US tweeting for 'free, fair' elections sparks concern among Nigerians
The responses to the Tweet published by the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, sparked controversy on Friday as Nigerians suspect the US is plotting to destabilize the nation.
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Pedestrians walk past campaign posters for presidential candidate Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos, Nigeria Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP)
Ahead of the opening of Nigeria's polling stations for national elections, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted on Thursday a video of herself, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samatha Power promoting a "free and open election in Nigeria."
Nigeria – your vote matters!
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) February 24, 2023
Go to https://t.co/didV1espQG to prepare to vote. pic.twitter.com/Tfu4AgaP28
The video states that the US government "does not support any individual candidate for office" but rather "strongly supports a peaceful election that reflects the will of the people in Nigeria."
Knowing about the US' gruesome history in foreign interventions, Twitter users took on the platform to express their concerns.
This is offensive
— Maynard Manyowa (@iAmKudaMaynard) February 24, 2023
You are eyeing Nigerian oil, we see you
— Macliod🇿🇼 (@mczuriel) February 24, 2023
— FatFinger™ (@longshortgamma) February 24, 2023
— Sprocket 🍅 (@sprocketjsc) February 24, 2023
I think the world is done with your "humanitarians concerns" in their countries pic.twitter.com/HZxBGOz51C
— Engel Martínez ☭🇲🇽 (@engmac18) February 24, 2023
Thomas-Greenfield has a reputation for working with think tanks that have promoted illegal coups and influenced elections across the globe.
She was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a group whose founding members are "focused on exerting behind-the-scenes influence designed to encourage sustained US involvement in the world," according to the CFR website.
The organization likewise receives funds from some of the US' major companies, Blackrock, Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Goldman Sachs, Google, and JP Morgan.
Thomas-Greenfield also worked for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an organization that is also linked to illegal coups orchestrated by the US and has influenced elections in several countries, including Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Libya, and most recently Venezuela.
Read more: Nigeria to be Africa's biggest oil refiner by 2025, followed by Angola
Samantha Power, who features in the promotional tweet, has her agency USAID working in several covert operations as well. Her organization was expelled from Russia after it was revealed that activities of elections interference were uncovered by the Russia authorities.
As for Blinken, the US Secretary of State, his past in supporting isolationist policies towards Russia and pushing for regime change in Iraq and Libya is well documented.
US eyeing Nigeria's lithium resources
Nigeria is a country rich in natural resources, including oil - that is a well-known fact. Yet, the worrisome side of this is the recent discovery of immense lithium deposits, a resource that has increased in value now as countries across the globe are striving to switch to a net-zero economy.
In 2021, Nigeria reported the production of 540,000 tons of lithium carbonate. By 2025, this number is expected to reach 1.5 million, and by 2030 it is forecasted to reach a staggering 3 million.
In 2022, electric vehicle company Tesla attempted to sign a deal to mine some of the lithium, but the government laid the condition that the company had to build a battery factory within the country so that Nigerians could benefit from the resources.
Nigeria enacted a ban on raw material exports to prevent resource dispossession of natural resources such as lithium and other materials.
"Anything that is mined in Nigeria must have value addition to the country," Minister of Mines and Steel Development Olamilekan Adegbite said at a recent summit in Abuja.
As a result of this ban, Tesla was prohibited from mining the country's lithium.
Instead, the Nigerian government gave the greenlight to a Chinese company that agreed to build a factory in Nigeria, just five months after Tesla's offer was rejected.
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