The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has described U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threat to invade Nigeria under the guise of combating terrorism as a bait for deeper political and economic interests.
In a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said Trump’s position was not driven by concerns over alleged religious persecution but by dissatisfaction with President Bola Tinubu’s independent stance on key national and international issues.
The group dismissed Trump’s accusation that the Nigerian government is complicit in the killing of Christians by bandits, describing it as baseless and malicious.
According to Afenifere, the claim was “an attempt to give a dog a bad name to have a justification to kill it.”
The organisation further alleged that there were “extraneous reasons” behind the American president’s posture, asserting that the “major reason for the posture was economic.”
Afenifere urged Nigerians and the international community to view the U.S. president’s remarks with caution, warning against actions that could undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty or destabilise the country under the pretext of humanitarian concern.
“By sounding so harsh, Mr Trump hopes to get President Tinubu to negotiate with him with a view to having more inroads into Nigeria’s economy and to possibly force Nigeria to buy more goods, especially weapons, from America. Nigeria’s recent rapport with China does not seem to go down well with the US.
“Besides, some interests in America do not like the principled positions being taken by the Bola Tinubu administration on some issues”, Ajayi said.
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The Afenifere spokesman said that Nigeria is a sovereign country, adding that “the matter at hand falls within the purview of what the government can and should deal with. And government, through its various security arms, is not resting on its oars. It is working on insecurity. Government can do more, certainly. The change of security chiefs is one of the steps being taken by Mr. President to buckle up on security.
“It is a known fact that the claim of genocide against Christians in Nigeria is not valid. Not that people are not being killed, the reality is that bandits and terrorists do not discriminate. Their target is the economy. Those funding them are interested in the mineral resources underground. So, they sponsor bandits to cause mayhem in places where they spot mineral resources. When the people in those areas are displaced, the ‘sponsors’ step in and begin to exploit the resources.
“It is not for nothing that he ordered that the Department of Defence in his country should be renamed ‘Department of War’. Thus, Nigerians should refrain from acting in a manner (or making a pronouncement) that those who may want to create theatres of war would have justifications for doing so”, he said.
He, however, cautioned against actions that could further inflame tensions in the country, saying, “When you deride your country, it is not always easy to undo the damage. As such, we should be mindful of what we say or write about our country. “There is no doubt that Nigeria needs all the help it can get to tackle its security challenges, etc. Threatening it with a war attack is not the way to help. If anything, such would escalate the already undesirable situation,” Ajayi stated.
