By Ven. Dr. David Chimezie Nwanekpe
Rector, Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit, Bronx, New York 🇺🇸
The Western media have, for far too long, played politics with the lives of innocent people by underreporting the tragedy unfolding in Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is on the lips of the whole world not because of the media, but because of your bold tweets, Mr. President.
Thank you, President Donald J. Trump, for being a man who stands for truth and for the faith. You deserve to be called Defender of the Faith. You deserve Knighthood. It is an honour to have you speak up for Nigeria during my time a voice for the voiceless and the persecuted Church.
However, I urge your government to look deeper into the fraudulent selections by corrupt Nigerian politicians and the unjust incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. His cry for freedom is the same cry many raised during the era of President Buhari, who unfortunately empowered terrorists within his administration. What we see today is the harvest of those decisions.
But my greatest disappointment is with our own the Nigerian pastors who have remained silent while our people suffer. I call out Pastor E.A. Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, Apostle Johnson Suleman, Pastor Paul Enenche, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, and others who have the voice but chose not to speak. It took a man whom many labelled a non-believer to cry out for justice in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Silence in the Face of Terror
It is both shameful and heartbreaking that, after President Donald J. Trump publicly designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern* for its ongoing religious persecution and violent extremism, the response from the Nigerian government was to downplay the crisis. Rather than acknowledging the scale of the tragedy and acting decisively, the government’s reaction was that *“it is not only Christians who are killed; Muslims and people of other faiths are also victims.”
This statement, while intended as a defense, is in fact an admission of failure. If citizens of any faith are being slaughtered under the watch of a government, that government has failed in its most sacred constitutional duty the protection of life and property. The attempt to justify inaction by broadening the victim pool is morally and politically indefensible. It is equivalent to saying, “Since everyone is dying, no one should complain.”
Let us be honest with ourselves: this present APC government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has failed Nigerians. It has failed to protect its citizens, failed to restore security, and failed to confront the real sponsors of terror. The streets are awash with light weapons, criminal gangs, and kidnappers. Farmers cannot go to their farms, travelers fear the highways, and families live in constant dread of abduction and murder. The nation is bleeding, and the silence of leadership is deafening.
The government’s own security operatives and agencies have repeatedly claimed to know where these terrorists and their financiers are located. Yet, the nation continues to witness massacres, church burnings, village invasions, and kidnappings without meaningful arrests or prosecutions. How can a government that knows the source of its citizens’ suffering remain silent while innocent lives are wasted daily?
Nigeria’s crisis is not a religious war between Christians and Muslims. It is a moral and governance failure a collapse of accountability and leadership. Human life is sacred, regardless of faith or tribe. Whether Christian, Muslim, or traditional believer, every Nigerian deserves protection and peace.
It is, therefore, my strong opinion that if this administration cannot fulfill its primary duty of safeguarding the lives of its people, it should have the moral courage to step aside. A government that excuses mass killings rather than ending them has lost its legitimacy before God and humanity.
Nigeria needs leaders who value life above politics, justice above convenience, and truth above silence.
Thank you again, Mr. Trump, for standing up for the innocent and the weak.
May God bless you richly.
