It’s a shame that it took the United States Senator Ted Cruz’s genocide allegation to ignite the debate we ignored. Nigeria is not where the founding fathers designed it to be. They intended that people of different tribes and religions can live together in peace; and they provided the blueprint for generations to build upon.

Whereas the Constitution provides that there shall be no State Religion (Section 10), politicians have institutionalised religion as a state policy and they exploit it to divide and rule. But they’re unable to manage the fallouts, which Ted Cruz now laments on our behalf. Some think Cruz and others are meddlesome.

The U.S. Senator accused the Nigerian government of enabling the massacre of Christians. In an X post on October 7, Cruz said 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009 with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by Islamist armed groups.

He introduced the bill called the Nigeria Religious Act of 2025, which promises to hold accountable officials who facilitate Islamic Jihadist violence and the imposition of blasphemy laws; and those who facilitate violence against Christians together with enforcers of violence and blasphemy laws. He seeks that the United States government designates Nigeria as a country of particular concern and Boko Haram and its affiliates entities of particular concern.

In 2020, Nigeria was designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), by the U.S. but was later removed from the list. There’s renewed push for that to happen again, which the Ted Cruz bill represents. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent government advisory body also recommended for Nigeria to return to the CPC list, citing continued religious violence and government’s failure to prosecute perpetrators.

Last week, some prominent American Christians were reported to have petitioned President Donald Trump, seeking to designate among the list of countries of concern. In a letter delivered at the White House, on October 15, they declared that: “the last several years have seen a bourgeoning of violent attacks, specifically targeting rural Christians in the country’s Middle Belt, while government in Abuja barely lifts a finger to protect them.

“Across Nigeria’s North, innocent Muslims and Christians, alike, are brutally victimised by Boko Haram and other Islamic States and al Qaeda-linked terror groups seeking religious and political domination within the country. Significantly, for Christians, Nigeria is singled out as currently the world’s most deadly country, according to the respected Christian research group, Open Doors…”

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in rebuttals, said it is false and misleading to allege genocide and targeting of Christians in the country. He wondered where Ted Cruz got his numbers and denied that government supports or colludes with violent extremists.

The Senate has mandated a committee to do a position paper on how to respond to the clamour to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern; and to also engage with the U.S. Congress. It noted that insecurity affects all Nigerians within a very complex terrorist insurgency; and regretted the reputational damage the situation has imposed on the country.

Time may be running fast against political leaders who may be found wanting, should the U.S. go ahead with the threat of sanctions; which could include travel restrictions, strain in diplomatic relations, economic sanctions and reduced military cooperation.

In the interim, what not to do is for lackeys in and out of government to continue to propagate lies and twisted versions of reality. One spokesperson lied that Nigeria’s position on Palestine at UNGA 80 was the trigger for the genocide allegation, forgetting that Nigeria’s position on Palestine has always been that of two-states solution. In the eight years of the Buhari government, he did not fail to canvass freedom for Palestinians. Concerned groups have for years collected evidence on killings in Nigeria.

From responses by government, it appears their concern is more about what the political leadership would suffer than what the country could gain from the exposure. Wouldn’t it be fair if at the end of the day the U.S. sanctions ginger government to make the country safer for citizens? For instance, government needs to stop living in denial and develop a lasting solution to end terrorism.

The cost of countering terrorism is massive, estimated at $100 billion in 10 years by 2020. The human casualties in 2020, was put at around 350,000 deaths, directly and indirectly. As of 2024, around 2.3 million persons were displaced and now live in displaced persons’ camps. The damage to food security is massive, as farmers have been chased out of their communities. These are the estimates local security experts and analysts cite repeatedly; and they are nowhere near the 50,000 Ted Cruz is concerned about.

To Nigerians, who have not lost their sense of humanity, 350,000 human casualties is a monumental loss to the country, not their religion. That is seven times the 67,967 Gaza deaths, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, for which countries have held countless rallies, alleging genocide.

Are we saying that the 50,000 deaths Ted Cruz and allies have decried is too insignificant to qualify for genocide and to demand outrage? If we are to yield to government propaganda that more Muslims are killed, or let’s concede that the entire 350,000 estimated deaths are all Muslims, does that take culpability from the government, whose constitutional responsibility it is to secure life and property? Shouldn’t government be ashamed to even join issues with Ted Cruz, having failed to protect citizens, irrespective of the religion they profess?

Every year, the Federal Government sends a team to UNGA to plead the Palestinian cause. But we’re mum over 300,000 plus Muslims who are killed in the North-east and North-west. And the United Nations (UN) is not scandalised by the numbers, even though it bears responsibility for cleaning the humanitarian mess. Ukraine and Sudan get repeated global attention and at the UN. But Nigeria records far more civilian causalities and no mention. Yet, Nigeria wants to take a seat at the UN Security Council. To do what?

The point is that, government has not been accountable in dealing with terrorism and allied crimes. Leaders of communities and groups where insurrections were groomed have also not taken responsibility. Security is local and local leaders are supposed to be first responders. But the unitary system of government makes it the business of the Federal Government to take on every crisis, no matter how remote. With little success except to exploit the political gains.

When Boko Haram started, the founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was reported to be an ally of the Borno State government. From year 2000, when it became fashionable in the North to propagate what they called full-blown sharia legal system, politicians recruited Islamic scholars to appeal to voters, in exchange for sharia. As the account was reported, the romance between the Boko Haram leadership and the state government went sour and the founder, Yusuf, was killed by the army that was drafted to quell their uprising on July 30, 2009.

Of course, Boko Haram insurgency was not the first violent sectarian uprising in the country. Maitatsine rioters troubled Northern Nigeria in the 1980s. Kano in 1980 and Jimeta, Yola in 1984, to which government responded swiftly. Some have tried to link the two sects, with a view to disown Mohammed Yusuf, exculpate government collaborators and attempt to minimise the sectarian content of the revolt.

What Ted Cruz and others have alleged is that Nigerian leaders are reluctant to prosecute terrorists and their sponsors. Even former President Jonathan confessed that Boko Haram sponsors were in his government, but he failed to name and prosecute them.

In 2015, a faction of Boko Haram became the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Under President Buhari, the group proliferated into different factions. When government refuses to punish terrorists, the tendency is for others to be emboldened and enabled to kill more people. We don’t need Ted Cruz to teach us that.

When members of ISWAP invaded the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, on June 5, 2022, the terrorists had a mission. Not to take the Holy Communion, but to kill over 40 innocent worshippers and to terrorise the Christian community. There was little indignation in government.

Today, five of the terrorists are being tried for the Owo killings. For committing a capital crime of waging war (treason) against the country and killing innocent citizens, the suspects had the temerity to ask for bail. They swagger into court, looking the camera straight in the eye. No remorse. Apparently, someone has assured them justice is a scarce commodity here.

In January, terrorists killed 40 farmers in Dumba community, near Baga, in Borno State. Their offence was that they (farmers) flouted the ban by terrorists on farming activities. If that is not gross failure of constituted authority, one wonders what it is.

In the Plateau, Southern Kaduna and Benue, killings are a routine pattern. Terrorists come in the wee hours at night to kill, burn and damage homes. The motive is to take over native lands. In North-west, political leaders have abandoned their communities for terrorist to administer.

When terrorists went to Chibok, what was the offence of the Christian schoolgirls? When they took Leah Sharibu among over a hundred others, government negotiated the release of her Muslim colleagues. Only Sharibu was left in captivity.

The colonialists knew they couldn’t leave Nigeria without a Constitution agreeable to the people on how to manage the diversities and live like civilised people. In the days of internecine wars, tribes defended themselves against the most ferocious invaders. They survived, especially in the Middle Best. Today, government has disarmed the natives but is unwilling to protect them against militias and terrorists with sophisticated weapons.

What else was Ted Cruz supposed to say? If we are not infuriated and horrified by the mindless spill of blood across the land, the blood of Muslims and Christians, let those who value life be angry. Lastly, President Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket is an enabler of religious intolerance. Let him reconsider it!