906,1883,117,1300,10,9,14673,2044,14634],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hp-news-5","category-national","category-news","category-nigeria","category-politics","category-popular","category-sokoto","category-us","category-us-strike"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}