How killings became Foreign Policy Crisis – Ex-Presidential Aide

Former Presidential aide and veteran journalist, Laolu Akande, has urged President Bola Tinubu to personally engage United States President Donald Trump over persistent allegations of Christian persecution and mass killings in Nigeria, warning that the issue has escalated into a full-blown foreign policy crisis. Akande made the call on My Take, a segment of Inside […]

Former Presidential aide and veteran journalist, Laolu Akande, has urged President Bola Tinubu to personally engage United States President Donald Trump over persistent allegations of Christian persecution and mass killings in Nigeria, warning that the issue has escalated into a full-blown foreign policy crisis.

Akande made the call on My Take, a segment of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, where he expressed concern over what he described as the Tinubu administration’s slow and insufficient response to growing international narratives about insecurity and religious violence in Nigeria.

According to Akande, repeated public comments by Trump and other American officials on killings in Nigeria demand a direct, president-to-president engagement to clarify positions and reset bilateral understanding.

“Who will tell the President that given the repeated public comments by the American President on Nigeria and the killings, a direct President to President conversation could reasonably be expected, and that such engagement may help clarify positions and reset the tone of bilateral understanding? We must ask the President why this has not yet happened,” Akande said.

He argued that relying solely on engagements by senior government officials was no longer sufficient, insisting that only Tinubu’s personal intervention could break the ice.

“Someone needs to tell the President that his own personal engagement with President Trump, at least by phone is required to break the ice and begin to construct a mutual understanding in the circumstances,” he added.

Akande warned that Nigeria’s prolonged failure to decisively address insecurity has now spilled beyond domestic boundaries.

“Who will tell the President that our failure in ensuring adequate internal security as a country and its government over the years & with at least three presidential administrations has now become also a foreign policy crisis!”

While acknowledging that top officials of the Tinubu administration have recently held meetings with senior US government officials in Washington DC and Abuja, Akande said such efforts have failed to shift international perceptions.

“But who will tell the President that the perception of the American government and the international community will not change until Nigeria, as a government and as a people, confronts this issue fully and takes difficult decisions grounded strictly in facts and reality,” he said.

Akande cited comments by US Congressman Riley Moore following a congressional visit to Nigeria as evidence of America’s entrenched narrative on the killings.

Moore was quoted as saying:
“I just returned from a Congressional delegation to Nigeria with the House Appropriations Committee. While there, we visited Benue State. We met with Bishops Anagbe and Dugu and Tor Tiv. We met with suffering IDPs who are all Christians. They are forced to live in camps that are regularly attacked by Fulani Islamic radicals.

“We heard heartbreaking stories from survivors of this horrific genocidal campaign committed by the Fulani, including a woman who was forced to watch as five of her children were killed……I’ve never seen anything like it. It will stay with me the rest of my life.”

Reacting to such statements, Akande said continued denial by the Federal Government over whether a genocide is taking place serves no strategic purpose.

“Who will tell the President that there is no use for his administration denying whether there is a genocide or not as long as no one is accusing the FG as the one behind the genocide?” he asked.

“Who will tell the President that it serves no strategic purpose for his administration to fixate on denying the label of genocide when no one is accusing the Federal Government of perpetrating it?”

According to him, persistent denial only weakens Nigeria’s credibility.

“We need to tell the President that the persistent denial of a reality serves no useful purposes because it undermines the credibility and the perception of its sincerity in ending the killings!”

Akande recalled how Nigeria previously navigated a similar diplomatic crisis during the first Trump administration, when the country was designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in 2020.

“Who will tell the President that in December 2020 when the first Trump presidency designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the then President Muhammadu Buhari ‘quietly’ dispatched a high level strategic mission led by a distinguished Nigerian diplomat Prof. Ibrahim Gambari… leading to the delisting of the country much later?”

He stressed that current circumstances are even more severe and require a broader, more strategic approach beyond official channels.

“Someone needs to explain to the President that in the current circumstances, which are more severe than the CPC designation of the past, relying solely on top officials of the Federal Government to engage the United States may not be sufficient,” he said.

Akande urged President Tinubu to draw on the experience and global networks of respected elder statesmen.

“Who will prevail on the President to tap the connections, and wisdom of people such as Emeka Anyaoku, Bolaji Akinyemi and Ibrahim Gambari to develop a plan to recalibrate our international image?”

He also criticised what he described as the President’s hesitation in forcefully rejecting negotiations and appeasement of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.

“Who will tell the President that he continues to hesitate in clearly denouncing the policy of appeasement and negotiations with terrorists, bandits and kidnappers, despite growing public concern and the evident limits of such an approach? Why are you silent on this important issue, Mr President?”

While commending the return of General Christopher Musa to the system and his current role as Defence Minister, Akande said more decisive action was required.

“We are delighted and must commend the President for the return of Gen Chris Musa back to the system and now as Defence Minister but who will tell the President that there is more to be done, such as assuring the nation that the FG would go after the financiers and sponsors of terrorism and extreme violence in Nigeria?”

He concluded by urging Tinubu to sustain pressure on the security leadership.

“We like how the President has told the service chiefs that Nigerians won’t take excuses anymore regarding the insecurity challenges in the land; now we want the President to press on and press hard!”