Bolaji Abdullahi: FG’s inaction aiding wrong framing of Nigeria’s security challenge

Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused the federal government of failing to protect citizens after US President Donald Trump alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Trump had on Saturday directed the Pentagon to prepare for action in Nigeria, warning that Christianity is “facing an existential threat” in Africa’s most populous nation.

In a post, Trump said if Nigeria fails to stop the killings, the US would launch strikes that would be “fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs who attack our cherished Christians”.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Tuesday, Abdullahi urged the federal government to live up to its constitutional duty of protecting lives and property.

“I cannot say there’s genocide in Nigeria, and from what we have seen, we cannot describe what’s going on as genocide,” he said.

“The question here is not about how the Americans are framing it. The question is that people are being killed in Nigeria.

“I just told you here: a 2023 report released in 2024 by the US State Department said it had engaged with Nigeria.

“Somebody in government ought to have seen this and said we must engage with the US to let them know that they are misreading what is going on in Nigeria.

“We feel embarrassed that outsiders are framing our security challenge in ways that can only further divide us because we have refused to protect our own people and because the government has refused to do what it should do.

“If we prove incapable of understanding the enormity of the crises we face as a country, and other people use that opportunity to kick us around, we should look for balm, rub it, and face what matters.”

Abdullahi, a former national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also criticised the ruling party’s handling of Nigeria’s security challenge.

He accused the current administration of being in denial and urged the government to accept responsibility and demonstrate genuine commitment to addressing insecurity.

“This situation that we face requires one thing — humility from the government — to acknowledge that whatever we have done in the last two years appears not to be working and for the Nigerian government to bend down and do the real work of protecting Nigerians,” he said.

“When you prove capable of protecting your own people, whether they are Christians or Muslims, nobody is going to come out and say, ‘if you can’t fix your problem, we will fix it for you’.”