 The coalition of northern groups, CNG, has taken a swipe against the federal government over stranded Nigerians in crisis-torn Sudan. In a statement, CNG demanded immediate action from the National Assembly, National Security Advisor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The group wondered what was responsible for the delay in the evacuation of Nigerians from Sudan. We're now being joined by a foreign affairs expert, as Professor Baba Femi Badejo is also a professor of political science and international relations. Good to have you join us, Professor. Yeah, thank you very much for having me. And let's quickly just take a look at what the coalition of northern groups, the CNG, have said. They've taken a swipe against the federal government, saying that it is complacent in the evacuation process of Nigerians in war-torn or crisis-torn Sudan. What do you take on that? Well, they are quite correct in articulating the fact that our government should have done better in ensuring that the almost 3,000 Nigerians in Khartoum, especially the whole of Sudan, are catered for. As soon as it was clear that things were breaking down, even before the actual exchange of fire, we should have been thinking about what do we do to get our people out? That's what a country, that is what being called a country does, to provide for the security of its citizens wherever they are. So it doesn't have to be to take a group, because most of the students are students from the northern part of the country. That's why the CNG was the one issuing the statement. But it doesn't matter who issues the statement. The fact of the matter is we have been lax. You mentioned the fact that Nigeria is planning. Planning was what you used. It's not that evacuation is taking place. The UN succeeded in pulling its staff by road to Port Sudan. We had an operation that started planning for it as soon as the crisis began. And the people started moving. A friend of mine in the convoy was telling me at about 4 p.m. today that they are still about to get to Port Sudan after 30 hours. It's a long convoy and we are talking about wanting to go to Egypt. The shortest distance is probably to go through Ethiopia, where another friend of mine working for the African Union told me he was going to go through. What's our government doing? The Ethiopians were allowing other citizens of other countries to enter Ethiopia. Our students that took it upon themselves to try to find their safety when their government is not rising up for them were being turned back by, from what I just saw in some video going viral, were being turned back that they hadn't the visa to enter. That tells you about the extent to which our government really cares about its citizens. Because every Nigerian, and I listened to Aliko Dangote complaining about how even he, the richest man in Africa, because he's carrying a Nigerian passport, is treated around the world. What's our government doing in ensuring that, yes, we get better respect than is currently the case? Looking at the government-people relationship which you've spoken about, some days ago, the government did say that there was not going to be an evacuation and that the people that's Nigerians in Sudan should be indoors while the crisis is ongoing. That too, some people in some quarters, they believed that was insensitive. You've also spoken about other routes that could be taken aside, Egypt, that the government is planning to take its people through convoy. What would you say about any further delay? Because just as you said, I'm also reading that the government is starting to, or would be starting to. No, I didn't say that. I was only quoting you. You said it is understandable. I don't think they are serious personally. If it has gone on now for well over a week and we are still planning, it leaves much to be desired. And to say to people to stay indoors because there will be no evacuation. The government aware of what it's talking about, a country is breaking down. People are being sought in houses and whatever and being harassed and treated in different ways. The nationals themselves are running to their villages. We all see that on CNN and Al Jazeera and our government was saying stay indoors. Inside which does? The doors that are being shelled by the two sides in the crisis in Sudan. A number of people have been killed, including some United Nations staff members. We don't know because government can hardly account for its citizens anywhere. It is usual. I was outside for almost 24 years. You have to cater for yourself for everything. It's like you are an orphan. In fact, at times you go to other countries to get them to help you when your government is not lifting a finger. They would in some cases rather lift a finger to help foreigners. But when it comes to their own, they call the set of offices and claim that offices are doing something, diaspora, this, that. These are jobs for the boys. I wouldn't be excited about the fact that, of course, if they are able to get the people through Egypt, all well and good, better late than never. But this is not something that according to you, they should be planning. This is something that should be taking place. People started taking their people out since yesterday that they negotiated passages through the Port Sudan, the United States. Nobody could use the airport that has been damaged, but they are getting their people through the road negotiating with the government of Sudan. But we told our own people to stay indoors. Now let's look at the crisis in Sudan itself and taking a look at governance in Africa. We already know that this crisis started long before now. Even it also introduced or, yeah, birthed the coup of two years ago. Now the plan is to try to install a new civil government in a nation that has suffered a crisis all along. Now looking at governance in Africa and looking at what is going on in Sudan now with the two generals being at loggerheads at each other, while peace is trying to be brokered and there's no way to truce, this is a big problem in the continent. Well, it might interest you to know that I spent three years in Sudan working for the United Nations before I retired from there and then subsequently joined Chris Land University as professor of international relations and political science. So it's not a problem that started in 2019 when Omar Al-Bashir was overthrown and then Hamdok as prime minister was subsequently overthrown. It's a more complex problem that involves neighbors of Sudan that involves the major powers in the world as to what they want to see in Sudan. And that's the problem without making it difficult for your viewers. That's a problem that I refer to as the need if you want to understand it and to solve it, then you have to understand the situational quadruple nexus problem that Africa faces. I can just quickly say that in order to understand the problem, you have to look at how do you get peace and security? How do you get development going? How do you get respect for human rights? How do you get humanitarianism to be operational in any of the African countries? But all these goals of trying to get things done and going will come to nothing if you don't address the situational foundations on which these ones are rested. And the situational foundation is simple. It's for leadership deficit, external dynamics in terms of the countries that deliberately destabilize Africa. And of course, you cannot blame them because you're trying to get more out of Africa and take their own share because you don't have a leadership that is capable of being able to protect our interests. We are not the only ones that are colonized. The Asians were also colonized and quite a good number of them are able to wriggle their way in the world overall. There is appropriate determined leadership that is not corrupt to find a way to ensure that the external dynamics pressures are not totally destructive, that they are not able to do much, and they continue to play the servile role in saying our friends in Europe, our friends in America, who are your friends? Many people are interested in taking care of their own interests, and you have to take care of yours. And we don't have a leadership that is able to figure that out. We had a set of leadership, as we were getting independence, who were trying in all this. Then the militaries took over in quite a reasonable portion of Africa, including Sudan. So if you limit it to wanting to look at Omar el-Bashir, Omar el-Bashir created the rapid support forces. The rapid support forces was facing the Sudanese middle of Africans, Arabs, and a melange of that, the mixture of that, and somehow 2003 started the four crises that became a full blown war in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. That's right. The insetting about that, the pre-cursor of the rapid support forces was called the Jangerweed. The Jangerweed was put in place to damage and drive the Africans out of their villages and whatever the asylum IDP camps all over the four. And the reaction to the condemnation of the world about Jangerweed and that tag militia was the Omar el-Bashir regime, creating General Hematih as the head of the rapid support forces. And eventually the rapid support forces grew as an alternative presidential support base that if the Sudanese forces were going to be a problem. So when he was overthrown, you have the two generals in that formation taking over from one general and that has you two commands, which is normally not, which is not normal for a military setup. And that problem has been there, whether it is in the 2019 or in the 2021, Hamdok was taken from the United Nations to come and be prime minister, but it was decoration prime minister. And invariably, the crisis is what we have seen. And it's not far from the crisis in many parts of Africa. We are facing our own problems with Boko Haram, even though this government has reduced territorial claims of Boko Haram, but Boko Haram is still very strong. Other bandits and criminals as terrorists are taking over different parts of the country. That's right, Prof. Thank you so much for your contributions tonight. That's Professor Baba Femi, Badi Jod, Professor of Political Science and International Relations. Thank you for being part of the news tonight. You're very welcome. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.