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A committee in the United States House of Representatives sat to listen to some religionists from Nigeria recently. Part of their complaints was that members of their religion were killed in Nigeria, but the government abetted and did nothing about it. Accusations of a similar nature were made under the immediate past administration. Despite the efforts made by President Bola Tinubu, including appointing a member of this same religion as his Chief of Defence Staff, they continue to make the same accusation. Those who lobby US lawmakers have the objective of making the US government impose sanctions on the Nigerian government and place it on the list of nations where there is no religious freedom.
A group had worked to achieve the same objective years ago, and even after the US government later removed Nigeria’s name from the list, the group continued to lobby to have Nigeria placed back on it. The latest sitting to bring accusations against Nigeria and its government is a further attempt in this direction. Going anywhere to complain that your people and religion are having it rough is not the problem. Everyone has the right to complain about what bothers them and seek sympathy. And I have offered my sympathy and understanding on several occasions over the past decade on this page. However, going out of Nigeria to misrepresent an insecurity challenge as something else is different. Stridently de-marketing our nation as some do, calling others to punish Nigeria, is also different. When sanctions happen, every Nigerian is affected. And there are points to be made in this regard.
First, I suppose those who want sanctions placed on Nigeria would not complain if Nigerian Muslims, whose members have also been victims of insecurity, equally toe the same path. Muslims, too, have the right to ask Saudi Arabia, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Countries, to impose sanctions on the Nigerian government. They, too, can claim that Muslims are being killed, and the Nigerian government abets and does nothing about it. Thousands of Muslims are killed in this general situation of insecurity. I imagine those who go around the world seeking sanctions, rather than collaborating to find home-grown solutions, would not realise the effects of what they are doing until Muslims do the same and every Nigerian bears the burden.
For over a decade, I have explained on this page the inadequacy of our security architecture to ensure that perpetrators of criminal acts get arrested. So, all stakeholders ought to work to fix this. Under President Tinubu, it appears that they even have an open window to get this done. Instead, going out to invite foreigners to come here to solve our internal challenges is what some dedicate themselves to. My reading is that the entire complaint process at the US Congress has always been based on a wrong interpretation of what the causes of the problem are. Like many other Nigerians, those who lobby the US Congress ignore other armed groups wreaking havoc across the north of Nigeria. Rather, they mention only herders to the lawmakers, placing emphasis on their Fulani origin. Are all criminal activities across Nigeria the outcome of only herders’ activities?
With the manner those who go around to de-market Nigeria do it, I imagine they wouldn’t bother to correct any wrong impression held by US lawmakers that members of Boko Haram are Fulani. Yet we knew Fulani herders were not the founders of Boko Haram when it began in the north-east of the country. These campaigners wouldn’t correct any wrong impression held by US lawmakers that bandits operating in the north-west were Fulani. We know these bandits come from different tribes. They would not correct wrong impressions because it helps their narrative to demonise all Fulani people. Here, there is a deliberate misrepresentation, and pursuing it by anyone who says they have religion says something. For they know that just as attacks on members of one religion happen, so do the other. If we continue to misrepresent this nation’s challenges, the wrong solutions will be sought. It is not a surprise that it is the wrong solution that US lawmakers recommend.
Some also say the government abets herders and never brings them to justice. This focus gives the wrong impression that only herders are responsible for every criminal attack. I have given examples on this page of states in North-Central Nigeria where local tribes carry out surprise attacks on each other, and these are either not reported or attributed to “suspected Fulani herders”. To curb armed attacks, I have stated that state governments should establish security outfits and make existing ones effective, arrest perpetrators, and prosecute them. The Civil Defence Corps, owned by the Federal Government (and which started out as a private organisation), is empowered to bear arms and prosecute crimes like the police. What stops state governments from empowering their security outfits to do the same? So, if the Federal Government’s security apparatuses are accused of abetting perpetrators of crimes, state governors should ensure their state-owned outfits conduct themselves differently. Complaining and pointing accusing fingers do not resolve challenges; these only provide fodder for those who want to demonise others.
The role of the US Congress in this is of concern to me. Everything it has ever done regarding Nigeria on religious matters gives the impression that its advocacy for religious freedom is for one religion and not others. Even the sources of information it depends on to reach its conclusions have been proven to be biased and grossly unreliable, and I have explored scholarly works from US researchers that prove this on this page. Yet, there is a need to make a separation. There is a group in the US Congress that is constantly lobbying for this project of de-marketing Nigeria. This group then persuades the rest of Congress to believe what is sold to them. This group of US lawmakers listens to one side of the Nigerian insecurity challenge, and they make moves based on that.
Amnesty International (I treated its reports on this page) has much to say on the insecurity situation in Nigeria, but this group of US lawmakers is not interested in what Amnesty has to say. The mission at the American Embassy in Nigeria has an objective view, but this group of US lawmakers is not keen to listen to them. Other Western embassies in Nigeria have their unbiased assessment of the insecurity situation in Nigeria, but this group of US lawmakers is not interested. Instead, this group of US lawmakers listens to one side of the Nigerian saga, cites biased publications, and seeks sanctions against Nigeria based on that.
At the latest sitting to hear Nigerians who say only members of their religion are victims in the general insecurity situation in Nigeria, the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa says it depends on a “comprehensive report” from the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa. Meanwhile, ORFA’s grand name is misleading. The tag “Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa” makes one think that ORFA observes for all religions. But every report on its website is for just one religion. This organisation is deliberately set up to speak for one religion, a clear indication of bias. But its report is what US lawmakers say they depend on. In one report, ORFA said that between October 2019 and September 2023, at least 55,910 Nigerians were killed, and 16,769 of this number were Christians. So, members of which religion make up the rest 39,141? ORFA does not think they matter to be advocated for.
It is worth noting that during the latest hearing, US lawmakers did not emphasise the general insecurity situation and how Nigerians of every religious persuasion were affected. The same applies in Nigeria, where religionists treat members of the opposite religion and victims of attacks as though they do not exist. Members of the two major religions suffer from attacks, but their respective leaders hardly show empathy to victims from the other religion based on our common humanity. Either side conducts itself as though only members of their religion are humans, and members of the other religion are not. US lawmakers are exhibiting similar traits, conducting hearings as though Nigerian Muslims are not humans, they do not exist, and their lives do not matter. In the process, they basically foster divisiveness in our nation.
