Trump's Threat: Soyinka Tells US President the Real Problem
Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, has cautioned President Donald Trump of the United States against making unverified statements about religious persecution in Nigeria, adding that such a claim could lead to tensions and distort the facts about the security challenges in the country.
Recently, Trump threatened military action in Nigeria, directing the US Department of Defence to prepare for "possible action" in Nigeria. He alleged that Christians are being killed in Nigeria and called on the government to swiftly stop the killings.
Source: Twitter
His allegations have been rejected by the federal government, which maintained that all faiths are being affected by the insecurity in the country.
Reacting to Trump's allegation, Soyinka maintained that the portrayal of the crisis as Christians being the only victims merely oversimplified a complex conflict and could inflate religious hostilities in the country.
His statement reads in part:
“We must separate Nigeria’s long-standing internal problems from President Trump’s recent response.”
He stressed that the dichotomy between Christianity, Islam and others has been in existence for decades, noting that it becomes "horrendous" when politics is mixed with the religious differences.
According to Soyinka, religion has been weaponised by extremist groups for economic and political gain. Unfortunately, political leaders have failed to hold the perpetrators accountable, which has given room for impunity to flourish.
Soyinka cited the case of a student who was lynched over alleged blasphemy, and her killers boasted in a video, yet they were not punished. He noted that such is the case of justice failure, which deepened the perception of religious war.
He noted that Nigeria is "dealing with extremists", which he further broke down to "political Islamists, known sometimes as ISWAP or Boko Haram", and explained that the issues were not "Muslims as a people.” Soyinka further told the US president that the groups have ties with terror networks on the global stage, and they have access to advanced weapons that challenge the Nigerian military
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Source: Legit.ng
