Coup: What Babangida told a minister who told him to stop power supply to Niger republic- Kassim Afegbua

GLatestAugust 10, 2023

1 minute read

A former commissioner for information in Edo State, Kassim Afegbua has said the cutting-off of electricity supply to Niger republic because of the military coup in that country was a misstep. Afegbua who spoke on Focus Nigeria said Nigeria should be strategic in its handling of the military coup in Niger because of the bilateral agreements between the two countries in the past. He also revealed what former Head of state, Ibrahim Babangida told a minister who advised him to stop electricity supply to Niger republic.

He said, “I love to remember some of the lessons I learnt from General Babangida. He told me sometime when he was president, a particular minister from the South had written a memo to say please let’s stop power supply to Niger, let’s stop giving them this, let’s stop giving them that.

And he told the minister to go and do a memo on that. And the particular minister who is now late did a 16-page memo where he spoke to these issues. And the only point he took away was that, you are a professor but you don’t seem to know Nigerian history. Niger was the only country that granted us the rights and access to arms and ammunitions during the civil war. Every other country didn’t do that and that was the only way Nigeria could defeat the Biafra during the civil war. And so if they had entered into bilateral agreements at those point, such that even the President of Niger was helping to pay for those arms and ammunitions until later when Nigeria settled them. Then it goes to show that there was a relationship and that relationship had to be sustained. If you decide to stop power supply and they dam River Niger, there will be consequences for your actions.”