NIGERIA IS NOT A “DISGRACED” COUNTRY

Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, PhD.

When Trump insults Nigeria, it is not the President or just those in government that he insults, he insults every Nigerian. So, when he says that Nigeria is a “disgraced country”, he is implying that all Nigerians are disgraced people, and I tell you, he is not correct.

Trump is known to be of erratic behaviour. He holds people in disdain, especially, Africans. I have always argued that Trump doesn’t have the character and temperament to be America’s President and he proves it everyday. The only exception is his huge support for Isreal, but on many other areas, he comes short, in character and in wisdom.

While we observe some restraint like I had advised, we cannot afford to make the bully in the White House, think he is correct by describing us as a “shithole”. He can’t toss us around like some piece of coins and expect us to bow before him. Like his citizens keep reminding him; “America cannot how to a king”. We are in a democracy and we cannot afford to allow a wannabe tyrant threaten us.

This is not the first time Nigeria is being listed as a Country of Particular Concern. Trump did it in his first term, and he didn’t hide his dislike for Buhari. I didn’t also like Buhari that much, so, I wished his dislike for Buhari would make him lose the 2019 election, but Buhari won, and Trump lost in 2020.

Apparently, Trump thinks that Nigerians are too unenlightened that a threat of “GUNS-A-BLAZING” would make everyone jittery. But we are enlightened enough to know that Trump cannot wake up one morning and send troops to Nigeria.

The most he can do is to order targeted strikes on some areas where US intelligence confirms the presence of terrorists. I don’t think we will be sad about that. Anything that helps to eliminate terrorists from Nigeria is welcomed.

During the Chibok Girls saga, American Special Forces were in Nigeria, yet, they couldn’t rescue the Chibok Girls. They went back home, empty-handed. So, how does Trump think he can perform any magic of ridding Nigeria of terrorists by just ordering Pentagon to get prepared? Trump doesn’t know what he is saying, obviously.

When a man has a little experienced middle rank veteran as Secretary of Defence, he is bound to make embarrassing decisions like this one.

Maybe, Trump is trying to draw attention away from his failures at home, by talking about something that would resonate with majority of Americans; “Persecution of Christians”. But, Trump needs to keep his arse down and resolve the issues he has on his desk, including his embarrassing failure to negotiate an opening of government coffers to fund government business.

If Trump is sincere about helping Nigerian Christians, he knows what to do. Threatening to send the US military to Nigeria is the least of those things. He should tell Americans what specific things he had done to support Nigerian Christians before talking of sending troops to Nigeria. How much ammunition has he helped Nigeria with and how much intelligence has he assisted the Nigerian military with, that could aid the fight against these insurgents, killing Christians?

Trump might be looking to settle personal scores with our President, but we will not let him interfere with our domestic politics. If Tinubu is not doing well, Nigerians are the ones who would decide to vote him out or retain him in office, not Trump and his choir team in White House.

Nigeria Must Prevail!