Last night, after reading through available media reports of U.S. airstrikes in Nigeria and the statements surrounding them as released by the ministry of foreign affairs, I felt compelled to add my voice not as an ideologue but as a grounded student of Political History.
First, there is no verified ISIS presence in Sokoto, the location the United States reportedly struck. There is no credible intelligence reports confirming casualties. No terrorist organization has acknowledged losses. Yet victory was declared.
More troubling is the Nigerian government’s confirmation of intelligence cooperation with the United States regarding these strikes. Every Nigerian who understands the nature of our crisis should find this deeply concerning.
Nigeria’s insecurity problem is not religious.
It is the result of what I called “systemic governance failure.”
Christians constitute less than 5% of Sokoto State’s population and there is no verified evidence of Christian persecution there. So why does the U.S. government continue promoting the discredited “Christian genocide” narrative, despite counter-evidence from journalists, civil society groups and security analysts within and outside Nigeria?
For years, Nigerians have endured the terror of armed groups, mass displacement and the erosion of national cohesion. Meanwhile, the state obviously has failed or refused to arrest and prosecute powerful individuals both inside and outside government, who have sponsored, financed, armed, or facilitated violence, including through cross-border networks across the Sahel. It is what it is in Nigeria.
So, the timing of the strike raises even more disturbing questions because it happens a day after Benjamin Netanyahu invoked the same false “Christian genocide” narrative regarding Nigeria; one day after a mosque bombing killed Muslim worshippers; and two days after Christian militias in Jos abducted travelers and murdered others.
What strategic purpose does this serve?
For the umpteenth time, I repeat, Nigeria does not need the United States or Israel to secure its territory. History offers painful lessons.
Afghanistan was “secured” and abandoned to the Taliban. Iraq was “liberated” and left fractured. Libya was “saved,” Gaddafi was killed, and the state collapsed. Syria is now governed by actors once labeled as terrorists, later legitimized by foreign powers.
If Nigeria and the United States pursue a sincere, intelligence-driven effort to confront all violent groups; bandits in the North-West, militias in the North-Central, separatist violence in the South-East and ISIS, ISWAP and Boko Haram in the North-East such cooperation would be welcome. But geopolitical manipulation and narrative engineering that deepen Nigeria’s internal divisions must be rejected. Fully rejected, Please!
What exactly is Donald Trump trying to achieve by bombing a farm and proclaiming victory over ISIS?
If Nigeria’s security crisis is dragged into a religious framework, the consequences will be catastrophic. This war will not be fought in forests, it will be fought in cities, villages, markets, schools and homes. It will tear the nation apart beyond repair.
Security without justice is an illusion.
– Abdulmalik Abdulkadir
abdulmalikabdulkadir@gmail.com
