A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has said Britain deliberately structured Nigeria’s post-independence leadership to enable the former colonialists maintain influence over the country and ensure that power was handed to leaders they could control.
Akinyemi said this yesterday in an interview with a national television monitored by our reporter.
The ex-minister was reacting to allegations by U.S. Congressman Scott Perry that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had funneled $697 million annually to terrorist groups, including Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.
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Akinyemi said as early as 1945, British authorities had planned who would lead Nigeria after independence, deliberately bypassing nationalist leaders, like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Kingsley Mbadiwe, and Michael Okpara, political leaders he said Britain could not easily control.
“Nigeria had been a target before we even became independent. The British arranged the handover of power to the least developed part of Nigeria and picked elite they believed they could control.
“They learnt from their experience with India’s Jawaharlal Nehru, who escaped their control. From then on, Britain ensured that any of their former colonies becoming independent would have leaders they could manipulate,” he said.
Akinyemi also made shocking revelations on the role of foreign powers in Nigeria’s security crisis, particularly with Boko Haram.
The former Foreign Affairs minister claimed that while serving on the Boko Haram Committee, villagers recounted sightings of helicopters piloted by white individuals landing in the dead of night, offloading arms, money, and supplies to the terrorist group.
According to him, he and his colleagues suspected French involvement, but Congressman Perry’s recent statements point toward American operatives.
“The villagers had no reason to lie,” Akinyemi said. “They saw white people delivering supplies to Boko Haram. At the time, we assumed it was the French, but now an American congressman tells us it was the Americans.”
Beyond foreign influence, the former minister said there was also an internal sabotage within Nigeria’s military, alleging that some officers were compromised by foreign interests.
“Our soldiers have had Boko Haram fighters in their sights, only to receive orders from superiors not to engage,” he said, suggesting a high-level collusion between Nigerian security forces and foreign actors.
Akinyemi argued that Western powers — particularly the U.S. and the France — have a vested interest in keeping Nigeria unstable, fearing that a strong Nigeria could challenge global power dynamics.
“I attended a conference in Washington DC, where it was discussed that no country in the global north wants a black nation to become a superpower because it would disrupt their racial power structures,” he said.
Citing Nelson Mandela, he added: “Until Nigeria makes it, no black nation will.”
Akinyemi’s revelations have added weight to long-standing concerns about foreign interference in Nigeria’s affairs, raising questions about the country’s ability to achieve true independence and self-determination.
