Under the cover of counterterrorism, AFRICOM is beefing up Nigeria’s military to ensure the free flow of oil to the West, and using the country as a proxy against China’s influence on the continent. by TJ Coles Part 6 - The US escalates involvement In the context of the “war on terror,” the Pentagon saw Boko Haram as an opportunity to train Nigeria’s military and employ it for its objectives. The primary US goal was ensuring that the oil-rich regions did not fall into enemy hands. The Congressional Research Service noted that by the time AFRICOM was founded in the late-2000s, Africa “ supplie[d] the United States with roughly the same amount of crude oil as the Middle East. ” An Armed Services Committee report in 2011 noted: “ Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta is a major source of oil for the United States outside of the Middle East. ” The US Energy Information Administration states: “ Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa. It holds the largest natural gas reserves on the con