The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has opposed the appeal by the Federal government for the relocation of the United States African Command (AFRICOM) from Stuggart in Germany to Africa, saying it will be counter-productive.
The President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, stated this at the 2nd national security summit organised by the congress in Abuja on Thursday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during a virtual meeting with the U. S Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, appealed to the U.S to reconsider relocating the U.S AFRICOM from Germany to Africa.
But Wabba argued that it will be counter-productive to replace Army with foreign soldiers to fight the country’s security challenges.
According to the NLC president, the Armed Forces are capable of tackling the present security challenges facing the country if they are supported with adequate funds and equipment.
He said: “However, we are concerned about recent plans to relocate the U.S African Command from Germany to Nigeria. While we welcome intelligence sharing and ammunitions to support our armed forces, we warn that it will be counter-productive to replace our army with foreign soldiers.
“Nigerian Armed Forces are capable of surmounting the insecurity challenge if they are supported with adequate funds and technological equipment.”
Wabba stated that political leaders should be ready to take responsibility for the actions they took when they were in office.
He noted that the present insecurity in Kaduna State has a link with the decision of the state government to sack workers.
“Our political leaders should be ready to take responsibility for the actions they took while in office. There is a nexus between throwing workers out of their jobs and the resultant increase in unemployment and rising wave of insecurity.