On Buhari’s Visit to the US
The visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to US was indeed a success. Trump is popular for dropping sly digs. But, when he met PMB the story was different. He showered encomiums on PMB and praised his integrity, fight against corruption and many more. This integrity is among the reasons why the US agreed to sell military aircraft to Nigeria in an unprecedented move.
It did not stop there, President Trump promised to support Nigeria in tracking looted funds, tackling corruption and insecurity. PMB did redeem our image and it shows that ties between both countries have been strengthened. Electing a leader with integrity brings a lot of respect to a nation.
In the course of their discussion President Trump did drop a gaffe. He emphatically stated that America will not tolerate the killings of Christians in Nigeria. Trump is known for being undiplomatic and crude. As an African one is advised not to be confrontational with his hosts and we should always respect our hosts. So, PMB did not counter Trump’s statement publicly.
What Trump said was actually one sided and the fact speaks for itself. Actually, more Muslims have been killed than Christians due to insurgency and communal clash. Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Kaduna and Zamfara are states facing the insecurity challenge and are highly dominated by Muslims. Plateau state might have more Christians than Muslims with just a slight margin. So, Benue state is the only Christian dominated state in Nigeria which is facing a challenge of communal clash.
On May 4, 2018 Prof Jibrin Ibrahim made some revelations in his Daily Trust back page column titled “President Buhari’s visit to the US”. Here goes the first “the fact that Muslims are being killed on a daily basis is a reality that the Nigerian media has been relatively successful in masking”. In another sentence he asserted that “Muslim-Muslim killings related to same herder-farmer conflicts in Zamfara state has been higher than Muslim-Christian killings in states such as Benue have fallen on deaf ears”. These are just two of his incisive disclosures in the article.
The insecurity problem predates the administration of PMB but he has taken steps to curtail these problems. Just like he told the world at White House, more steps are being taken to see that Nigeria is more peaceful. Furthermore, PMB sought for aid from the US.
Trump’s gaffe is capable of flaring a conflagration. Nigeria is a country where issues on religion and tribe are not taking lightly. Trump did not do his assignment very well, if not he would have known the kind of country he invited over to the US. He reiterated his dislike and hatred for Muslims by blatantly showing that he does not care if Muslims are killed. This is not just primitive and parochial but also un-presidential. Where is Trump’s humanity if he has any?
It is unfortunate for a President not to respect loss of life. Some Nigerians are of the opinion that Trump should not be criticised since he is not our President but I disagree. Trump goofed about Nigeria. His statement can cause disunity amongst Nigerians paving way for divide and rule. This faux pas is one of the worst made by a president as far I am concerned.
Maybe, when next Trump invites the Israeli Prime Minister he should tell him to stop the occupation of lands belonging to Muslims; killings and intimidation of Muslims should stop too. He should also invite the Myanmar leader telling him or her to stop the killings Muslims.
Khalifa Musa Muhammad, Kaduna