Media reports this week copiously cited the X-handle of the President of the United States of America where he expressed the intention of his country to attack Nigeria. According to these reports, President Trump was quoted to have said:

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may very well go into that now disgraced country ”gun-a-blazing” to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

Almost all the extracts of the statement by the media gave the impression that the over-reactive President of America deliberately set out to attack the country as a whole for what he termed “genocide against Christians.”

For many observers, his statement would have been taken as a positive step to assist Nigeria in solving an intractable problem but for the premise of his faulty proposition, illogical conclusion and a wrong intention and distorted approach because all that Nigeria would need is a collective efforts in fighting terrorism and banditry on our land. What should have been more attractive to all and sundry is the inter-governmental agreement and collaboration that will completely obliterate the potency of these dangerous and senseless anti-social groups.

Let it be known that those among us who are urging President Trump to bomb our land without recourse to diplomatic channels and our government should realise that “talika ti o ni ki iyan mu ni ilu, omo re yio je okuta.” This in plain lingo means “the pauper who prays for famine in the land, should be ready to serve his children a menu containing stones and pebbles for dinner.”

In the last few day, some religious leaders and members of the opposition have gone to town using the opportunity to speak from both sides of the mouth. In some cases, they are indirectly urging Trump on in his quest to enter Nigeria against the spirit and letters of international laws and diplomacy. This group can be compared to “the illegitimate child that uses the left hand to describe his father’s compound.” They have forgotten that the United States of America is like “a dog nutured with blood, it rarely would relish other menu but blood.”We can cite examples of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and a couple of other countries where American intervention has left the countries more fragmented, more devastated and dismembered. May God help Nigeria.

We all know better than Trump and America that the problem affects all of us irrespective of ethno-religious affiliation. We have failed to realise that our intellectual fragmentation and selfish self denial will strengthen our common enemies. We got to this stage in the first instance because we kept on counting the number of victims in each religious denomination rather than facing the enemies squarely with our collective strength and dignity.

While no one disagrees with the fact that the nuisances and impunity must stop, we cannot forget to ask and raise fundamental questions where they are essential and necessary. Where on earth are the AK 47, the Drones and other automatic weapons used by these groups coming from? Is it not from the domain of the self-appointed “defenders of the helpless”? Trump’s reasoning on this issue is faulty because the Boko Haram and banditry problems in Northern Nigeria are not particularly directed to any religion. Those involved in the dastardly act kill and maim without considering the theological affiliation of the victim.

Trump’s conclusion is illogical because, there is no deliberate genocidal tendency anywhere in the Nigeria of today. In fact, leaders of various religions and ethnic divides frequently shake hands to discourage distrust and hatred amongst the plural elements in the country. Nigerians, particularly the elderly, have learnt a lot of hard lessons from the Civil War of 1967 that consumed the lives of innocent citizens of our nation. Trump should know that no sensible Nigerian wants an encore of that most fatal and gruesome episode of the country’s history.

Those who are selling the dummies to America on genocide against Christians in Nigeria are those who are attention seekers and selfish individuals most of who are not living in the country. They are taking advantage of the fact that most countries of the western axis are distant in knowledge and understanding of the social and geograhical plurality of Nigeria. Painting a gory and abysmal graphics of a country where Christians are virtually packed in the oven, roasted alive and put in the tiffin-box “for dinner by members of the other religions sects is far, very far from the truth.

Although, the world of today is different from those of yesteryear where life was more sacred, yet the killing of five hundred Christians in one swoop on a day cannot go unnoticed and unquestioned in the Nigeria of today. This country would not need Trump to defend the victims. Therefore, whoever is alleging must be called out into the open to defend his figures. For this singular reason, one can conclude that it is crystal clear that the United States of America lacks the faintest understanding of the characteristics of the Nigerian nation in terms of population distribution, religious psychology and family affinity and closeness which no religion can alter.

Let us for a start consider the population distribution of Nigeria taking religion and ethnicity as the main variables. Worldwide statistics show that about 51 per cent of Nigerians are Christians. Out of the six zones in Nigeria, two are predominantly Christians. By this, we mean that between eighty and ninety-nine per cent of the indigenous people of those zones are Christians. At least 80 per cent of the South East and South- South zones are Christians with not more than 1 per cent Muslims in each of the two regions. Nigerians are usually surprised when they encounter or meet any individual from those zones who are Muslims. In fact, for instance, many Nigerians have never heard of an Igbo who is a Muslim because Igbo people are either Christians or traditional worshipers of their native god called Amadioha and they are very far between.

In the North Central State of Nigeria, there are six states, four of which are predominantly Christians. These are Benue with estimated population of more than 85 per cent Christians, Nasarawa (62 per cent), Kogi (60 per cent) and Plateau (85 per cent) with the remaining two, namely Kwara and Niger states having majority as Muslims.

Other states where you find Christians in the majority are Adamawa (53 per cent) and Taraba with about 1.2 m of the 2.3 million of the citizens being Christians This is about 52 per cent.

As earlier mentioned, you would rarely find Muslims in states like Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom being predominantly Christian. These states are in the South East and South South.

In the South West, there is an admixture of Christians and Muslims with Christians being predominant in Lagos and Ondo states while it may be 50-50 in states like Ogun and Oyo.

If we go by regional distribution, it means that out of the thirty six states in Nigeria, at least 19 are dominated by Christians. Statistics of the world shows that between 51 and 53 per cent of Nigerians are Christians. One then wonders how the minority would conveniently unleash genocide on the majority to the extent that the majority will be so weak and naive not to react.

A Yoruba adage says “Enia ko ni go titi ki o ma le so wipe e ma na mi mo” litetraly meaning “A man cannot be so foolish not to react when he is been beaten.”

It is instructive to know that there are 109 senators in the national Assembly because each state contributes three with one for the Federal Capital Territory. This implies that about half of the members of the Senate are Christians. In the House of Representatives, there are 360 members with about half of them being Christians. This is the legislative arm of government. The offshoot question from this is: which government is then encouraging persecution of Christians?

Although the President of Nigeria is a Muslim but Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a Pastor of the Redeem Christian Church of God with over five million members and presence in about 193 countries in the world. In the Federal Executive Cabinet, there are 47 ministers, at least 20 of which are Christians. With so many Christians in the executive arm of government, does it align with common sense that they would watch while the government in which they serve supports genocide towards Christians? Of course, the judiciary is tailored to dispense justice.

This is not to say that there is no religious restiveness in some parts of Nigeria. However, as earlier mentioned, it is our collective efforts that can rescue the country from the claws of bloodsuckers and elements of disunity.

While Nigeria needs assistance in her quest to confront the extremists, the American aggressive posture to our local problem smells of suspicion and hidden political agenda. Donald Trump seems to be crying more than the bereaved and it is time for all Nigerians to unite in prayer because in similitude of Dame Edith Stillwell’s poem titled “Still Falls the Rain”, we must pray against the “feet of the impious upon the holy sepulcher.”

Ojikutu, a Professor of Statistics, is formerly with the University of Lagos.