President Donald Trump decided to remember Nigeria yesterday, a country he would have seen as a “shithole” during his first term, by designating it in a social media post as a “country of particular concern” for the alleged persecution of Christians.
Trump opens door for Nigeria sanctions with religious freedom designation over Christian persecution
Perhaps emboldened by weak and pathetic rebuttals from Nigerian president Bola Tinubu and the foreign ministry, Trump upped the ante this evening.
Tinubu did very little to correct the impression that Christians were being targeted.
The foreign ministry also served up a servile and lickspittle response that didn’t assert the nation’s sovereignty and warn Trump against sticking his nose in matters he didn’t understand.
In the face of such pathetic reaction to Trump’s ignorance, it’s no surprise that Trump summoned his inner bully to fire off threats to Nigeria via Truth Social.
If Nigeria thinks it has problems, the last thing it needs is those problems compounded by US intervention. There is little evidence in recent history of the US improving things with bombs. Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan are all not ancient history. As Indian writer Arundhati Roy once observed, “destroying a country in order to save it is a US government sport”.
Concerned Nigerians would hope that Trump is just playing to his Evangelical Christian base. All mouth and no trousers, as they would say in England, or all hat and no cattle, as the saying goes in Texas. The likes of Texas senator Ted Cruz has been on the forefront of peddling the narrative of “genocide” against Christians in Nigeria, while dismissing actual genocide in Gaza. But many in Trump’s “MAGA” base are fed up to the back teeth with foreign interventions while the US faces major problems at home. Firmly in this camp are politicians like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of Nigeria would know that the country faces a multitude of security challenges, from terrorists such as Boko Haram, to plain criminality by those euphemistically called “bandits”, to the Fulani militia that provides the muscle for cattle herding, and all manner of criminals in a country with its police force chronically underfunded. Nobody of any faith is spared what in Nigerian parlance is described as “Nigeria happening to you”.
This point was articulated by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin: “It is not a religious conflict. Much of the violence stems from social causes such as land disputes between herders and farmers in the North-Central region.
“We should also recognise that many Muslims in Nigeria are themselves victims of this same intolerance. These are extremist groups that make no distinctions in pursuing their goals. They use violence against anyone they see as an opponent.”
Surely, Trump and co must be aware of this reality, but choose to peddle “fake news” about Nigeria instead. Those expecting Trump to take the sort of action he just threatened may be disappointed to note that we have been down this road before during his first term.
What may be a game changer this time is the reported existence of rare earth minerals in Nigeria, with some claims that there are about $900bn worth in Imo State alone. As Trump reportedly plans to invade Venezuela (sitting on the largest oil reserves in the world) on a false pretext about narcotics, the claims about Christian genocide in Nigeria and possible US intervention have to be seen in this context. The fabled weapons of mass destruction in Iraq provided the pretext for a war about oil. It won’t be beyond the US military to intervene in Nigeria claiming to protect Christians.
Will it happen?
Nigeria is a very complex country. The country is already being run by a US puppet, as can be seen by the response to Trump’s claims. So Tinubu is more likely to roll out the red carpet for the US military under some kind of joint security venture, while the business of extracting Nigeria’s rare earth minerals is conducted on behalf of US interests.
Trump’s MAGA base, tired of expensive foreign interventions, may act as a restraining leash against troop deployment but this may be done covertly.
How would Nigerians take this flagrant undermining of the country’s sovereignty?
Many Nigerians, paraphrasing Chris Brown, just ain’t loyal. The majority detest the Tinubu regime and welcome anything that makes them uncomfortable. Others have loyalties not related to the country – religious, ethnic and so on. Many Nigerian so-called Christians buy into the claims of persecution. Many pro-Biafran separatists see Trump as a catalyst that will hasten their secession from Nigeria.
But there are Islamic forces in the north that pose a real and present danger to any US boots on the ground. These include Boko Haram, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province), and other Muslim fundamentalists who would fancy their chances of imitating insurgents in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc in giving “the Great Satan” a bloody nose. The “Black Hawk Down” experience in Somalia should give the US pause for thought in case they expect a “sweets and flowers” reception in parts of Northern Nigeria.
By all indications, it appears it would be in both US and Nigerian interests that Trump’s bark is worse than his bite and he doesn’t bite off more than he can chew.
