In the 5th Century BC in the Battle of Salamis, a Greek fleet won a decisive battle against Xerxes, King of Persia, destroying Persia's superior naval capabilities. In 479 BC, the Persian General Mardonius attacked the Greek region of Attica, engaging the Greek forces at PLATAE.

Mardonuis, fighting in the thick of the action was killed, throwing his forces in disarray, forcing the Persians to retreat back to Asia. Now we gotta remember that at this period in time Persia was a superpower. It was the greatest empire the world had ever seen. No kidding.

After this 2nd great defeat for superpower Persia, no future Persian force would ever land on the Greek mainland again. These military conflicts in Europe had taught the Persians that the Greek city states, though divided among themselves would unite against a foreign aggressor.

And so the Persian Kings, long having allied with Greek rulers on occasions adopted the strategy of using the near unlimited financial resources of the Persian states to create diplomatic alliances with select city states, and to support them against their local rivals.

This strategy of divide and rule WORKED !! Within a few years the Greek city states were back to fighting amongst themselves, posing little threat to Persian interest in the region. It would take an exceptionally powerful and cunning ruler to reunite the Greeks.

You know who that ruler was? Alexander the Great.

Does this bit of history draw parallel to events in Nigeria and West Africa? .... oh absolutely !! In everyway it does.

Stand by.

First lets take a look at what is has been happening in West Africa since 2011. Nigeria, the regions most powerful state has first of all been kept busy tackling insurgency at home. It is pertinent to note here that the Boko Haram insurgency was borne out of corruption

..and negligence in Nigeria. No outside party created Boko Haram. But when a target if opportunity presents itself the enemy seizes it. West Africa's two biggest economies have been at loggerheads in recent times. The U.S, seeing this rift approached Accra for the establishment

of a military base. Despite Nigeria's strong objection Ghana agreed. It took a massive protest from thousands of Ghanaians who took to the streets for the Ghanaian government to reverse course and reject the proposed U.S military base.

To pull West Africas big two even further apart the U.S under Obama began a campaign to malign and isolate Nigeria in the eyes of ECOWAS countries. Flying over Nigeria on a state visit to Ghana where he gave a speech at the Ghanaian Parliament describing Ghana as the hope

for West Africa and contrasted Ghana to terrorist ridden Nigeria. He was giving a rapturous 5 mins clapping ovation. In Cameroon the once peaceful state is being torn apart by a war with Anglophone separatists. Mali lost half its territory to Tuareg rebels, with Nigeria too busy

to intervene France waded in to fill the void left by Nigeria's absent. This came with the establishment of a French military base in an ECOWAS member state for the first time ever. a feat thought unthinkable years earlier.

Before all this...years ago in 96 In Gabon. Week in and week out for years, French sentries manned the lookout towers at a secrete military base. This French military outpost 3,300 miles from Paris, is not guarding some hostile border or protecting against a foreign threat.

it was guarding Africa's most extravagant presidential mansion, among Paris's top priorities was protecting Gabon's autocratic leader, Omar Bongo, who was installed with French help. Besides Gabon, French troops were based in the Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad.

A military base in Nigeria dominated ECOWAS was unthinkable. France has intervened militarily on the continent. Paris has sent troops into action in Chad, flown in paratroopers to assist a coup in Burkina Faso and used its forces to replace political leaders in the CAR.

Despite opposition voices France insisted its continuing military presence in Africa in terms of stabilizing democracies. Paris "will intervene each time an elected democratic power is overthrown by a coup d'etat ," French President said

Now how do you reconcile the fact that most of French troops are billeted in countries of dubious democratic credentials. Now this is where i want Nigerians to worry. When Niger's first democratically elected Government fell to its first ever military coup

At the time, France, which has a defense treaty with Niger, said it regretted the development but would not intervene. So we gotta ask, why they hell are French troops in Niger then? What justifies their military presence there. Look at Mali. France has 5,000 troops in Mali,

two Squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighters. One Squadron of Rafale fighter jets and a drone base. Even more remarkedly Mali is the HQ for the G-5 Military Alliance, yet France has been auspiciously silent about the coup. How strange is that?

I know a lot of Nigerians will call me a conspiracy theorist..but these are cold hard facts on the ground. Lets be honest here, France's presence here has more to do with perpetuating Paris's predominance in an area that it has long considered its "natural" zone of influence.

France is the only colonial power in Africa because the country is hiding its insecurity. Former French President Jaque Chirac (forgive my spelling) was said

''Without Africa France will be a poor 3rd rate power''

He was right. Colonial powers like Britain or Spain, Germany

or even Italy care little about Africa. They have a productive and innovative economy. France however has a not so flattery reputation as the nation of surrender. Far from its glory days as an 18th century world power. But France wants to project the image of a superpower

Only the African continent gives France the illusion of being a great power. France Comes to the Rescue of Dictators. Plunders the resources of these states and split the proceeds with dictators, protecting them with French military power while the people languish in poverty.

These countries are an important sources of strategic resources such as uranium and oil. In under a decade Chad has squandered its oil wealth on buying arms. Now the countries oil wells have run dry they are eyeing Nigeria's vast and untouched hydrocarbon reserves

We are witnessing before our very own eyes the disintegration of ECOWAS. Our only major ally is carrying out xenophobic attacks and bulldozing the Nigerian embassy with catepillars..a diplomatic incident without precedent in world history.

Francophone Chad and Cameroon are the only countries in Africa with the longest sitting dictators. Now we are witnessing a French backed military coup in Mali. France is hiding behind the scene not wanting to draw attention to itself.

Again i ask how is it possible for Mali's ragtag army to wrest political control from the democratically elected president without French backing. A country that stations 5,000 troops and squadrons of fighter jets many times the size of the entire Nigerian Air Force?

The silence of the French government is indicative the coup plotters had tacit French approval. For France, Africa is nothing but a captive market. Never since the creation of ECOWAS have their being so much animosity between member states and the proliferation of terrorisms.

In Nigeria militant groups are being armed and financed by external entities, to keep the regional giant busy while ECOWAS is torn apart under the yoke of relentless security issues and political infighting that never seem to go away.