By Ussiju Medaner
Nigeria is undoubtedly at it again. Another election year is by the corner and suddenly we have to go again the way of increasing insecurity for whatever purpose and ends we intend them to serve. I have spoken about this over the last three election cycles since 2013. The tempo of insecurity we begin to see in the last few weeks is not wholly about Trump threat, though it may have largely contributed.
The motivation of the recurrent acts is the desperation by politicians and sections of the country who do not mind if the country collapses. It is no longer a coincidence; once the country is about eighteen months away from a general election, insurgency, kidnapping and all sorts of attacks on the citizens that have been reduced to localized events and literally curtailed, would suddenly grow wings and spread across states with renewed intensity. The election year is approaching, and with it comes a surge of insecurity that raises profound questions about the underlying motives at play.
Some argue that the renewed exponential increase in insecurity must definitely be linked to acts by desperate citizens, cut across politics, religion and general unpatriotic enemies of the state, who are bent on using Trump possible attack on the country for personal benefits. That is possible and equally linked to the undertone reason for the first point I raised. Politicians willing to see the nation burn and innocent citizens killed, enough to discredit their political competitors, and score cheap popularity among the electorate, would literally do anything to give credit to the Trump narrative. After all, there wouldn’t be a Trump attacking gun a blazing narrative without Nigerians prompting it in the first place.
Establishing the obvious link between the two raised most possible and audacious reasons for the hell Nigerians are going through right now might be the beginning of getting a working solution to the problem. There is a set of unifying factors; the strong desire to achieve aims that are either self-serving, regional serving, religion belief serving or a mix of these, on one hand, and on the other the willingness to see the nation burn if that is what it takes to achieve the sinister desires. Ultimately, whether the problems are politicians grouping together to fund insecurity to discredit incumbent administration, or a particular regional section of the commonwealth orchestrating plans to disembark from the country, the undeniable reality is that Nigeria is under an internally designed siege aimed at crumbling the soul of the country by some forces on one hand, and to capture the soul by another on the other hand.
Before I begin the main reason for writing this week, I would want to drop a small advice for Trump and his Nigerian enablers; Israel has refused to back down from the killing of Palestinians across Gaza and surrounding enclaves. A week ago, a Christian town in West Bank was completely razed down by the Israeli army. All the killing over the last two years were understandable to America and to Trump, as much as unprovoked killings and mauling of Christian settlements after the last month agreed cessation of the war. If genocide is better defined as state-backed mass killing of a targeted population, what do we called what Israel has been doing and are still doing? And by what parameter do we equate the killings in Nigeria, devoid of state backing genocide? Definitely, the eyes of all the Nigerian enablers of Trump would soon open; only that I hope it would not be too late then.
Before I rest the line of argument started above, since the emergence of Nnamdi Kanu led Biafra agitation and the establishment of both the IPOB AND ESN arms of the purported struggle, the number of innocent citizens decisively murdered by the agitator, are summarily mind bugging. These numbers predominantly are Christians from the five states of the South East Nigeria who are the primary victims of all the atrocities perpetrated by the agitators. Is America and Trump unaware of this events and the figure of deaths? Does the mass killing of Christians in the South East by the IPOB and ESN not qualified to be tagged genocide? Or is the nomenclature selective based on perpetrators?
The article from this point would address the continued designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by Donald Trump with a critical expository of the facts; the global community must be abreast of, before taking position and responding, to the game, Trump and his Nigerian enablers are scheming to play.
If I may ask, Donald Trump unilateral designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, where does it come from? Agreed, there are incidences of serious insecurities across Nigeria, with killing of citizens across religions and tribes, without clear evidences of targeted and premeditated attacks on any selected group. Christians are killed in predominantly Christian’s enclaves. Muslims are killed in their numbers in predominantly Muslim’s enclave and in settlements where they are equally mixed, Nigerians are killed without segregation. But this story doesn’t begin today. We have been travelling this road since around 2006. It was worse as we approached 2015, very terrible at selected locations including the Benue axis towards 2019, so much that what we are witnessing now, as much as we don’t want it and must do everything necessity to end it, is a child play compare to what we had seeing in the past. So why is America and Trump so suddenly in love with Nigerian Christians now? Are there driving forces? And what are the driving forces?
To answer this question, I have to be meticulous in arranging my points. The first thing that struck me since the last few weeks that this madness began is the facts that a large section of Americans have stood up and still standing up to oppose their country and their President arbitrary decision to disrespect Nigeria in the manner he did. Unfortunately and interestingly, on the other hand, we continue to have more Nigerians joining ranks with Trump to substantiate the false narrative. Of this number of Nigerians, from the estimates from social media platforms, well above 70 percent are Nigerians of South East extract and with deep supports and affiliation with the agitation for actualization of the Biafra. Of the remaining 30 percent, about 25 percent are leadership of the Christian community across the country who has long ago established their disdain for the ruling party. This is verifiable, every Christian leader supporting the Christian genocide narrative today, openly abused, campaigned against and vilified the incumbent President up till the 2023 general elections. The facts are still alive on the media spaces. The last 5 percent are practicing politicians and their ground supporters who will jump on any narrative to win cheap political supports.
So I have come to at a first glance concluded that it isn’t about Christian genocide, it is more political than it is of religion interest. The Igbo participants want to doctor America and Trump to aid their disengagement from Nigeria. The Christian leaders are playing scripts written by their political benefactors and preferred candidates to discredit the incumbent administration and force a mass reaction from the electorates in 2027 against the APC led government.
Now, I would go into more details of expositions that should form the crux of reactions to these events as they unfold. The Biafra agitation established IPOB, the ESN and set up it Diaspora wing. The Diaspora has remained the major financial backbone of the entire agitation from the beginning. Much later, the strategy was changed; destroy Nigeria image and credibility in the international community to accumulate sympathy for the group. This they began over the last five years without any success because no government was at any time interested in listening to them because they were objective in their assimilation and response to the propagandas they were travelling with. However, luck seems to shine on them when Donald Trump appeared on the scene. Known for his irrationality and fascism, they hired lobbyists and penetrated the ranks of Trump and his men and they got the audience they have long sought. Documents from the USA Department of Justice show the submission of petitions describing the propaganda of Christian genocide in Nigeria, submitted by the IPOB America Diaspora in conjunction with their counter pact from Finland and other European nations. They had carefully crafted and collated falsify evidences and rhetoric that backed up their submission and tactically engaged individuals both from within Nigeria and outside to substantiate the lies to a man who doesn’t understand the need for due diligence to establish the reality of such accusation.
Well they succeeded at the entry point. Trumps allies like Senator Cruz become their first ember that spread the fire. Unfortunately, this is not about America designated Nigeria as such; it is more of Trump and his inner caucus having reasons to fly with the narrative. Going by common sense and legality, members or affiliate of a group that has been proscribe as a terrorist group in Nigeria shouldn’t even publicly display themselves not to talk of having the effrontery to engage at the level they are doing from underground now. Secondly, the leaders of the same group have been convicted of terrorism; in Finland and in Nigeria by law courts after due legal processes followed closely by the global community. How, on earth, could affiliate of the same group be accepted as credible Intel on issue of critical events in a country they are bent on destroying. At this point, Trump and America cannot claim ignorance of this realities, because on the original petition upon which the Trump response is hinged, is the signature of Simon Ekpa, the man who before his arrest and conviction was the standing leader of the Biafra agitation globally in the absence of Nnamdi Kanu, who was believed to be the self-appointed supreme leader of the group, and who is currently serving jail term in Finland for offenses of terrorism committed against Nigeria is boldly imposed.
While the entire propaganda and lobbying was targeted at Trump and his inner caucus, the question of what Trump and America stand to gain from pretending to agree with the false narrative as excuse to invade Nigeria would be topic for another day, probably the second or third part of this series. However, I must say here that from Trump perspective, this is to shape America foreign policy and wellness and has nothing to do with the betterment of Nigeria or Nigerians, Christians or not. When he has the interest to grind with South Africa, he merely designed the narrative of an ongoing genocide against the white south Africans, but unfortunately could not had his way into the country as South Africa stood its ground against foreign usurpation regardless of who is involved. He went ahead opening the door of America to white South Africans, offering them a path to citizenships. It is the same game in Nigeria, only with the exception that he didn’t initiate it; Nigerians did.
On the path of religion leaders who have been busy lending their voices to Christian genocide in Nigeria even when they know it is non-existence, it is not surprising. The revelation of the events that greeted the volatile 2023 general election is still fresh in mind. These so called men of God, in cohort with a particular presidential candidate, totally forgot their responsibility to be apolitical, as they turned their pulpits to campaign podiums and literarily echoed the submission of their preferred candidate that the election was a religion war. “Christians take back your country” was their spoken and silent anthem. Neither have they backed down even after their candidate lost out in a fair and credible poll. To them, echoing the Christian genocide would most likely heal their wounds and turn the tide for them in the next election cycle. Integrity of Nigeria meant nothing to them all.
The last 5 percent; politicians and their ground forces, what have they been doing? I believe if you have the ambition to rule any country, the country must be so important to you that you will be willing to sacrifice anything, including your life for its integrity. Unfortunately, politicians in Nigerian do not care about any other thing but their desire to win elections and control power of state. They could let go of anything, destroy anything if it would deliver power into their hands. Till today, I still remain bothered at the extent and reluctances of responses of certain politicians to the insults from Trump. I am even more bothered when a particular one chose to borrow Trump word that our country is a disgraced country. They are fully in support of Trump. That support earns them the support of all the subset of our population that has reason to align with Trump and they cannot afford to lose out on that support. They are also quiet about speaking against it so that will not offend the northern population and the western sane populations who value patriotism above all other considerations.
It is deeply concerning that some Nigerian leaders have aligned themselves with Trump’s rhetoric, seemingly for political gain. These individuals risk exacerbating divisions within the country, emphasizing their self-serving motives rather than prioritizing national unity. Political ambitions should not come at the cost of the nation’s stability and integrity.
There are arguments and unbelievably coming from unexpected quarters like Peter Obi that Nigeria should have dialogue with Nnamdi Kanu. The call for dialogue with Nnamdi Kanu, despite the grave terrorism-related allegations against him, reflects a disturbing misunderstanding of how serious and functional nations handle matters of national security. The suggestion that it is common practice for stable democracies to negotiate with individuals or groups facing terrorism charges is not only inaccurate but dangerous. No sane or responsible government legitimizes criminality by engaging in dialogue with those whose actions have directly threatened the sovereignty, unity, and peace of the state.
A telling example is Finland, a highly regarded democratic nation, which did not extend negotiations to Simon Ekpa, who was associated with incitement and unrest in Nigeria. Instead, legal processes were activated, underscoring the principle that the rule of law must prevail over sentiments or political convenience. Finland chose prosecution over discussion because such actions align with global standards for maintaining national integrity and justice.
Closer home, we must remember that the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment in Nigeria for similar charges related to terrorism and armed rebellion. If the Nigerian state did not consider Okah eligible for negotiation, despite the scope of the Niger Delta agitation, why should a different standard be applied to Nnamdi Kanu?
Equating terrorist campaigns with political agitation sets a dangerous precedent. Dialogue must not be used as a tool to appease those who resort to violence or incite mass unrest. Justice must be served to preserve the sanctity of law and ensure future deterrence. Nigeria must stand firm in protecting its sovereignty and not succumb to pressure that seeks to normalize violent extremism under the guise of political resolution.
As for the unfotunate designation of Nigeria, we must respond with clarity and steadfastness. Nigeria is a nation defined by resilience, and citizens from all backgrounds must come together to foster dialogue that enhances understanding rather than division. We must be vigilant against the narratives that seek to undermine our sovereignty and ensure that our collective voices resonate as one, advocating for a future defined by peace, unity, and dignity for all.
To be continued next week.
Medaner is reachable via: justme4justice@yahoo.com
