First, I am not one to speak on divisive issues. This is because such conversations rarely lead to meaningful progress. People on both sides are often emotional and sentimental rather than rational and logical.
But I will make an exception with this one.
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Since President Trump began to speak about the issue of Christian genocide in Nigeria, many people, including those in positions of authority, have taken different positions.
I have begun to notice a pattern in these positions. People in government are denying it. Muslims are denying it. A few pastors are denying it. A section of the established media is amplifying the views of those who deny it.
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On the other hand, many Christians and pastors insist that it is happening, that there is indeed a genocide against Christians in Nigeria. Social media, in particular, is amplifying this side of the debate.
My take is that, like many of our social problems in Nigeria, we are being too simplistic in our analysis of the insecurity problem. We fail to see that insecurity in Nigeria is multidimensional, and unless we approach it from that perspective, we will not be able to resolve it.
Insecurity in Nigeria is being perpetrated by different groups with different intents and purposes. We have the bandits, the killer herdsmen, Boko Haram, and other terror groups that have infiltrated our country from Cameroon, Niger, Chad, and the Sahel.
If we lump all these groups together, we can say that they are killing both Christians and Muslims, which is very sad. However, I believe that there is still a systematic killing of Christians in Nigeria by some of these groups or their splinters.
We know how some clerics have openly preached about killing non-Muslims, popularly referred to as “infidels,” and how some followers have carried out and continue to carry out such instructions. This is no secret, except we choose to bury our heads in the sand and pretend otherwise.
The argument of those denying the existence of Christian genocide in Nigeria is that both Muslims and Christians are being killed by extremists and bandits. While that may be true, it is not sufficient to deny the systematic killing of Christians in Northern Nigeria. We have seen open celebrations following the killings of Christians in the region.
In recent years, there have been reports about the infiltration of the North-Central and Southern states by bandits and extremist groups. Today, we are recording killings not only in the usual Plateau, Benue, and Niger States but also in Osun, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi States. Just yesterday, I heard that one of my uncles was shot by bandits between Isanlu and Ejuku, my hometown in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The pastors who say there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria are mostly from the southern part of the country that is relatively peaceful. Christians in the South are largely disconnected from the realities of Christians in the North. They do not know what their brethren in the North are going through. That is why they would use their experience to generalise. That is not accurate.
For many years, churches have been one of the prime targets of these extremists. It has been reported that between 18,000 and 20,000 churches have been burnt by extremists since 2009. A UK government document states that since 2010, Boko Haram alone destroyed 22 mosques and 59 churches in the North-East. I know this data is open to debate, and I won’t argue that. But let’s still reflect on the numbers.
What I do not understand is whether it is the term used by President Trump that makes some people deny the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Are we saying that the word “genocide” is too strong a term for what is happening?
What is genocide, in simple terms? It is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “the deliberate and systematic killing or persecution of a large number of people from a particular national or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.” Can we reflect on these definitions in the light of what Christians are going through in Nigeria, especially those in the northern part?
Now, I do not agree with everything President Trump said about Nigeria. I do not agree that Nigeria is a “disgraced” country, and I do not support the invasion of Nigeria by American forces. What I support is international cooperation to address the problem of insecurity in Nigeria as a whole.
It is obvious that we need help to resolve the multidimensional security challenges facing Nigeria. We need a country where all citizens, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, or other primordial identities, are safe and able to live in dignity.
The government should seek the support of the United States and other countries willing to help. There is no shame in asking for help to resolve our security challenges, particularly because of the international dimension of the problem.
Addressing our security challenges will also require political on the part of the President and his team. There is a need to confront both internal and external collaborators and sponsors of the different groups behind these killings.
It was reported some time ago that the government has a list of terrorism sponsors in Nigeria. We do not know what has become of that list. The government must also be willing to confront Nigerians who benefit from this war against terror – people who have no interest in seeing it end.
Christians in the southern part of the country must make a conscious effort to understand what their brothers and sisters in the North are going through. Do not remain in your relatively peaceful bubble in the South and speak for those being persecuted in the North.
While we must all be concerned about the killings of Muslims in the North, we should not, because of that, conclude that there is no systematic persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria.
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Olumide Fred’ Adetiba is a social reformer and a transformation specialist. He is the Lead Steward of The Finishing Church. He can be reached via [email protected] by email and @fredadetiba on social media.
