Muammar Gaddafi, the “Leader and Guide of the Revolution”, is at it again. Africa’s longest-serving head of state, and the man who has done more than any other to keep Africans mired in poverty by supporting, training and supplying weapons to terrorists and rebels and thereby fomenting civil wars and numerous military coup attempts, is now campaigning for Nigeria to be split into several independent states.
Nigeria is unsurprisingly unimpressed by Gaddafi’s advice. The country has enough trouble trying to deal with interracial and interreligious violence, without his inflammatory comments. It is even speculated that Gaddafi is sponsoring the violence being perpetrated on Christian civilians by Muslim gangs. This is not unlikely given Gaddafi’s track record of sponsoring large numbers of rebel movements in West Africa.
Nigeria recalled its ambassador from Tripoli earlier this month as the fallout from Gaddafi’s agitation developed. Gaddafi has been trying to assert control over Africa for some time now – in recent years adopting the title “King of African Kings” – and a fragmentation of Nigeria, Africa’s largest country, would be a step in the right direction for his personal ambitions.