The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria, (MUSWEN), has faulted the United States President, Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, saying the categorisation is both misplaced and unfortunate.
In a recent interview in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, its President and Deputy President-General (South) of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Rasaki Oladejo, said Trump’s claim of Christian genocide is false, declaring that Muslims are largest victims of killings across the country.
He said the re-designation, ostensibly fuelled by what Trump described as “genocide against the Nigerian Christian populace”, is to all intents and purposes, a manifestation of the well-known double standard of the United States in international diplomacy.
According to the Islamic scholar, Trump’s comments were laced with ulterior economic and political motives.
Noting that the US President’s remarks called for serious cause for concern, Oladejo pointed out that Trump’s motive appears not to be altruistic, as he would want the international community to believe, but laced with ulterior economic and political motives.
He argued that Muslims are largest victims of insurgency in the country, maintaining that there is nothing like genocide against a particular faith in Nigeria.
If there is anything, he said both major religious groups, Christianity and Islam, suffer equally from the unfortunate onslaughts of the bandits and insurgents.
“In fact, we can even say, with all sense of responsibility, that due to the fact that most of the places affected by insurgency are largely populated by Muslims, members of the Islamic faith are the largest victims of insurgency and banditry. We refer to Niger, Kaduna, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, and even Kwara states”, he stated.
His words: “The recent designation of Nigeria by the United States President Donald Trump as a “Country of Particular Concern” came to us at MUSWEN as both a surprise and an abnormality.
“Coming at a time Nigeria is regaining credibility after years of insecurity, corruption scandals and image erosion, the redesignation is unfortunate and misplaced, to say the least.
“The re-designation, ostensibly fuelled by what Trump described as “genocide against the Nigerian Christian populace”, is to all intents and purposes, a manifestation of the well-known double standard of the United States in international diplomacy.
“Under Article II of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute 11, genocide is defined as “specific intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group”.
“But we all know that this does not capture the situation in Nigeria. The timing and ferociousness of Trump’s outburst call for serious cause for concern, as his motive appears not to be altruistic, as he would want the international community to believe, but laced with ulterior economic and political motives.
“There is nothing like genocide against a particular faith in Nigeria. If there is anything, both major religious groups, Christianity and Islam, suffer equally from the unfortunate onslaughts of the bandits and insurgents.
“In fact, we can even say, with all sense of responsibility, that due to the fact that most of the places affected by insurgency are largely populated by Muslims, members of the Islamic faith are the largest victims of insurgency and banditry. We refer to Niger, Kaduna, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, and even Kwara states”, he stated.
He added that “In the South-West, where Muslims are in the majority, there is hardly any household that doesn’t have siblings in both faiths. In both Benue and Plateau, if there is any issue at all, it is ethnic and economic, not religious.
“In Plateau State, for instance, insurgency started when an ethnic group wanted to send away another ethnic group in the guise of indigenes–settlers divide”.
The MUSWEN President further said, “We have instances of situations where vehicles were stopped and occupants that appeared to be Muslims were killed; a Muslim Army Major General was once waylaid, killed, and his body dumped in a pond.
“In the Tafawa-Ɓalewa district of Bauchi State, Muslims were massacred and all their mosques demolished. In the case of Benue, there has been an age-long dispute between the Tivs and Hausa-Fulani.
That has nothing to do with religion. The herders–farmers’ clash has nothing to do with religion; because there are Muslim farmers and there are Christian farmers.
“There is no religious war in Nigeria; and America should not now introduce it by its giving religious interpretation to what is essentially either an ethnic crisis or an occupational crisis or economic rivalry”, he declared.
Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, fuelled by Trump’s categorisation, Oladejo clarified that “Nigeria is not a disgraced country,” saying that the most populous black nation is a father figure in Africa either in the liberation of many African countries, in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and so on.
He said, “Whether America assists us or it doesn’t, we are going to win. We won the civil war, and we are going to win this war too.
Despite the nature of the enemy we are fighting now, which is not a standing army, we are going to win; Nigeria has the capacity to win. If at all, the kind of assistance we need now is bilateral, not that one country will come and pitch itself against Nigeria’s constituted authority and create a scenario that is not in existence”.
Condemning in the strongest terms the US attempt to invade Nigeria over “frivolous and unfounded allegation of genocide”, Oladejo said:
According to him, “Those orchestrating the planned US invasion as the be-all solution to Nigeria’s security challenge do not love this country; they are a bunch of unpatriotic lots. They probably do not follow the antecedents of US previous interventions in parts of the world, where they left the countries worse-off than the pre-intervention period.”
Proffering panacea, he said: “What we need is an internal solution to our internal challenges. And these we can achieve by building trust to foster dialogue and collaboration between government agencies, security forces, and our diverse communities.
“The Government must also promote inclusivity to ensure representation and participation of all groups in decision-making processes”.
He urged the Federal Government to address socio-economic disparities in the country by implementing policies that reduce inequality and promote economic opportunities. “The country’s security architecture needs a critical reform at this point in time. There is a need for training of the security forces to be professional, accountable, and responsive to diverse communities”, he added.
“The Government also needs to encourage community-led initiatives and partnerships with civil society organisations.
Expressing support for the administration of President Bola Tinubu, Oladejo declared: “Whatever might be the motive of President Trump and his unpatriotic Nigerian cohorts who go to feed him with lies. We know that only Allah is great, and we stand with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in every step Almighty Allah guides him to take”.
“Tinubu, Govs., other leaders are curse on Nigeria” – Peter Obi
Former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has attributed the recent killings and abductions of innocent Nigerians to the failures of Nigerian leaders to protect and value human lives.
In a statement issued yesterday, titled: ‘Is Nigeria cursed, or are we the curse?’, Obi decried a series of attacks by armed bandits, especially in Kwara, Kebbi, Bauchi, Niger and Borno, blaming them on collective leadership failures that had allowed insecurity, lawlessness and institutional decay to thrive.
“The past 10 days in Nigeria have witnessed unprecedented negative news, a level of chaos, insecurity, and institutional decay that should trouble the conscience of all the leaders”, the politician stated. “We have all watched a nation blessed with people of strength and resilience drift into avoidable disorder. We should be asking ourselves: Are we cursed, or are we the curse?” he queried.
Armed bandits have intensified attacks on churches and schools in different parts of the country, forcing governments in Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Kebbi, Yobe, Katsina and Taraba to close down schools to ensure the safety of students.
Obi pointed out that the country was drifting into unprecedented chaos due to a clear absence of competent, compassionate, responsive and responsible leadership.
“Our country is now going through troubling times, not by fate, but by our collective leadership failures that allow insecurity, lawlessness, and institutional decay to thrive. Each day confronts us with a new tragedy and a new reminder that our beloved country is drifting amid a clear absence of competent, compassionate, responsive and responsible leadership”, he stated.
While accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of encouraging the destruction of political parties and the weakening of our democracy in the country, Obi also slammed the playing of the APC partisan song: ‘On Your Mandate We Shall Stand’ at the All Nigeria Judges’ Conference, adding that such a troubling moment further eroded public trust in institutions expected to protect the rule of law.
Citing the killing of Brigadier-General M. Uba, the ambush of soldiers in Kebbi, among other dastardly killings and abductions of Nigerians in the past few days, Obi said the crises persist because those entrusted with the mandate to protect the country have chosen comfort over courage, politics over people and power over purpose.
“No serious nation survives on excuses, indifference, or absentee leadership. What we are witnessing is not inevitable. It is the direct consequence of us leaders, not valuing human life. Nigeria is bleeding because those elected to protect the nation have chosen comfort over courage, politics over people, and power over purpose”, Obi stated.
The politician highlighted that Nigerians are affected by the unfortunate development, urging Nigerian leaders to wake up to their responsibility to protect lives and property, as provided for in the Constitution.
