PORT HARCOURT/Nigeria: Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu not to take lightly the designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” by former U.S. President Donald Trump over the alleged genocidal killings of Christians by jihadists across the country.
Eze, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement issued on Wednesday, advised President Tinubu to act decisively and boldly in confronting the growing menace of terrorism, banditry, and mass killings ravaging the nation, rather than dismissing or politicizing the recent warning from Washington.
The APC stalwart said it would be unwise for the Presidency to dismiss Trump’s remarks as “mere rhetoric,” stressing that such a statement from the former U.S. leader must have been based on credible intelligence reports on the worsening security situation in Nigeria. “For Trump to open up means the White House has credible, reliable, and technological intelligence on what is going on in Nigeria,” Eze stated.
He warned Tinubu to be cautious of what he called “clownish and eye-service reactions” from some of his aides and allies who, according to him, are more interested in currying favor than confronting the grim realities of insecurity. “The likes of Fani-Kayode and other busybodies defending government actions should be ignored. They know nothing about the U.S. stance on terrorism globally,” he said.
Eze cited Trump’s statement, “If Nigeria does not stop the killings, the United States will attack — and it will be fast, vicious, and sweet,” and described it as a serious caution that should not be taken for granted. He said the Tinubu administration must recognize that the U.S. is capable of acting on its threat if the situation continues to degenerate.
“For Trump to advise Tinubu to ‘stop the killings of Christians in your country now, or we will come in and do it for you,’ shows that America has the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians at heart,” Eze noted, adding that the statement underscores Washington’s concern for human rights and democracy in Nigeria.
He described as hypocritical the attempts by some government officials to politicize Trump’s warning or interpret it as an attack on Islam. “How could any rational being see Trump’s advice as divisive or anti-Islam? These terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers are our common enemies, and their actions have destroyed farmlands, properties, and countless lives,” Eze emphasized.
Eze said that rather than unleashing “propagandists and paper tigers” on Trump, President Tinubu should reflect on his own past criticism of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, when Tinubu accused Jonathan of incompetence for failing to stop the killings of Christians in the North-East.
Quoting Tinubu’s words from 2014, Eze recalled: “The slaughtering of Christian worshippers is strongly condemnable. It calls into question the competence of Jonathan to protect Nigerians.” He wondered why the same man who once condemned such killings has remained silent while the violence persists under his own administration.
Turning his criticism on former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, Eze accused him of inconsistency and hypocrisy. “Fani-Kayode once lamented that Nigeria had recorded more Christians murdered and churches burnt than any other country in the world. Today, he says more Muslims are being killed — as though those Muslims are not human beings to be protected. This is the height of hypocrisy,” Eze declared.
He added that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of violent extremism, stressing that the issue should not be framed as a religious contest but as a national crisis. “The real question,” Eze said, “is how our government is addressing these killings that have turned Nigeria into a graveyard of innocent souls.”
Eze further lamented that Nigeria had to wait for Trump’s intervention before taking the matter of insecurity seriously. “When our party decided on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, as if there were no competent Christians in Nigeria, what message did we send to the world?” he asked.
He called on President Tinubu to rise above politics and rally Nigerians behind a transparent and inclusive leadership. “Tinubu must stop listening to the likes of Fani-Kayode, Bayo Onanuga, and Daniel Bwala, who are issuing irrational statements that worsen the government’s image,” he said.
Eze also expressed concern about the state of Nigeria’s institutions, accusing the National Assembly of acting as “an annex of the Executive” and describing the judiciary as “a dangerous threat to democracy.” He said the concentration of power and suppression of dissent were eroding democratic governance.
He urged the President to genuinely reform the security sector, empower personnel with modern equipment, and provide adequate welfare to those fighting on the frontlines. “Tinubu must dismantle the current structure of state capture and lead a government that truly serves all Nigerians,” Eze advised.
According to him, Nigeria’s inability to defeat Boko Haram and other terrorist groups after more than a decade is evidence of weak leadership and poor strategy. “We cannot confront a superpower like America when we have failed to crush terrorists within our borders,” he warned.
Eze concluded by commending Senator Ali Ndume for “speaking truth to power” on the U.S. decision to place Nigeria on a watchlist. Quoting Ndume, he said: “Nigerians should hold the Senate and President Tinubu responsible as the U.S. puts Nigeria on a watchlist. The complacency from both the government and the Senate led us here. They failed to engage the United States government in time with the facts. That is why we are dealing with this now.”
