Don't negotiate with Trump, ex-minister tells Tinubu, says US president seeks to exploit Nigeria

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has warned the Federal Government against attempting to sit with US President, Donald Trump, to discuss peace in the handling of his recent threat to invade Nigeria over alleged genocide against Christians.

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Mr Fani-Kayode says such an effort would not yield any fruit, but could result in further humiliation of the nation at the hands of a US President who has a knack for hurling insults at African leaders.

The former minister spoke on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address, titled “Bow to God, and Not to Trump,” at the Nigeria Bar Association Conference, which was held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The US president recently said he would instruct the Department of War to prepare for possible action against Islamic terrorists if the Nigerian government does not stop the alleged killing of Christians.

Mr Fani-Kayode admitted that there had been horrendous killings of Christians in the country by Islamist terrorists, but noted that the same fate had also befallen Muslims.

He said the plot by Trump to invade Nigeria is to balkanise Nigeria, ensure US military bases litter the country, with the powers to plunder Nigeria’s natural resources.

“Trump is driven by a pathological hatred for Africans, black and brown people and Muslims,” he said.

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“He is also driven by an overwhelming, compulsive, all-consuming and inexplicable greed and avarice for material things.

“He has been afflicted with what those of us in Pentecostal circles describe as a ‘Demastic annointing’ (named after the Apostle Paul’s loyal disciple called Demas who lost his way and fell in love with worldly things) which has resulted in his obsession with and addiction to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the the lust for power, the lust for treasure, the lust for land and the pride of life.”

Mr Fani-Kayode warned that, given that Mr Trump is “unpredictable and unbalanced,” his words should not be taken lightly and “we must prepare for the very worst.”

He added, “Those that believe that he can be talked into not doing what he clearly wants to do to our nation are ignorant, undiscerning and deluded and they are oblivious of his innate and irredeemable lunacy.

“I say this because there are speculations and reports in the media that President Tinubu seeks to meet with him at the White House in an attempt to “resolve” all the issues.

“If true, such an initiative is as incredulous as it is baffling, and it will come to nought.”

According to Mr Fani-Kayode, such talks can make matters worse as President Tinubu may be “verbally and savagely assaulted, insulted, and berated right in front of the White House Press Corps.”

“Surely our Jagaban is bigger and better than that and he certainly does not deserve it. And neither would he take it lying low like others have done,” he said.

“Diplomacy is one thing, but shameful capitulation with our tail between our legs is quite another.

“Outside of that, it is trite that the open and public display of weakness and fear attracts even more aggression.

“I do not understand the logic and cannot appreciate the wisdom in seeking to sit down with a man who has contempt for you and your people, who considers you and them as being sub-human, who has referred to your country as a “disgraced” one and who has referred to your continent as a “shithole”.

Mr Fani-Kayode, however, said Nigeria’s military should wipe out the terrorists and never negotiate with them.

“I do not believe in dialogue with them or forgiving them. I do not believe in negotiation with them. I do not believe in pampering them or managing them. I do not believe in rehabilitating them into the Nigerian Armed Forces,” he said.

“I believe in crushing them and sending them to their maker and in doing so quickly and decisively.

“Demons and vampires do not have any place in the land of the living and they have no right to life.”

The former minister said the solution to the problem is for political leadership and the armed forces to muster the resolve and political will to ruthlessly wipe out the Islamist terrorists and foreign militias once and for all.

He also urged the president to go beyond words and speech-making to actually rout the terrorists as soon as possible.

Existential threat

The US President recently announced the designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern because Christians in Nigeria were facing “existential threats.”

Mr Trump has alleged that the Nigerian government had allowed Christians to be slaughtered without doing anything to protect them.

He had vowed to invade Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” to wipe out the terrorists if the federal government of Nigeria failed to act quickly.

“If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, gun-a-blazing’ to wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.

READ ALSO: EDITORIAL: Trump should respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and halt his warmongering

I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians,” he said.

There have, however, been mixed reactions and debates over the facts of a Christian genocide in Nigeria.

The federal government has denied any genocide against Christians and promised to step up its fight against the terrorists, while appealing to the US to assist it with the needed equipment to do so.