The recent threat by President Donald Trump to Nigeria concerning the killing of Christians in the country has thrown into stark, sharp relief very ugly truths that stared Nigerians and the rest of the world in the face all along but somehow the illusion was maintained that if continually ignored, the nightmare would go away.
It is very easy for some Nigerians to malign Trump and the USA. The easiest route is to turn the affair into our usual religio-ethnic divide sport, and that is going on big-time. I have read calls by respected Muslim leaders to President Bola Tinubu to sever diplomatic ties with the USA. I have read of blame games between Nigerian Christian and Muslim leaders, with the latter blaming the former for taking claims of genocide of Christians in Nigeria onto the global stage; as if Muslims are not being killed in the north; as if the crisis there is a purely religious affair; as if there are no other hotspots outside Northern Nigeria.
Maybe they have a valid point. But there are sober questions this intervention by Trump has raised for Nigerians in circles of political, military and even religious leadership. If they do not answer them sincerely and speedily then, I am afraid, the average Nigerian who is at the receiving end of the bloody guns of the terrorists is not going to be choosy about who brings him or her salvation, even if it is pseudo salvation by American imperialists.
First, is the insurgency in Northern Nigeria beyond the capability of Nigeria’s military and security agencies? Whether Boko Haram, bandits, ISWAP, Fulani militants, ethnic armies, you name it. Are matters beyond our security infrastructure’s capabilities? National sovereignty and pride matter, but the lives of the citizens of the country matter even more. I am not a security expert so I cannot talk about our military, their resources and manpower with confidence. Information needed to address these concerns is classified high into the stratosphere beyond my reach. But then this war – and war it is – has been on for more than twenty years. How has Nigeria fared?
Second, what policies do Northern Nigerian governments operate? The core north is predominantly Muslim with strong pockets of Christian minority groups who in most cases do not belong to the ethnic nationalities wielding political power. Below the core north is the large swath of territory strategically called the Middle Belt which is a fine blend of multi-ethnicity and religion, but is rooted in a mostly adversarial history with Islam which swept across the area following the 1804 Jihad of the Fulani scholar and reformer, Usman Dan Fodio. Let truth be told: conflict in this area is not new. Historical records about Muslim/ Christian/animist clashes abound, and in many cases, are triggered off by factors outside religion. But inevitably they take on a religious identity, perhaps in the antagonists’ quest for legitimacy, validation and group support.
However, since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, waves of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism have engulfed Northern Nigeria. The rhetoric of certain leaders in this democratic dispensation implies leaning towards religious fundamentalism in official policymaking and implementation. Then came 9/11 and the world changed drastically. The question is: what type of men and women are at the helm of affairs in Northern Nigeria? Through their words, actions, laws and policies, are they open to and ready for a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society in which all tribes and religions are treated fairly?
Third, are we Nigerians prepared to tame our personal and group dispositions to see non-followers of our religion as sub-human? Both Nigerian Christians and Muslims have among them those who have this mindset. Inasmuch as taming bigotry in an environment like ours is tough, we just have to do it. Right now it is a matter of life and death. It is not just the prospect of American bullets and bombs; it is the soul of Nigeria being ravaged in the full glare of the world. A man’s connection or non-connection with the Divine should not make him any less of a human being, irrespective of how you feel about his interaction or non-interaction with the Celestial Realms.
Ever since USA and other Western powers have started showing interest in Nigeria as a country of religious persecution for Christians, the Tinubu government has been reactive and defensive. President Trump’s recent post only upped the ante. Is this the way to go? Where is the comprehensive plan of action and engagement by the Nigerian government? The matter goes beyond US military threat or even cutting off aid. It is about restoring the confidence of Nigerians in Nigeria, and then the world in Nigeria. All these posturing by key Tinubu administration officials and apologists are simply laughable. There are fronts on which the government can engage the USA without belittling our nationhood. However, the war on these terrorists and their backers should be escalated and fought with utmost sincerity, determination and ruthlessness. No cow is too sacred to be slaughtered since it has chosen to run amok. A caveat: our security agencies must resist the temptation to clamp down on those perceived as spewing rhetoric that gave rise to the current American spectre. It is true that Christians are being killed and given the very short end of the stick in Northern Nigeria. But then Muslims are not faring any better. Islamic extremists at work see anyone who does not adhere to their ideology as worthy of death.
Finally, I am not a fan of President Trump and his government. Their intervention in Nigeria is clearly not rooted in altruistic love for her people. But fact is, the organs of US government do not act arbitrarily. Whatever intelligence at their disposal is well beyond my pay grade. But since 9/11, USA has hung the spectre of Islamic fundamentalism on the pedestal once reserved for Cold War-era animosity with former Soviet Union. Maybe it is a strategic plan to shaft a major hotbed of this threat that is driving Trump’s rhetoric. Other factors cannot be ruled out.
In the end, the soul of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians.
Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema is a Nigerian historian and writer. His unpublished novel was long-listed for the 2024 Quramo Writer’s Prize. Email: mazihenry007@gmail.com
