Will the Trump Administration Launch Yet Another New War in Nigeria?

President Donald Trump has brought attention recently to the horrific killings in northeastern Nigeria by radical Islamic groups, such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State - West Africa Province (ISWAP), and even comedian Bill Maher went on a tirade a few weeks ago to attempt to undermine the Israeli genocide in Gaza and focus on the slaughtering of “125,009 Christians and over 60,000 ‘liberal’ Muslims who do not share the extremist views of the prevailing groups.” But, in his commentary, Maher even admitted that it was not just Christians being slaughtered. Now, because Christians are being killed, the president wants to invade Nigeria and hunt down the Islamic terrorists there. Over twenty years of the War on Terror has, in many cases, made things worse, and in others, nothing has changed; so it is difficult to understand how this time things will be different.

Of course, what is often left out is the fact that many of the killings have little to do with religion and are often associated with disputes between farmers and herders over land and resources in the Central Region (the country is split between a Christian majority in the south and a Muslim majority in the north), and because many of the farmers happen to be Christian and most of the herders happen to be Muslim (Fulani), it is only superficially a war over religion. Additionally, the Sunni insurrectionists attempting to establish a caliphate in northern Nigeria (and expanding into Chad, Niger, Mali, and Cameroon), largely Boko Haram (Jama’at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da’wa wa al-Jihad), also do not like Shia Muslims or the Nigerian government, as well as Christians.

Have Christians been slaughtered? The answer is undoubtedly in the affirmative, but to pretend that Boko Haram is not destroying mosques alongside the 19,100 burned churches would be absurd. So, if we label what is happening in Nigeria as a genocide, we have to acknowledge that multiple groups are the targets (plus, both Muslims and Christians have in the past accused each other of committing genocides against the other), and the Islamic State (remember ISIS?) and Boko Haram are attempting to create their own kingdoms out of established nations’ territory. The Nigerian government is actually fighting back (no nation wants to lose its own land) and trying to unite Christians and Muslims (there are many Christian officials in the Nigerian government, and many of the southern states are dominated by Christians), and it denies allegations that Christians are being persecuted, but the efforts to keep these Islamic groups at bay have largely failed. So, this is not to undermine what Christians must endure in Nigeria, but rather, there is always more to the story than what we are provided in the corporate media and by government officials.

The United States government has been fighting Boko Haram to some capacity since the presidency of Barack Obama, and after the April 2014 kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok, the United States provided years’ worth of technical, advisory, strategic, surveillance, and intelligence-sharing assistance. Basically, American troops on the ground aided in directing the Nigerian government in the most effective way to rescue the girls and combat the Islamic group. In addition to the more symbolic gestures, such as to label Boko Haram as a terrorist organization and place economic sanctions on its leaders, the Obama administration sent $40 million toward the Global Security Contingency Fund to help train the militaries of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon to be able to secure civilian populations from attacks by Boko Haram. President Obama’s United States Agency for International Development (remember the USAID funding-cuts controversy under Elon Musk?) provided emergency relief supplies, water and sanitation services, $4.5 million for trauma counseling, up to $30 million in education programs to displaced individuals, $120 million in basic education programs, training programs to women to become leaders, training on religious and cultural tolerance, and programs to resist violence and build stronger democratic institutions in northeastern Nigeria (Nigeria Regional Transition Initiative).

The Department of State also helped fund a Hausa-language satellite television channel that provided propaganda related to cultural diversity, promoting women in society, and rejecting violence and extremism; and it provided several more millions of dollars in military education and training programs and security funding that lasted through 2023 (under the first Trump presidency and into Joe Biden’s tenure). Nigeria even purchased twelve AH-1Z Attack Helicopters for $997 million, among other gear and vehicles, and the United States government provided some of the items for free (example: twenty-four Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles and mine-monitoring equipment). Of course, all of these taxpayer-funded programs to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars seemingly did little to prevent terrorism in Nigeria. Yet, you and I had to pay for this failed attempt to interfere overseas by presidents of both political parties.

Now, with all of the failure over the years, President Trump wants to go into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing.” Aside from the fact that none of the past presidents have framed what is happening in Nigeria as a genocide against Christians, this new emotional appeal is what may persuade Americans that action is necessary. It is the same playbook that brought us endless wars in the Middle East, and it is not difficult for officials to make up some justification for deploying American troops to a new country (even though there have been troops there periodically).

After all, Nigeria has the eleventh largest oil reserves in the world (particularly petroleum and crude oil), and it is also rich in natural gas, coal, tin, and columbite. After the United States was kicked out of Niger, is it any surprise that it is looking for an open spot in another country? With China and Russia competing on the continent for resources and strategic partnerships, the United States, already having influence in Nigeria, would want to set up a permanent base that can be used to exploit the resources (largely by corporations) and prevent China and Russia from gaining a foothold there. Do not be fooled by the kidnapping stories of Christians being persecuted (can we rule out that they are not paid informants working with American intelligence?). It is sad that we must be so skeptical, especially since the government will lie to us in order to justify military operations, but that is reality.

So, where does this leave us now? Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu pushed back against the criticism by arguing that what President Trump accused his country of “does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.” Though Tinubu seems open to the idea of American troops deploying to Abuja (the capital) or other areas of the country to combat Boko Haram and ISWAP, he will only accept this if the United States respects his country’s “territorial integrity” (if I were him, I would not take that bet).

Then, you have American politicians, such as Senator Ted Cruz, pushing claims without evidence that the Nigerian government is “facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist Jihadists.” Does this remind you of a certain event back in 2002 to 2003 right before an unprovoked invasion? Remember all of the lies associated with the Iraqi conflict that rallied Americans around the flag to support the toppling of another country on false pretenses? Even rapper and star Nicki Minaj has come out in support of Trump’s proposed action in Nigeria (she had previously been publicly scolded by Anthony Fauci for casting doubts on the COVID-19 vaccine, and I defended her at the time). President Trump has directed the Department of Defense (or War) to “prepare for possible action” after relabeling Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” and adding the new label of “disgraced country,” and he threatened to repeal all of the foreign aid (remember that long list of programs funded over the years?). He then posted on social media, “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”

The translation of this is that Nigeria better step up its game and crack down on Islamicists, or the United States will send troops to “eliminate” the terroristic threats, meaning that a long-term occupation will be established (based on history) under the American Empire. President Trump is literally threatening a sovereign country if it does not meet his demands (a form of terrorism and bullying), but with many of his other “business” ventures on the world stage, could this just be another empty threat? Time will tell, but we should not want yet another war, especially from a president who campaigned on not starting any new ones and was in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thank you for reading, and please check out my book, The Global Bully, and website.