The fool’s paradise of waiting for Trump the Messiah

By Paul Dada

The dubbing of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by the US government led by Donald Trump, and the subsequent threat by the US President to send troops to Nigeria to rid it of terrorists accused of perpetrating “Christian genocide”, have provoked sharply divided opinions across the country.

I have written a series of short posts on this matter on my Facebook page, and the reactions have ranged from intelligent to absurd, thoughtful to emotional, and informed to downright conspiratorial.

My position remains that Donald Trump’s umbrage, outbursts, and threat, no matter how foolish they may sound to some Nigerians, should serve as a wake-up call to our government. Although the Nigerian military has made some gains in combating terrorists, bandits, and other insurgents, it has not done nearly enough to bring lasting security to the country.

Reports on the situation are anything but encouraging. A 2024 report from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) claims that Boko Haram and ISWAP were responsible for 3,627 fatalities in Nigeria in that year alone. Another report by SBM Intelligence stated that between December 2020 and May 2023, at least 5,873 Nigerians were killed in 430 incidents linked to Boko Haram.

Back in 2017, Vice President Kashim Shettima, then Governor of Borno State, revealed that at least 100,000 people had been killed in Boko Haram’s violent insurgency since 2009.

Amnesty International, for its part, reported that between May 2023, when President Bola Tinubu took office, and May 2025, at least 10,217 people were killed in attacks by gunmen and bandits in Benue, Plateau, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states. The National Human Rights Commission, through its Executive Secretary Tony Ojukwu, stated that terrorists and bandits killed 2,266 persons in the first six months of 2025 alone.

While it is misleading to reduce terrorist attacks to a “Christian genocide”, we must recognise that the cracks in our national wall are what embolden figures like Trump to pour invective on our country.

Nigeria does not need Trump to send troops to “protect Christians”. What we need is a renewed national resolve to eliminate terrorists who kill, maim, and destroy the livelihoods of Christians, Muslims, animists, atheists, and all other Nigerians.

Nigerians who believe Trump holds a magic wand to end terrorism are deluded. They seem to be living in a Disneyland-like fantasy. A look at other countries that have experienced US military intervention should be enough to shatter that illusion.

In 2011, the US-led intervention in Libya, purportedly to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, only plunged the country into deeper chaos. Libya became fragmented among rival militias and competing governments, leading to civil war and lawlessness.

Weapons from Gaddafi’s stockpiles spread across North Africa and the Sahel, arming groups such as Boko Haram and affiliates of Al-Qaeda. The instability that later engulfed Mali, Niger, and Chad was a direct consequence of the US action in Libya. Washington intervened, and then simply walked away.

The pattern is familiar. The US ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan, walked away, and the Taliban returned. In Syria, too, American intervention did little to change the tragic course of events.

Those who view Trump as some sort of messiah should stop living in a fool’s paradise. If he truly wants to help Nigeria, let his government offer technical and intelligence assistance, nothing more.

Ultimately, the onus lies squarely on the Tinubu administration to fix this problem. Nigerians deserve safety and stability. No excuses, please.