The cautionary advice that one should always be wary of Greeks even when they bring gifts seems most apt when developing countries deal with so-called international development partners or foreign development agencies that provide ‘aid’ to poor countries. It means ‘shine your eyes’, in our own popular local lingo, i.e., know who you are dealing with to avoid falling into their invisible traps! Another saying is: not everything that glitters is gold. This, again, advises caution, for one to do due diligence before accepting offers of aid, lest one falls victim of sinister but hidden motives.
But let’s return to the Greek gift aphorism. The legend of the Trojan horse, the Greeks’ subversive gift to Troy to gain entry into the fortified city, is well known and requires no retelling here. But it is an appropriate warning for political elites of developing countries like Nigeria in their relations with foreign governments, especially the United States of America and its official aid-giving agencies, such as United States Agency for International Development (USAID), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), and National Democratic Institute (NDI). They have humongous funds from the US government coffers for their foreign operations. Take note, a joint IRI and NDI delegation has just concluded a “Pre-Election Assessment” visit to Nigeria.
It may sound crazy but it is true that these ‘democracy’ aiding agencies actually have invisible umbilical cords with the US Central Intelligence Agency that enable it to plant and embed its operatives in their overseas offices and field operations. This is neither an idle conjecture nor one of those conspiracy theories. Author William Blum’s decades work, studying and researching US foreign policy around the world, has meticulously documented America’s horrific atrocities in several countries where the US has vested interests. These generally include cases of violent regime change and assassinations of recalcitrant foreign leaders. One that comes to mind most prominently is Cuba where eight successive US administrations from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush tried more than 600 times but failed to remove the Castro regime or assassinate him. These attempts were carried out either directly by the CIA operatives or by CIA-trained Cuban exiles. For Castro to have survived all those attempts, he must have been the proverbial cat, in his case with more than nine lives.
After detailing America’s predilection and capacity for causing regime change across the globe, William Blum cynically asked: “why will there never be a coup d’état in Washington?” And his equally cynical answer is instructive: “Because there is no American embassy there.” The implication is that any country that plays host to a US embassy is susceptible to orchestrated coups and other acts of destabilization and regime change, if and whenever the White House so desires it.
America has since the end of the Second World War chalked up a long list of the most ignoble destructive activities around the globe, sponsoring coups d’état, assassinations, targeted killings, mass murders, drone murders, violent regime changes, as well as the diabolical use of foreign aid for destabilization campaigns. Coups and other violent forms of regime change are integral to America’s diplomatic activities in any country where the US has a resident embassy, and where its aid-disbursing agencies have set up shop to fund the activities of local NGOs, community-based associations, civil society organizations, pro-democracy, human rights bodies and sundry ghost organizations.
Local recipients of such aid invariably have to accept surreptitious foreign diktat, are often subjected to subtle manipulations to do foreign bidding, sometimes acting unwittingly against the interests of their own countries. Same goes for foreign donor-funded research activities. For example, the 30 or so US-funded bio-weapons research centres in Ukraine aren’t for the benefit of Ukrainians. These are uncomfortable truths. Examples abound in several countries of how NGOs are funded to destabilize and subvert governments in aid of America’s desire for regime change – Iran, Chile, Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, Libya, Egypt, the list is long. John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser, recently acknowledged in a television interview how he helped plan a coup in Venezuela. Whenever governments of these nations wake up to these antics, they are not averse to employing the sledgehammer against those NGOs, by formal proscription, formal restrictions and other forms of punishment. For instance, once President Fattah el-Sisi got wise that the socio-political crises that removed the democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi were foreign orchestrated and sponsored, he quickly enacted new legislations in 2019 that imposed draconian restrictions on all NGOs with foreign links. Not surprisingly, the US government never acknowledged Morsi’s ouster as a coup d’état.
Even here in Nigeria, organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have not always been truly detached and objective in their reports. I hold no brief for the Nigerian government, which unarguably has lots of faults, but there are enough indications these bodies focus more on and exaggerate negatives, their reportage laden with unconcealed prejudice, and clouded with bias and subjective interpretations slanted to achieve sinister objectives.
But let’s focus on those aforementioned US agencies that claim to foster democracy across the globe: NED, IRI and NDI. They claim to be private, non-profit, philanthropic bodies or foundations. In reality, they were established and are being funded by the US government, not so much for promoting democracy as is generally believed. NED in particular, to quote William Blum was founded “to promote political action and psychological warfare against states not in love with US foreign policy.” Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is one of the latest victims of a US orchestrated regime change: he was removed by a foreign-orchestrated parliamentary no-confidence vote for taking a stand against America’s diktat. It was already a foregone conclusion that he would suffer that fate once he demonstrated the temerity to stand up to Uncle Sam, in his case peacefully. The gruesomely dispatched leaders of Chile, Panama, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and Libya weren’t so lucky. No American president is exempted from this evil, not even our own smiling Barack Obama!
USAID and NED have field offices in Nigeria, and give aid ostensibly to ‘support and advance democratic governance’. Very well said. But are Nigerians aware that they have links to US foreign policy establishment and its predilections for anti-democratic actions across the globe, or are they naïve recipients of their subversive generosity? Remember, the Greeks and their gifts!
Nigeria’s 2023 general elections are just a few months away, and all political parties, local NGOs and civic groups across the nation are engaged in a flurry of activities. Should Nigerians be worried or apprehensive about the activities of these supposedly private, nonprofit, but US government-funded NGOs ‘sponsoring democracy’ in our country? Well, this is merely an appeal to Nigerians, a cautionary note for our government and intelligence agencies to shine their eyes, look beneath the veneer of noble statements put on websites of supporting and advancing democracy. Even if they are what they claim to be, what’s in it for them and their country? Can these aid, grants and support be motivated by pure altruism, knowing that the US has a long record of overthrowing democratic governments and promoting dictatorships in Latin America and Africa?
- Prof Fawole writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.