Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, has described United States President Donald Trump’s recent claim of genocide against Christians in Nigeria as reckless and false, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take urgent diplomatic steps to counter the narrative.
In a statement on Sunday, Jaafar said Trump’s allegation was not only misleading but consistent with his history of making unfounded claims.
“When President Trump came with a wild claim that USAID, an independent US agency that gives global humanitarian support, was sponsoring terrorism, we faulted his claim,” Jaafar recalled. “Trump was clearly giving the agency a bad name in order to hang it. However, those gullible enough to believe his gullibility supported his reckless claim.”
He noted that Trump’s latest statement accusing Nigeria of perpetrating genocide against Christians was “deeply concerning but not surprising.”
“But here’s Trump, unhinged more than ever, with a false claim of genocide against Christians in Nigeria,” he said. “If Trump did not spare the agency he once funded from accusation of funding terror, why not Nigeria?”
The journalist advised President Tinubu to “recalibrate his diplomatic approach” to prevent such narratives from taking root internationally.
“At the time Nigeria needs a high-level Christian official to counter the narrative, the president, the vice president and the foreign minister are all Muslims,” Jaafar said. “I suggest Festus Keyamo should swap positions with Yusuf Tuggar or Bianca Ojukwu be promoted to a full minister to particularly lobby the Westminster and the Capitol.”
Jaafar also faulted what he described as a diplomatic gap under the Tinubu administration, citing the continued delay in appointing Nigerian ambassadors nearly two years into his tenure.
“Another diplomatic chasm Tinubu left wide open is the delay in appointment of ambassadors. Two years through the Tinubu administration, Nigeria has yet to post ambassadors,” he added.