The last few weeks have been very chaotic both for the Tinubu administration and Nigerians. From the moment the United States President Donald Trump, named Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ over what he described as genocide killing of Christians in the country, things have gone really awry. He did not just call Nigerian a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, he threatened a military invasion of the country purportedly to save Christians.
The situation, expectedly, has put the government under immense pleasure with many Nigerians, obviously lacking a clear understanding of the consequences of such invasion, celebrating Trump’s outrageous threat. They have been very loud on social media, thanking the American President and calling him the messiah that will ultimately ‘fix’ Nigeria. And in the last few days, their call for President Trump has grown even louder with the spike in the rate of kidnappings and killings in the northern parts of the country. School children and Christian worshippers have been kidnapped at different times with many lives lost in more than one of the incidents. Thankfully, the government and the security agencies have swiftly swing into action and many of the kidnapped victims have since regained their freedom. But this has not swayed the mindsets of those calling for Trump to invade Nigeria. The significant success recorded by the military in securing the release of the victims is of little significance to them, it is Trump they want and nothing else!
Political analysts and discerning Nigerians have observed with dismay that majority of the Nigerians calling for a Trump invasion are the Igbos. They are everywhere on social media, vociferous and aggressive, demanding that the American military should come in take charge of the country! In the last few days, that demand has grown into ferocious anger and aggression following the life jail sentence of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Whether rightly or wrongly, the Igbos believe that once an invasion of Nigeria by American military takes place, President Donald Trump, as a Christian, will dismantle the democratic structure in the country, unseat the current President and install their preferred choice, Peter Obi, whose first official duty, in his first day in office as President, would be to order the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
Henry Okechukwu, a human rights activist and SAN, said it is so ridiculous to even fathom. Speaking during a political programme on national television, he commented: “Honestly, I do not know where my people have been getting this erroneous impression from and it deeply saddens me,” he said. “It saddens me because they simply do not know America, and neither do they know Donald Trump. Since when did America as a nation or Trump as a person suddenly become bothered about Christians? And African Christians for that matter? Trump cares about nobody but himself. It’s all about interests. Trump is interested in our mineral resources! Trump is angry that Tinubu has not come to pay homage to him at the White house, rather he is strengthening relationship with China and doing multi billion dollars deal with China instead of America!! That is where the problem is,” he stressed further.
It is believed that majority of the Igbos who are rooting and clamouring for the American invasion are members of the Peter Obi support base called the Obidients. Peter Obi himself, after maintaining a prolonged, finally expressed his position on the threat by Donald Trump to invade Nigeria. And, unsurprisingly, his position was no different from that of his supporters. He also used the opportunity to knock the Bola Tinubu administration. His remarks caught the attention of the presidency and it offered it’s own response:
The Bola Tinubu-led Presidency strongly condemned Peter Obi for endorsing a “foreign invasion” of Nigeria.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, said, “We shall never forget and forgive Peter Obi for supporting a foreign invasion of Nigeria.”
Onanuga’s comment came in response to remarks Obi made at an event, where he condemned the Nigerian government for downplaying alleged “Christian genocide” and the deteriorating insecurity in the country.
Obi had said, “It is not genocide, it is not this, but me, we are not safe, come and help. Somebody offered you something you have been looking for, and you are saying no.”
Alluding, Obi added, “Somebody finds out that Peter Obi and his family have not eaten in the morning or one of the afternoon and the person is offering food and you are saying no, collect the food first and then you will know how you can ration it.
“That is what it is. That is my reaction. That is what I will do. If by today you declare me president, the number one priority is the security of life and property.
“Number two priority is to put people out of poverty, because the more you put people out of poverty, the more you reduce criminality.
“Number three is to invest in Education. It is critical for basic education. There are millions of people out of school today.”
According to the former governor of Anambra state, “A child that is five years old or 10 years old today that you did not educate will become a terrorist and a problem to you in 20 years’ time. Invest in him now that you have the opportunity.
“Invest in health. All these people moving around stealing public funds, they don’t need it. They are only bringing headaches to your life.
“That is my reaction to Trump. For me, it is a welcome speech that I would have been begging him…” he concluded.
Interestingly, a great majority of IPOB members and Peter Obi supporters believe, although erroneously, that President Donald Trump of America possesses the power to carve out the sovereign state of Biafra from Nigeria. They believe he does have a desire to give the Igbos the Biafra they have been agitating for, for so many decades. It’s the reason for their clamour for Donald Trump’s victory at the American Presidential poll last year and its their reason for supporting Trumps threat of military action on Nigeria.
Uche Okeke, a political analyst, said while speaking on national television: “Apart from the Igbos intense hatred for Tinubu, a fact they don’t bother to conceal, my kinsmen also believe that worse case scenario, if their Biafra dream does not manifest, then Trump can dislodge Tinubu from Aso Rock and instal a Christian president in the person of Peter Obi.”
Indeed, it is ironic that the Igbos portray Trump as a true Christian who would fight for the protection of the Christians in Nigeria. That is not the Donald Trump the world knows. The Trump the world knows is a hypocritical Christian, whose way of life does not conform to the teachings of Christianity. There is nothing about him that is Christlike, not in any way. But the Igbos see him differently. Trump is their knight in shining armour. And, even more frightening, his stance on global issues, as well as, his politicking portrays him as a man, who is a great threat and danger to the free world. But the Peter Obi supporters see nothing wrong with this.
It is also ironic that the Igbos are presently celebrating Donald Trump when his foreign and immigration policies have denied Nigerians visas to America. They have glossed over the fact that Donald Trump is a racist, who has a great dislike for black people. Didn’t he call Nigeria a shithole country?
Below are screen shots of comments from face book users who reacted to Aisha, a Northern lady’s post who wondered why the Igbos are celebrating Trump’s threat of military action against Nigeria-and most of them Igbos.
