CHUKWU DAVID reports on how the leadership pf the Senate reacted to United States redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged genocide against Christians and threat of military action against terrorists
There was drama in the Senate on Tuesday November 4, following the recent decision of United States President, Donald Trump, to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), and his subsequent threat to take military action against the country over alleged persecution of Christians, which he tagged “Christian genocide.”
There is no gainsaying that there have been attacks on Christian populations in some parts of Nigeria in recent years. Accordingly, President Trump, who is concerned over the situation, redesignated Nigeria as a CPC. The designation comes despite the insistence of some government officials that no such pattern of anti-Christian violence occurred in the country.
However, the pronouncement by Trump x-rays Washington’s deep concern over the safety and rights of Christians in Nigeria. It is pertinent to note that the declaration of Nigeria as a CPC by Washington was not the first time the United States has taken such step.
Nigeria was first listed as a CPC in December 2020 but was delisted in 2021 under President Joe Biden. Expectedly, the development has elicited divergent opinions from different sections of Nigerian public, with some expressing outright support for the decision, while many others vehemently condemned it as meddling in the sovereignty of Nigeria.
However, it has been observed that highly placed government officials have been very diplomatic with their choice of words in criticizing Trump’s decision, to avoid attracting more stringent punitive actions from Washington. For instance, some media aides to President Bola Tinubu have not been derogatory in their reactions, while others chose to be completely mute on the matter.
Senate treads with caution
In the Senate, the lawmakers were also being careful not to delve into the matter in a manner that will attract injurious comments from members. The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was earlier pushed to a defensive corner by a blogger, who quoted him to have challenged Trump on his classification of Nigeria as a CPC.
He made desperate effort to refute the report both in writing and during plenary. Akpabio said the report is false, stressing that he had never responded to President Trump and questioning why anyone would fabricate such a story, stressing that he had no authority to respond to Trump’s threat, even as the number three citizen of the country.
His words: “Somebody will sit in the comfort of his room and produce a report and produce fake pictures of 2023, when the Senate President with senators visited Port Harcourt on a very different thing and say, Senate President answers President Trump.
Who am I to answer President Trump?” Akpabio denied ever making such statements, describing them as false and malicious. According to him, the report is a calculated attempt by enemies of the present government to create diplomatic tension and discredit the National Assembly. The issue, however, provoked heated reactions on the floor of the Senate as Akpabio, and his deputy, Barau Jibrin, openly disagreed on how the nation’s apex legislative assembly should respond.
While Akpabio dismissed the report that he had already reacted to Trump’s comments, declaring “who am I to answer Trump,” Barau quickly interjected, insisting that he is not afraid of the American leader. “I’m not scared of Trump. I will say my mind. I’m a Nigerian. Nigeria is a sovereign nation, I’m a parliamentarian, the Deputy Senate President, I can speak. Don’t be scared of Trump. You can say your mind about Trump.
We are a sovereign nation,” the Senate deputy president said. The exchange, which briefly lightened the mood in the chamber, underscored a divide in tone between both presiding officers on how Nigeria’s parliament should handle the diplomatic row. Responding to Barau’s assertions, Akpabio said: “It is the presidency that will respond to President Trump, not the Senate president.
But who is that person that would ascribe a comment to me when I was never contacted?” Akpabio urged security agencies to investigate and prosecute those behind the false report, describing it as an effort to cause friction and bring the Nigerian Senate into disrepute. “I believe the Cybercrimes Unit of the police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and others should find that character out.
This is meant to sow division. Social media should not be allowed to break Nigeria,” he stated. When the dust finally settled, Akpabio said that the Red Chamber will take an official position on Trump’s remarks once the executive arm clarified its stance, “When the executive responds, we will take a position as a Senate. Until then, no one should speak for this institution,” he said.
Barau fires on
Still agitated by the designation of Nigeria as a CPC, the Deputy President of the Senate asked Trump to apologize to Nigeria for undermining her sovereignty. Jibrin also described Trump’s military threat as “un-American” and “a violation of international law.”
Speaking in a viral video which trended on Friday September 7, he said: “But for now, for the President of the United States to come in and say, you are doing this and we are going to attack you, and Nigeria is a disgraced country, this is quite unacceptable. We feel that he should understand, then retract that statement and apologise to Nigeria.”
He maintained that the utterances of the American President breached diplomatic decorum as well as contravened established international law. “It’s against international law. Whatever you feel about our country, follow the legal route. Go to the United Nations, get a resolution there, and then anything can come later.
To bypass that route is quite unacceptable. It’s unAmerican,” he said. Jibrin, who spoke passionately before a gathering that applauded him, said Nigeria would not be intimidated by Trump’s threats. “We are not scared to say the truth. We are not scared of telling Trump the truth. If he were here, I will tell him that he has gone against international law and that the route he’s taking is not the best one to take,” he declared.
