Nigeria – The Facts Beyond the Narrative
The recent re-designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by President Donald Trump, based on allegations of Christian persecution, has reopened old wounds and revived long-standing but inaccurate narratives — chief among them the claim that Nigeria is a place where the state sponsors systematic persecution of Christians.
While this claim is emotionally powerful and politically charged, it collapses when weighed against history, evidence, and the lived reality of Nigerians.
Nigeria's security challenges are undeniably real and painful, but interpreting them as a deliberate, state-sanctioned campaign against Christians is inaccurate and unfair.
The nation’s story is far more complex.
For decades, Nigeria — an economic anchor of West Africa — has managed the burdens and benefits of immense diversity: ethnic, religious, regional, and cultural.
Its conflicts have rarely arisen from theology itself, but from criminality, competition over land and resources, and the struggle for political power.
Religion has often served as a convenient identity marker in disputes that were fundamentally social, economic, or political.
To understand present-day tensions, particularly in the North, one must appreciate their historical roots.
From afar, what may look like religious persecution is instead a tapestry of local grievances, environmental pressures, and political rivalries sporadically intensified by religious extremism.
Misreading these dynamics replaces knowledge with simplistic narrative and empathy with alarmism.
Long before the Maitatsine violence of the 1980s, Nigeria experienced episodic religious tension — usually minor clashes linked to chieftaincy disputes or the spread of new denominations.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, friction sometimes arose from Christian missionary expansion or Islamic reform movements, but these crises were quickly handled by traditional authorities, with the state remaining neutral and committed to freedom of worship under the 1963 Republican Constitution.
The first major test came with the Maitatsine uprisings of the early 1980s, led by radical preacher Muhammadu Marwa in Kano.
His movement denounced both government authority and orthodox Islam.
Federal forces under President Shehu Shagari crushed the rebellion, and thousands — both Muslims and Christians — were killed.
It was Nigeria's first encounter with modern religious extremism, but it was not a campaign against Christians.
In the years that followed, localized violence erupted occasionally in Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, and other cities, often fueled by urban migration, unemployment, and politicized preaching.
Governments imposed curfews, set up commissions of inquiry, and worked through peace committees. Under General Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria's brief association with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation stirred controversy, but robust national discourse and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom kept tensions from escalating.
General Sani Abacha's regime in the 1990s — despite its authoritarian character maintained tight control over potential sectarian flashpoints.
His government supported interfaith initiatives through the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and prevented large-scale religious conflict.
The crises in Jos, Plateau State, from 2001 to 2010, were another painful chapter.
Often mislabeled as "religious wars," they were rooted in disputes between indigenes and settlers over land and political representation.
President Goodluck Jonathan responded with the Presidential Peace Committee, expanded engagement with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and created the Victims Support Fund to help communities devastated by Boko Haram.
His administration recognized that both Christians and Muslims suffered heavily.
The farmer–herder conflicts that escalated during this period stemmed from ecological pressures — particularly desertification pushing herders southward—and governance problems.
Though tragic, these were conflicts over land and livelihood, not holy wars. Jonathan's work on a National Grazing Reserve policy laid groundwork for what would become the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
Nigeria's most severe challenge since the civil war came with the rise of Boko Haram in the late 2000s and 2010s.
The group attacked churches and murdered Christians but also targeted mosques and killed Muslim clerics who rejected its ideology.
During his earlier military rule (1983–1985), Muhammadu Buhari had demonstrated commitment to national cohesion, imposing curfews and sanctions on those who used religion to create disorder — helping restore calm after the Maitatsine crises.
Today, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria continues to build on these foundations. Tinubu's own family reflects Nigeria's pluralism: he is a Muslim married to a Christian pastor and governs through a religiously diverse cabinet.
His restructuring of the security architecture, strengthening intelligence, and investing in counter-radicalization all underscore a commitment to peace and national balance.
Notably, Nigeria's current Military and Intelligence High Command consists of five Christians and three Muslims.
To characterize Nigeria's long journey — marked by struggle, reform, and resilience — as Christian persecution ignores both historical reality and contemporary progress.
It erases the Muslim victims of violence and the many citizens of all faiths who died defending their communities.
It turns shared national grief into sectarian blame.
Nigeria’s insecurity is a national issue rooted in governance gaps, poverty, and historical neglect—not in state policy against any religion.
The United States and Nigeria need each other, and this is a pivotal moment to strengthen ties. Honest partnership requires recognizing the truth: Nigeria is not a site of religious extermination, but a diverse society confronting modern challenges with courage.
Faiths may differ, but destinies need not.
Nigeria is not a land of persecution; it is a land of shared suffering and shared hope, where Christians and Muslims have endured together, rebuilt together, and — through strategic partnerships and goodwill — will continue to rise together.
Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow who writes on a wide variety of public policy issues. Read Duggan Flanakin's reports — More Here.
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