When you look closely at what is going on, you begin to see the pattern. The same people who cried “genocide against white farmers in South Africa” are now crying “Christian persecution in Nigeria.” And just like before, the goal is not compassion, it is control. It is about using religion and fear to justify America’s next move in Africa.
Donald Trump, now loud as ever, has turned Nigeria into his new talking point, painting a picture of Christians being wiped out by Muslims, while ignoring the real truth: America is once again setting the stage for interference, resource grabbing, and chaos under the cover of “humanitarian concern.”
Nigeria, with its over estimated 237 million people and enormous natural wealth, oil, gas, iron ore, tin, limestone, gemstones, is the prize. Add to that its key ports in Lagos, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Delta, and you begin to see why every major global power wants a foothold here. Historically, Nigeria has been a close ally of both Democratic and Republican administrations in Washington. But in the post-Cold War era, friendship with America has always come at a cost, economic dependency, debt, and political manipulation.
The Old Game in a New Robe
The US’s so-called concern for Christians in Nigeria is part of a familiar imperial script. They pressure NATO countries to spend more on weapons, push for global tariffs and then turns around to accuse others of genocide. Meanwhile, they feign ignorance of the truth that America was built on genocide, the slaughter of Native Americans, the enslavement of millions of Africans, and the theft of their labor for centuries.
With such a bloody history, how dare any American administration accuse Africans of religious persecution without proof? America has killed more innocent people, from Vietnam to Iraq to Libya, than it cares to admit. Millions of Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic people have perished or suffered under systems designed to keep them oppressed. So, who really persecutes who?
Where Nigeria’s Troubles Really Came From
The conflicts in Nigeria that the West now pretends to “worry” about didn’t just appear from nowhere. They are the direct consequences of centuries of Western interference, from the slave trade to colonialism to the new form of control called “neo-colonialism.”
Before Britain formally colonized Nigeria, other European nations like Portugal were already in West Africa, capturing and exploiting Africans. Research today even shows that most African Americans trace their ancestry back to what is now Nigeria, proof of how deeply the region was pillaged for human labor.
When Britain finally took over, they did what they always do, divide and rule. They pitted tribes and regions against each other, made sure the north lagged behind in Western education, and created artificial political hierarchies that bred resentment and inequality. These wounds never healed. They led to coups, civil war, and today’s constant instability.
The 1967–1970 Biafran war, which killed over 3 million people, was a direct consequence of British manipulation and Western meddling. Since then, Nigeria has staggered between civilian governments and military regimes, each trying and failing to break free from Western strings.
Boko Haram and the Manufactured Chaos
The Boko Haram crisis, which began in 2009, is another textbook case of external manipulation mixed with local failure. While Nigerian leaders are guilty of mismanagement and corruption, there is also no denying that foreign intelligence operations, shadow funding, and arms proliferation have helped sustain the conflict. The group has since split into factions like ISWAP, but the result is the same, chaos, fear, and a weakened state ripe for exploitation.
And here’s the fact the Western media won’t tell you, the majority of Boko Haram’s victims are Muslims. The crisis is not a war on Christians, it is a war on Nigerians. It is about land, minerals, money, and control, not religion.
The Bigger Picture: America’s Desperation
America is losing its global grip. China, Russia, BRICS, and other emerging powers are changing the game. U.S. influence in West Africa is shrinking fast, their military bases are being expelled from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. So, they need a new excuse to return, and what better story than “saving Christians from Muslim extremists”?
This is the same trick they used in Iraq (“weapons of mass destruction”), in Libya (“protecting civilians”), and in Afghanistan (“fighting terror”). Each time, the countries they “helped” ended up destroyed, divided, and poorer. Nigeria is next on the list, unless Nigerians wake up.
The Way Forward
What the world calls “Africa’s instability” is in fact the continued aftershock of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism. The only way forward is unity, regional and continental unity that ends dependency on the West. Africa must stop dancing to Washington’s tune.
Nigeria must also understand that America’s sudden interest in its “Christian persecution problem” is not charity, it is strategy. It is how empires work: they create the fire, then arrive with the extinguisher, but only after your house has burned down.
Only a united, conscious Nigeria, and indeed Africa, can resist being used again as a pawn in the endless chess game of global domination.
By Duruebube Hon. Chima Nnadi-Oforgu
OBLONG MEDIA UNLIMITED 
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