When faced with a crisis, the US Senate has to decide: America First or to help our allies?
The ongoing healthcare debate in the United States Senate was interrupted when reports came of Boko Haram members being spotted in Kala, Nigeria. This coming after the president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, proclaimed that ‘the war against Boko Haram was in its final stages’ a few years back, these sightings reignited old fears of both members of the US Senate and the African Union, as well as rumours of the resurgence of what was reportedly ‘the world’s deadliest terrorist group’.
The Boko Haram Insurgency, which began in 2009, when the Jihadist group Boko Haram attempted an uprising against the Nigerian Government, with their goal being to establish an Islamic State in Nigeria. Their crimes include countless acts of violence against the Christian community in Nigeria, with the death toll totalling slightly over 50,000 innocent victims.
These old fears came true when a state of emergency had been announced in 3 municipalities within Nigeria regarding the resurgence of Boko Haram in the area, with residents being warned not to leave their houses and travel advisories being issued by the United States. With the United States’ previous involvement in combating Boko Haram in Nigeria, it was now up to the United States Senate to work together with the African Union in a race against time to take immediate action against Boko Haram.
In a remarkable show of bipartisanship, both houses of the senate had agreed that immediate action was needed to increase homeland security to become more resistant to possible attacks by Boko Haram. This is taking into account that the US had previously aided Nigeria in launching attacks against Boko Haram, and hence Boko Haram might be inclined to infiltrate and launch attacks on the US. Multiple senators on both sides campaigned for increased border control, with some Republican senators going so far as to reject all Nigerian visas to prevent infiltration by Boko Haram militants.
Sen. Kamala Harris also highlighted the need to prevent extremism among local groups. Provide funds for protection to local non-profit local religious groups. Boko Haram long-standing conflict with Christian Community in Nigeria as they want to establish an Islamic State. Prevent the local community from becoming polarised, D_AZ also supports local education.
However, the members of the Senate were deadly divided on the argument of whether to send troops to aid Nigeria against Boko Haram. All senators on the Republican side, as well as some members on the Democratic side, felt that the senate should adopt an ‘America First’ stance and focus all efforts on homeland security, and to avoid fanning the flames of war in Nigeria. This reflects recent public polls where 70% of respondents were against intervention in Nigeria, with many local anti-war protests further condoning this stance. However, this stance included withdrawing all aid from Nigeria as well, something which the remaining representatives condemned for being ‘too heartless’.
“President Trump tweeted that ‘sh*thole countries have sh*thole problems,” D-NY Sen. Kamala Harris referenced President Trump’s tweet in response to the situation. “Well, these are NOT sh*thole countries, they are our allies, and we should do what we can to support them.” She also advocated for maintaining strong ties with Nigeria as a trading partner by providing aid. This move was supported by Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Martha McSally (D-AZ).
With Boko Haram having recently taken over Lake Chad, starving the many people in the area who rely on it as a source of water, foreign aid would likely be of help at this point. At the present, the locals have resorted to discreetly hoarding water in the middle of the night, or building homemade piping systems in order to draw water without detection by Boko Haram.
The debate is still ongoing, and we hope to see some more decisive action taken by the US with regards to the provision of aid to Nigeria in the upcoming sessions.
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