By Babatope Falade Onikoyi
America Threatens Nigeria, Christian Genocide in Nigeria, And How Kashim Shettima Triggered the United States with His United Nations Speech.
Overview
The recent threat by Donald Trump to attack Nigeria, should terrorist attacks on Christians not abate is not just a reaction to reality. It is more of a failure of reputational risk management.
Vice-President of Nigeria- Alhaji Kashim Shettima should never have been allowed to give that speech at the 80th session meeting of the United Nations.
It started well, but the end is indeed a disaster.
In order to explain the centrality of Shettima, and other factors; linked and not linked to him, it is important to have a background to this discourse.
Introduction
For many years, the Nigeria state has acted as though certain groups are easy to dispense with. That is, they can be killed, maimed and dealt with, legitimately. And nothing will happen.
These groups include; Northern villagers, Igbos, and recently, Yoruba’s in Kwara have seemingly been added to the list. Let us add young southern males to the list.
However, it seems succor has arrived for Northern Christians.
Donald Trump in a wave of posts on Truth Social has stated authoritatively that there may be a “boots on ground” episode in Nigeria if we do not do something about Christian killings in Northern Nigeria.
This development is the latest in a series of posts that started with highlighting of the problem to designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern”. And finally, the real threat is here.
The US may swoop into Nigeria to do what Nigeria has refused to do.
But what triggered Donald Trump? Christians have long complained about ceaseless attacks against them all these years. They have lobbied Senators in Capitol Hill, but nothing.
Well, in this piece, I argue that the speech of Vice-President; Kashim Shettima set this process in motion. But more than his speech, his reputation- a huge risk factor put Nigeria in this position.
Beginnings- Chibok and Madalla
Many years ago, between April 14–15, 2014, the unthinkable happened. Boko Haram kidnapped 276 young girls in Chibok, a remote and predominantly Christian town in Borno State.
The Federal Government advised the Borno State Government to move the girls from Chibok to Maiduguri for safety reasons. Infact, prior to the kidnapping, the school was closed for 4 weeks.
But the state government in its dangerous obstinacy returned the girls to write their Physics exams. In the end, the girls went from school to the camps of Boko Haram.
It is critical to note that Borno State Government was then led by the current Vice-President- Kashim Shettima.
In case you are wondering, most of the girls that were kidnapped are Christians. And when Boko Haram captured the girls, they embarked on a wave of forced conversions to “Islam”.
Some of the girls, notably, “Leah Sharibu” refused to convert, and she became a sensation.
Reno Omokri campaigned vigorously for Leah Sharibu as a symbol of resilience and faith. All of these events never went unnoticed by foreign intelligence agencies. They took notes.
However, before the abduction of Chibok girls in 2014, something happened in 2012.
Kabiru Sokoto
In 2012, a man named Kabiru Sokoto, a renowned terrorist was arrested by security operatives at Borno State Government lodge in Abuja.
Kabiru Sokoto was declared wanted by Nigeria for the bombing of a Church Service on Christmas Day in December, 2011. Again, Vice-President Shettima was Governor of Borno State in that year.
Though, his aides denied any links with Kabiru Sokoto vehemently.
Take note that these events of Chibok girls’ abduction and the Christmas day bombings have rubbed off negatively on the reputation of Vice-President Shettima.
He has been branded as a supporter of Boko Haram in several isolated, but cumulatively large discussions on social media. Again, foreign intelligence has all these data. They own these social media platforms.
Then in 2022, when it was time for Tinubu to select a running mate, he chose Shettima, against several arguments and Christian sentiments.
The entire argument was framed as “Muslim-Muslim” ticket.
Tinubu needed someone with the credential of commitment to Islam. He could not think of anyone better than Shettima.
The idea was to capture bloc votes from Northern Nigeria. This gambit worked.
The gambit worked, but at what cost and at what risk?
The risk is largely a reputational risk. And the reputational risk profile is highlighted as follows:
- The Nigeria government will be documented as a Muslim state.
- The government of Tinubu will be listed in foreign agencies as a Muslim favored and favoring government.
- Shettima’s “perceived notoriety” will be assessed as a validation of activities linked to him. Hence, conferring his reputational risk on Nigeria.
Please take note that all of these was just a mere risk. Until for whatever careless reason- Tinubu and his foreign affairs minister in their wisdom allowed Shettima to speak on behalf of Nigeria. But that is the best part of the carelessness.
Shettima in a culmination of his speech actually spoke against Israel and its activities in Gaza.
For God’s sake, the situation in Gaza started when Hamas carried out a terrorist attack on civilians, leading Israel to declare war.
Why then did Nigeria think it is wise to put up a ranking official who has a poor reputation on these issues to talk about the war in Gaza?
The Importance of The Speaker in Foreign Relations Rhetoric
In foreign affairs, the speaker is as important as the message. Rhetoric is a device of foreign relations and governance. But the speaker is important.
Rhetoric as a device includes three components, that is; Ethos (Credibility of the speaker, Pathos (Appeal to Emotion) and Logos (Appeal to Logic).
The strength of the Ethos component is critical in speeches/rhetoric.
A great example for illustration is Ronald Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, which gained credibility and international acclaim because Reagan was a popular leader of a powerful country.
Hence, when Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, it carried a lot of weight.
When Winston Churchill gave the speech “We shall fight on the beaches”, everyone knew only he could give such a speech because of his personality.
He had the credibility and trustworthiness. Only Churchill had the Ethos.
In the case of Shettima, he was not the person for that message. And Nigeria, with its baggage’s and ceaseless and genocide of Christians clearly had no moral standing or political leverage to talk about the Gaza problem.
The killings of Christians and Muslims in Northern Nigeria is sanctioned, supported and empathized by the Nigeria state.
It is the case that the Nigeria state has ceded part of its “Monopoly of Violence”, to terrorists. What it is supposed (Monopoly of Violence) to be an exclusive preserve of the state is now a privilege to wield occasionally.
And with all the reputational baggage’s of Kashim Shettima, a lifetime mistake was made to give him such a podium.
Terrorists in Nigeria have a roaster where they are allowed to attack certain communities when they wish.
Terrorists are tolerated, embraced, loved, fed, indulged and maintained by the Nigeria state.
The world knows this fact. The United States knows this fact. They have the data. And they are now saying NO!
Though the USA is doing this on behalf of Christians, it will benefit the harmless and innocent Muslims who can no longer farm without paying taxes to terrorists.
When foreign powers have this sort of dossier on you, you don’t play duck. You don’t grandstand, even where you lack real leverage.
Nigeria has no Ambassador in all its foreign missions. We don’t have any real geopolitical leverage.
Then why did we create that foreign relations blunder by allowing Shettima deliver that message at a delicate time?
We should do better next time.
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