Iyobosa Uwugiaren argues that while Nigerians may have been ‘’disgraced’’ by actions and inactions of the past governments, including Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigerians must defend its country against Trump’s extreme madness without party, ethnic or religion sentiments.
If President Donald Trump’s recent decision on Nigeria were put to a popular vote in the US, it’s not likely to pass. Most Americans, especially Democrats, have a negative view of Trump. A recent NBC News poll found that over 52% of Americans believe Trump has done more to undermine the US Constitution than protect it. Additionally, about 80% of Democrats give Trump a cold rating, with 73% holding a very unfavorable view of him.
In particular, former respected President Barack Obama has been vocal about his discontentment of Trump, calling him “lawless and reckless” and criticizing Trump’s tariff policy and deployment of National Guard troops to US cities. Most Democrats also perceive Trump as having higher levels of gloomy traits, particularly narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism.
But, why is this character, often criticized for his stance on immigrants and accused of racism, suddenly claiming to champion Nigerian Christians, and threatening military action against Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu doesn’t act swiftly to protect them? Is he genuinely concerned or just playing politics? Or it is part of the US foreign policy, to put pressure on Tinubu’s administration to quickly end the killings across Nigeria?Trump said few days ago that he had asked the US Defence Department to prepare for possible “fast” military action in Nigeria, if the country fails to crack down on the killing of Christians. But, apparently trying to play down tension between US and Nigeria, despite Trump calling Nigeria a ‘’disgraced country’’, the Presidency through the Special Adviser on Media Policy, Daniel Bwala, said it would welcome U.S. help in fighting Islamist insurgents as long as its territorial integrity is respected.
‘’We welcome U.S. assistance as long as it recognises our territorial integrity,” Bwala, told Reuters. “I am sure by the time these two leaders meet and sit, there would be better outcomes in our joint resolve to fight terrorism.”
Outside President Trump’s extreme stance, many Nigerians believe his intervention will put suffocating pressure on the government at all levels to end the senseless killing across the country.
Islamist insurgents such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have created mayhem in the country for more than 15 years, killing thousands of people. Security experts, NGOs and other observers said the level of insecurity — motivated by rising criminality, continued to worsen since Tinubu came to office.
For instance, earlier in the year, a Catholic seminarian was burnt to death, when bandits attacked the residence of the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan in the ZangonKataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Bandits had also attacked a mosque in the Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State and killed seven worshippers.
In December last year, armed gunmen launched coordinated attacks on more than 17 villages in Plateau State, killing more than 150 persons, mostly Christians, injuring and displacing thousands of others. Between mid-April and early July, this year, attackers killed more than 200 persons, all of them Christian, in the Mangu Local Administrative Area in Plateau State.
The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, EYN, also reported that Boko Haram and Fulani militias killed 18 persons in attacks during last year’s Christmas season on four of their communities in Borno State. In March this year, armed men killed 17 Christians in the ZangonKataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. According to media reports, in September, Fulani herdsmen killed 10 Christians in Plateau State, where 27 others were slain in August.
Some Christian leaders said they believed herdsmen’s attacks were driven by a desire to take over Christians’ lands as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds, while others said that in many cases the attackers were bandit groups that disguised themselves as herdsmen.
On their part, Fulani leaders said the killings were reprisals for previous killings of Fulani herders. According to the NGO, Open Doors, there were 4,118 Christians killed, 3,300 abducted, and 100,000 internally displaced in the country over the years. There were also numerous kidnappings for ransom involving members of clergy. The Aid to the Church in Need, said 23 Catholic priests, sisters, and seminarians had been kidnapped, and there were several killings as well.
Earlier this year, stakeholders in Plateau State, including religious leaders, traditional rulers, and political figures, unanimously agreed and declared that the persistent killings within the state constitute genocide and ethnic cleansing.
While these local stakeholders used the term “genocide”, the official position of the federal government or international bodies differ. For example, Amnesty International condemned the killings as “inexcusable”, and highlighted government failures in investigation and prosecution, but generally used terms like “mass murder” or “attacks”.
A committee report in September indicated that over 11,789 lives were lost in the state during a reviewed period, with significant displacement and destruction of property.
In Benue State, Governor Hyacinth Alia has stated that while the attacks by armed herdsmen were a serious security crisis, the primary motivation appears to be land-grabbing rather than a deliberate, systematic targeting of Christians. He has, however, acknowledged that the victims are largely Christian farming communities.
However, the governor has confirmed numerous deadly attacks, including an incident in June this year where over 220 people were reportedly killed in Yelwata, a predominantly Christian farming community.
However, the previous governor, Samuel Ortom, was more vocal about the religious dimension, stating that the federal government’s failure to act had led to immense suffering, “in particular Christians and their churches and communities”.
Trump’s threat of military action came a day after his administration added Nigeria back to a “Countries of Particular Concern” list of nations that the U.S. said have violated religious freedoms. Other nations on the list include China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia and Pakistan.
U.S. President Trump had expressed deep concern over the growing attacks on Christians in Nigeria, describing the situation as an “existential threat” to Christianity. He urged the United States to take immediate action, insisting that the country “cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria and other nations.”
Some analysts have, however, argued that the framing of the generalised insecurity in the country as a genocide against Christians is incorrect, and lacks both precision and gradation. The argument is that rural and poor Nigerians are killed in droves in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Niger states, some inside mosques.
The attacks and reprisals in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Kaduna, they argued, are mostly around resources even when identities of aggressors and attackers fall into religious buckets. The thinking is that a religious framing of the current security challenges in the country, is unsupportive and further emphasize division, especially in a touchy and diverse country like Nigeria.
While Trump’s motivations are unclear, many observers believe that Nigerian political elites and groups like the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) and some APC stalwarts, including President Tinubu, may have contributed to the narrative of Christian persecution in Nigeria, which influenced Trump’s decision. In 2014, Tinubu condemned the killings of Christian worshippers and criticized President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the situation.
Nevertheless, many Nigerians believe that Trump and co are not coming to Nigeria to save anyone. Indeed, a human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, said the latest threat by U.S. President Trump to launch military action in Nigeria, ostensibly to protect Christians, may sound appealing to some; still, history has shown this to be perilous.
‘’Whether you are Christian, Muslim, animist, or non-religious, no one should celebrate such rhetoric. The United States and its allies have a long record of military interventions that leave nations more unstable than before.
‘’They failed to secure peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Syria, and they won’t bring salvation to Nigeria through bombs or boots on the ground’’, he stated.
Sowore said what Nigeria truly needs is not a foreign savior, but legitimate, accountable leadership, one that protects all citizens, upholds justice, and ends the cycles of corruption and violence that have left the nation broken.
On its part, the emerging opposition party, the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) attributed the current tension to poor leadership, saying President Tinubu-led administration has failed woefully to manage the security issues.
According to ADC, available reports indicate that ‘’nearly 15,000 lives’’ have been lost to sundry violent activities since this administration assumed office in 2023.
‘’These deaths have occurred across regions and religions, underlining a national crisis that cuts across all divides and still endangers us all, regardless of tribe, region or religion.
‘’Entire communities have been sacked, worshippers have been slaughtered in religious spaces, and bandits now control large territories in our country, waging war at will and levying taxes on citizens with impunity’’, the party added.
While admitting that the problem of insecurity in Nigeria did not start with President Tinubu, the ADC argued that Tinubu has refused to acknowledge that the crisis has got worse under his watch and has refused to accept responsibility.
The party said while it appreciates the American president and other world leaders for their concern about the security situation in the country, it urges that such concerns should be translated into supporting Nigeria to grow her democracy and develop its capacity to solve its own problems.
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, also shares a similar view, saying the recent pronouncement by the US government declaring Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC) and indicating possible military action should give every well-meaning Nigerian serious concern.
He said while the insecurity did not start with the present government, what is most unfortunate is the lack and ‘’absence of competence, commitment, prudent use of resources, patriotism and passion on the part of APC APC-led government/leaders’’ to effectively govern, galvanise and lead Nigeria where no one is unreasonably oppressed and killed, a nation where peace, truth and justice reign.
Indeed, many media analysts have said that Nigeria is a sovereign country and not craving for war with any country, advising the government not to act in any manner suggesting its inability to protect citizens and the country’s collective sovereignty.
The advice is that while Nigerians may have been “disgraced” by actions and inactions of the present government, including past governments, citizens must defend its country against ‘’Trump’s extreme madness’’ without party, ethnic or religion sentiments.
There is a near consensus among Nigerians that the federal government must immediately go into ‘’strategic engagement’’ with Trump, requesting for support to tackle the security challenges in the country; but must be cautious of the ‘deal’ that Trump wants.
