President Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria to stop the “killing of Christians”—which misrepresents the nation’s complex, non-religious conflicts—highlights Nigeria’s self-inflicted decline in strategic importance and its failure to manage international relationships, especially with the US.
US President Donald Trump’s threat of military action against Nigeria, framed as intervening to stop the “killing of Christians,” reveals more about Nigeria’s diminished global standing than its domestic security issues, as the nation’s complex internal violence often victimizes Muslims as much as Christians and is typically driven by ecological and resource conflicts rather than faith.
Nigeria, once Africa’s economic giant, military policeman, and a key US trading partner, has lost its international clout: the US now exports more oil to it than it buys, and its military is too overwhelmed with domestic issues to project power abroad. This loss of influence, coupled with the Nigerian government’s failure to appoint a Washington ambassador or control its own narrative, leaves President Bola Tinubu in a precarious position, forcing him to either dangerously escalate military action at home or attempt to lobby the mercurial US President for breathing room.
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