Iran War: Nigeria must collaborate with other nations to pressure Trump — Falana

Prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has called on the Nigerian government to work with other nations to mount diplomatic pressure on the United States over its role in the escalating conflict involving Iran and Israel.

Falana made the call during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, accusing US President Donald Trump of openly contemptuous disregard for international law and United Nations resolutions.

“President Trump has no regard and shows contempt for international law. Hence, he has withdrawn the United States from about 66 United Nations resolutions. To him, the resolutions of the United Nations mean nothing,” he said.

The senior advocate urged Nigeria to revive its tradition of multilateral diplomacy, drawing parallels with the country’s active role during the era of the Non-Aligned Movement, and called for swift collaboration with other nations to rein in the Trump administration.

“Our duty as a country, as we used to do in the past, is to collaborate with other countries. When you talk of the days of non-alignment, we must now move very speedily to collaborate with other countries to mount pressure on Mr Trump,” he said.

Falana also stressed the importance of engaging Russia and China as diplomatic intermediaries, arguing that both powers carry significant influence over Tehran.

“We need to persuade China and Russia to intervene because those are the two countries that Iran will listen to,” he added.

On internal security, Falana urged the Federal Government to strengthen Nigeria’s security institutions rather than depend on foreign powers, citing Iran’s self-reliance as a lesson.

“Nigeria must wake up. We must learn from Iran that unless you reorganise your own country, unless you equip your armed forces and your police force, there is no way an imperialist country like America will guarantee law and order in your country,” he said.

Falana also turned his attention to Nigeria’s refining sector, questioning the continued silence around the country’s four state-owned refineries despite billions spent on their rehabilitation.

“If we say we have four refineries, nobody is talking about them any longer. The NNPC now solely relies on the Dangote Refinery. Is that how to run a country? After carrying money down the drain, about $2.9 billion was spent on the maintenance of our four refineries,” he said.

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