USAID and alleged funding of Boko Haram

The recent allegation by a United States Congressman, Scott Perry, that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram, to the tune of $697 million annually should be properly probed by the Federal Government to ascertain its veracity or otherwise. The allegation is too weighty to be ignored. Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, had during the inaugural session of an advisory body created by President Donald Trump to cut US government spending, said the USAID’s annual budget of $697 million including cash, has inadvertently funded terrorist training camps and extremist groups in Nigeria and other countries.

Perry also claimed that USAID’s reported funding of $136 million for building 120 schools in Pakistan has yielded “zero evidence” of the schools’ construction. He further questioned the allocation of $60 million annually for the Women’s Scholarship Endowment and $5 million annually for the Young Women Lead program, suggesting that these funds may be supporting terrorism instead of empowering women.

Although the Congressman provided no evidence to substantiate his allegation, it has raised concerns in Nigeria where Boko Haram has caused the death of thousands of people. The Senate has summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi; Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye, over the matter.

Also, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has vowed that Nigeria will not allow USAID to continue operation in the country, if the agency is found guilty of sponsoring terrorism. “If it is true that USAID has been funding Boko Haram in Nigeria, we have no business allowing them to have offices in Nigeria. So, before we can take decisive steps and also ask for recompence, automatically we must go deeper into the issue,” Akpabio said. Senator Mohammed Ndume, representing Borno South Senatorial District, has also demanded a thorough investigation into the claim by Perry. Ndume urged the Senate to treat the allegation with utmost seriousness.

However, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr. has said that there is no evidence backing the allegation that USAID funded the Boko Haram terrorist group in the country. The Ambassador maintained that his government monitors all its spending in Nigeria and none of that went to Boko Haram. According to the envoy, the US has policies and procedures in place to ensure that any of its assistance funding – whether it comes from USAID, the Department of Defense, the State Department – is not diverted to a terrorist group like Boko Haram.

“There is absolutely no evidence that I have seen that (USAID funding Boko Haram) has occurred, and certainly if we ever have evidence presented to us that a programme funding was being diverted to Boko Haram, we would immediately investigate, along with our Nigerian partners”, he said. As proof of his country’s stance against the group, the Ambassador recalled that Boko Haram had been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by US since 2013. Perry’s troubling allegation must be urgently probed by the government and its security agents. It should not be dismissed or waved aside in the usual Nigerian manner. It is encouraging that America has pledged full support in the investigation. The probe must be thorough, transparent and the outcome made public.

Nigeria has lost so much in human and material resources to Boko Haram insurgency. Since the group launched its murderous campaign in 2009, many lives have been lost to its odious activities. Among other things, it has disrupted food supply chains in the North-East region, leading to avoidable deaths food shortage and hunger. A 2021 United Nations (UN) report had linked the activities of the group in the North-East, with deaths of some 324,000 under-five children, mostly from disease and hunger. The insurgents have used abduction, torture, rape, forced marriage and recruitment of child soldiers, as well as attacks on government infrastructure and religious institutions to prosecute their terror war on Nigeria. They have even attacked Police Headquarters and United Nations (UN building in Abuja.

Nigeria and other African countries should stop depending so much on foreign aids. With its abundant human and material resources, Nigeria does not need foreign aids to survive. It is time to reexamine the role of non-governmental organizations in the war against Boko Haram in the North-East region. We must begin to be wary of foreign aids and interrogate their sources and hidden intentions. The report that the insurgents are highly equipped with sophisticated weapons and other logistics shows that they may have foreign sponsors. There is no doubt that knowing their sponsors will go a long way in winning the war against terrorism.