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THE WORDS OF THE KING OF MAR A LAGO BY CHIEF FEMI FANI-KAYODE

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AHMAD GUMI: CLERIC OF BLOOD, FACE OF HATE 

THE WORDS OF THE KING OF MAR A LAGO

 

“I think Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace. They are killing people by the thousands. It is a genocide and I am really angry about it. The Government has done nothing. They are very ineffective and they are killing Christians at will. We will come in guns ablazing and it will be short, vicious and sweet”- President Donald Trump, 21st November 2025.

 

 

 

Is it not strange that each time this ill-bred, ill-informed, racist and recalcitrant war-monger opens his foul mouth more attacks, killings and abductions take place in Nigeria?

 

Has it not occurred to anyone that he is actually fuelling the insurgency with his words and constant denigration of our people, our Armed Forces and our Government?

 

Is this not an attempt to create a clear justification for what they really wish to do to us: namely invade and bomb us to kingdom come and then divide our country.

This is the same way they demonised the Government of Sudan before unleashing the UAE-funded Janjaweed militia known as the RSF on them and creating carnage in Darfur.

This is what they did to Congo DRC too before releasing the Rwanda-funded M23 militia and the butchery started.

Is it not strange to you that the man that says he wants to deliver and protect Christians in Nigeria welcomed into the White House with open arms the greatest butcher of Christians on earth by the name of Ahmed Al Sharaa (AKA Julani) who is the newly-installed President of Syria, only the other day and even gave him and his wife a bottle of “sweet” perfume in the full glare of the media.

Apparently he loves the Christians of Nigeria but hates the Christians of Syria.

 

He also hates the Christians of Gaza and the Palestinian West Bank who have suffered immensly in the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Zionist State of Israel.

 

What an interesting paradox and contradiction this is and only a village idiot will be fooled by it.

Claiming that the King of Mar A Lago cares about Nigerian Christians is like claiming that the proverbial “big bad wolf” cares about Little Red Riding Hood or that Count Dracula cares about beautiful women. Believe such balderdash and poppycock at your own peril.

The Orange Man’s motivation for expressing concern about the plight of Christians at the hands of the terrorists in Nigeria is gain and not love and as for the plight of the Muslims he couldn’t care less.

 

The script is clear: stoke, provoke and fund chaos, discredit and weaken the sitting Government, incite the people, engender regime change and spark off a civil war which will enable you to pick up the spoils and plunder the nation dry.

Their evil eye is now on Nigeria. They say we have done nothing to stop the killing but they won’t tell you what they have done to stop supporting, enhancing and encouraging it for the last fifteen years?

They won’t tell you why they do not sell us the arms we need to fight the war or share the necessary intelligence with us.

They won’t tell you why they refused to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation until 2015.

They won’t tell you why they imposed an arms embargo on Nigeria.

They won’t tell you why they have refused to offer even the smallest assistance to our Armed Forces in this war over the last few years and up till now.

They won’t tell you why USAID was funding ISWAP and Boko Haram.

 

They won’t tell you that they covertly established and utilised Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al Shabab, Al Nusra, Ansaru, ISWAP and Lakurawa right from the outset whilst pretending to fight them.

They won’t tell you the carnage that they unleashed on Libya, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Congo, Sudan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Gaza, Yemen, Palestine, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Venezuela, Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and elsewhere either directly or through their local proxies and sponsored militias.

 

They won’t tell you why they have now focused on Nigeria and why they are attempting to do same to South Africa.

 

Nigeria’s case is even more pitiful and alarming and we are clearly being set up for the kill.

 

Every time we make progress economically those that do not wish us well from outside our shores undermine the efforts of our Government and they do so in collaboration with members of the opposition.

 

It happened when President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Umaru Yar’adua, President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari were in power and now it is happening under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

These dark and sinister forces which are led and supported by what the Holy Bible describes as “bloodthirsty and evil men” have no loyalty and offer no fidelity to any African nation or leader.

 

As a matter of fact they hate us with what the Holy Bible describes as “a perfect hatred”.

 

Consequently for the last 65 years Nigeria has been the victim and target of a vicious, well-planned, well-funded, well-orchestrated international conspiracy and the ugly events of the last fifteen years and particularly the last few weeks and months prove that.

 

During Obasanjo’s time when I was in Government the American State Department even went as far as to publicly and boastfully proclaim that by 2015 we would no longer be one nation.

 

That was their projection, hope and aspiration and they did everything in their power to achieve it but God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, kept us together and put them to shame.

 

Today as we attempt to cosy up to them despite their threats and insults my advice and counsel is that we guard our hearts jealously for we trust them at our own peril.

 

Men of blood and violence are incapable of honoring agreements and reciprocating friendship. And when they do they cannot sustain it.

 

In this respect the words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, are instructive.

 

A few days ago he said, “the war in Ukraine started because of U.S. interference and now they are imposing a 28-article plan on the country they themselves dragged into the war. The Americans BETRAY even their own friends. They support the Zionist criminal regime, are ready to ignite wars anywhere in the world for oil and underground resources and today this war has reached Latin America. Undoubtedly, such a state is unworthy of having a Government like the Islamic Republic seek ties and cooperation with it.”

 

Can anyone dispute the veracity of Khamenei’s words?

The truth is that the Americans are pathologically unreliable and unscrupulously treacherous.

 

What this means is that if, God forbid, things get out of hand in our country they may end up supporting the head of Boko Haram and ISWAP as our President. As far as they are concerned today’s terrorist is tomorrow’s leader. It really is that bad and if anyone doubts it they should find out what happened in Syria and Afghanistan!

 

Yet no leader has encapsulated the American disease better than President Gustavo Petro of Colombia when he said,

 

“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein’s list from coming out they send warships to kill fishermen and threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil. They want to turn the region into another Libya, full of slaves.”

 

This insightful and incisive contribution cannot be dismissed or ignored because it is rooted in truth.

 

To those that still trust the Americans despite all these observations I say “caveat emptor” which, for those who never had the privilege of learning or studying latin, means “buyer beware”.

 

For the record I am aware of the formation of the U.S./Nigeria Working Group which was established a few days ago.

 

I have implicit confidence in the National Security Advisor, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who leads it and it’s other members who, in my estimation, are loyal and distinguished patriots like my old friend and brother and our Foreign Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.

 

Despite the confidence I have in them I urge them, for all our sakes, to be cautious of those they are working and collaborating with from the American side.

 

As they say, when you dine with the devil it is wise to do so with a long fork and knife.

 

Again as the Roman poet Virgil wrote in his literary masterpiece thousands of years ago titled ‘The Aeniad’, “beware of the Greeks, especially when they bring gifts”.

 

The Trojans learnt that lesson the hard way: let us hope that we do not.

 

What makes it worse is that now that they are reviewing the ‘Green Cards’ of nationals of all the ‘Countries of Concern’ as a result of the tragic shooting of two National Guard officers (one of whom has died) by Afghan nationals near the White House, this makes the matter even more dicey and complicated.

 

The Americans are now literally foaming at the mouth and looking for who to blame for their many self-inflicted woes so we must be cautious.

 

The bitter truth is that every time we take ten steps forward they band together with their local co-conspirators and take us twenty steps back because their greatest nightmare is a strong, independent, united, flourishing Nigeria that brings pride and dignity to Africa and the black race.

 

Any Nigerian that takes pleasure in the security challenges we are facing in our country today is either a sadist, a masochist, insane or simply naive and unpatriotic. This is not about Tinubu but about our country.

 

The terrorists are being funded and supported by a dark, sinister and relentless foreign force that seeks to tear us apart, destroy us, humiliate us, rob us, occupy our land, steal our resources, pillage our rare earth minerals, erase our identity, distort our heritage, re-define our history and control the entire globe.

 

They are doing the same thing in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, South East Asia and much of the world.

 

Those that applaud that evil force and encourage it to enter our shores “guns-ablazing” and bomb us in the name of trying to help us fight the terrorists that they themselves are funding do not understand world politics and have no knowledge of modern history.

There is not one country that the Americans have entered with bullets, bombs and violence and left better than the way they found it.

 

Outside of that once we lose our sovereignty we will never get it back.

 

Once we rely on another country to fight our battles for us we are no longer a nation but a vassal state of cowardly slaves.

 

The solution to the problem is to support and encourage our Government and Armed Forces to face the challenge squarely and win this war.

 

Whatever it takes it is their obligation and duty to do this and with our support and understanding they surely will.

 

There is room for criticism and even anger but there is no room for disloyalty to the national cause or betrayal and collaboration with those that want to bring our country to her knees.

Things are tough and the enemy appears to be gaining ground but we must keep faith with God and have confidence that our President can and will turn things around.

This is a time to pray for Nigeria and to pray for our leaders and Armed Forces and not to gloat or cheer on those who mock, despise, undermine and insult us and seek to subvert their efforts.

 

This is a time to show those that have described us as being “a disgrace” that we are more than able to handle our own affairs and solve our problems despite their obvious malice and acts of sabotage.

This is a time to have faith in our country and our people and remember God’s promise and word that Nigeria shall be great again.

This is a time to line up behind our President and let him know that despite all that is happening we still have confidence in him and that he is not alone.

 

Thankfully there is light on the horizon. For example it is great news that the 24 female students that were abducted by terrorists from Government Girl’s Comprehensive Secondry School in Maga, Kebbi state have all been rescued.

 

Kudos to President Tinubu, our Armed Forces and our security agencies.

 

When we couple this with the fact that just a few days earlier every single one of the 33 worshippers that were abducted by terrorists from a Church in Eruku, Kwara state were also rescued and 50 of the 303 male and female students that were abducted from St. Mary’s school in Papiri, Niger State regained their freedom it rekindles our joy and gives cause for hope.

 

We still have a long way to go and our joy cannot be full until every single person that has been abducted is rescued and regains their freedom and until every terrorist has been killed but these efforts are promising and noteworthy and put a lie to the tactless assertion by Trump that we are a “disgraced country” which should be shamed, insulted, threatened and brought to her knees before the entire world.

 

Anyone that believes that a man like that who violates international law and all the norms of decency and civilisation by bombing and blowing small fishing boats out of the Atlantic ocean and murdering innocent, defenceless and faceless Venezuelan fishermen in cold blood on the grounds that they are supposedly carrying hard drugs into his country, is sane or capable of fighting for Christians in Nigeria is uninformed and unintelligent.

 

Again anyone that believes that if and when Trump starts dropping bombs on Northern Nigeria in the name of delivering Christians from terrorism and persecution that he will make a distinction between Christians and Muslims when those bombs start flying is a dullard.

 

A few days ago Professor Wole Soyinka, the literary giant and Nobel Laureate, described him as a “mad man”.

 

He went further by saying “Trump said he would come to Nigeria ‘guns ablazing’ and that it would be ‘fast, vicious and sweet'”.

He concluded by asking, “do these words sound like those of a sane person to you?”

 

On another occassion he referred to him as “a petty dictator” and “a white version of Idi Amin”.

Soyinka is absolutely right.

On his part Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, a respected former Minister of Foreign Affairs said,

 

“when the most powerful man in the world threatens you with his own troops the devil is at the door knocking. We don’t want that devil to come in.”

I concur.

 

To compound the point one of the few intelligent and rational American commentators left on earth, Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Colombia University, in his reaction to Trump not turning up to the G20 meeting in South Africa, said the following to a South African audience the day before the meeting started.

 

He said, “why isn’t Donald Trump coming tomorrow? Because he has a four year old mentality and he is having a tantrum”.

 

This is apt.

Imagine a man with a “four year old mentality” that is given to “tantrums” having control over the worlds largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and being the Commander in Chief of the most powerful army in human history.

Only God can save us from such a creature.

If anyone has any doubts about the accuracy of Sachs’ categorisation of Donald Trump’s infantile and fragile state of mind I urge them to consider the following words which he posted on his X handle on November 28th, after few days after the successful conclusion of the G20 meeting in South Africa, and which graphically reflects his vindictive, petty and puerile disposition. He wrote,

 

“The United States did not attend the G20 in South Africa, because the South African Government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific Human Right Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers. To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them. Perhaps, worst of all, the soon to be out of business New York Times and the Fake News Media won’t issue a word against this genocide. That’s why all the Liars and Pretenders of the Radical Left Media are going out of business! At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our U.S. Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony. Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year. South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

If this vile, disrespectful and nonsensical verbiage does not betray the mindset of a spoilt, ill-bred and delusional four year old brat whose toys have been taken away from him then I don’t know what will.

Jeffrey Sachs, together with men and women like Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Lt. Colonel Scott Ritter, Chris Hedges, Abby Martin and Candace Owens are amongst the few that have the courage to call out Trump and his MAGA movement and still speak truth in America today.

They are the saving grace and redeeming factor of the American intellectual space.

The rest are mostly Yankee cowboys and cowgirls with little or no intelligence that are only interested in extending the boundaries of American hegemony and that present a very real danger to the peace and stability of the civilised world.

 

Recent events in Gaza, Darfur, Congo, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Venezuela prove that.

 

When it comes to his threats against Nigeria we must consider the fact that such is the level of Trump’s utter depravity that he is quite capable of blowing up a whole town with ALL the people in it, both Christian and Muslim, in the name of targetting and killing terrorists and saving Nigeria’s Christians.

 

His agenda is not hidden. Trump is attempting to demonise and dehumanise us ALL so that he can come in and slaughter us without consequence.

 

That is what we are toying with when we urge him to come and have his wicked way with us.

 

 

In case anyone is in any doubt about this I urge them to consider his words, spoken on the 5th of November.

He said, “we don’t lose wars. Sometimes, we don’t fight to win. We’ll stay around a country for 15 years, just bomb the hell out of everybody, make everybody miserable. Nobody knows why we’re there. You know the wars that never end — that wasn’t me. That was the stupidity of the people before me”.

 

He says that wasn’t him and describes the people that were in power before him as “stupid” but frankly none of them has been as brutal and brazen as he has been when it comes to killing innocent people and deploying military force and economic coercion against not just his own people but also the rest of the world.

Even his countries’ traditional allies have not been spared of his insults, threats, mockery and blackmail.

 

Those that believe his “that wasn’t me” mantra do so at their own peril.

 

Those that are praying for Trump to come and “save us” in Nigeria remind me of the proverbial turkey that is praying for Christmas and the proverbial ram that is praying for Sallah.

 

In the end, after their prayers have been answered, they will be slaughtered and devoured on that day but due to their low intelligence quotient they don’t see it coming despite all the evidence.

 

There is a reason that Rev. (Dr.) Munther Isaac of the Orthodox Church, Bethlehem in the West Bank said, “we Palestinians prefer to die and be martyred than to have someone like Trump defending us”.

 

I urge every Nigerian Christian, especially the excitable ones that claim to love Trump, that see him as their saviour and that insist on calling themselves Biafrans, to ponder on this.

 

You do not invite satan in to solve your problems. You do not invoke a demon to provide a solution for your challenges.

 

It is better for us to solve our problems ourselves and fight our own battles as Christians than to rely on Trump and the Americans to come and fight them for us.

 

A word is enough for the wise.

 

Before ending this contribution permit me to address the fundamental issues.

 

The question is whether we really do have a Christian genocide problem in Nigeria and the answer is ‘yes, we do’.

 

Again the question is whether we have a Muslim genocide problem in Nigeria and again the answer is ‘yes we do!’

 

Both Christians and Muslims are the victims of the terrorists and anyone that says otherwise is a pernicious and specious liar.

 

Any assertion that seeks to deny this incontrovertible fact is nothing but perfidy and deceit.

 

The final question is what can we do to solve these problems and the answer is as follows.

 

Firstly, we must resolve to kill every single terrorist and make it a criminal offence punishable by death to assist, collaborate, encourage, support, negotiate or pay ransoms to them.

 

Secondly we must resist every attempt by the Americans or any other group of foreigners and their local collaborators to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims in our country.

 

Thirdly we must get the Federal Government to provide the necessary security, do their job properly, keep them on their toes and hold them to account.

 

Fourthly we must inspire, motivate, encourage and equip our soldiers and security agencies and give them all the weaponry, resources and support that they need to do the job.

 

Fifthly we must urge our President to reach Lt. Colonel Eebyn Barlow, the highly acclaimed, celebrated, experienced and respected retired South African Special Forces officer that scored great successes against Boko Haram when President Goodluck Jonathan brought him and his company, Executive Outcomes, into our country in 2014 to assist and support our Armed Forces.

 

And finally we must get President Tinubu to reach out to President Vladimer Putin, enter a defence pact with the Russian Federation and urge the Russians to assist our Armed Forces in our fight against the terrorists.

 

We must also build greater, deeper and stronger economic ties with China and consolidate our friendship and diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the European Union.

 

What we must NOT do is trust the Americans or rely on them for ANYTHING.

 

We cannot trust a nation whose President has publicly referred to ours as “a shithole” and “a disgrace”, who has contempt for us, who constantly threatens us and says he will withdraw all the aid they have been giving us and who has a clear and distinct psychopathic disposition.

 

This seems to me to be basic logic.

 

Let us hope that someone is listening.

 

 

Permit me to end this contribution with the words of Trump himself which will give even his greatest and most ardent supporters in Nigeria and indeed throughout Africa and the Global South pause for thought and an insight into just how dark and sinister the inner recesses of his complex mind really are.

 

In a long post on his X page on Thanksgiving Day he wrote, inter alia,

 

“even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for: you won’t be here for long!”

 

After reading this if you still believe that Donald Trump is our friend I wish you luck!

THE WORDS OF THE KING OF MAR A LAGO

 

“I think Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace. They are killing people by the thousands. It is a genocide and I am really angry about it. The Government has done nothing. They are very ineffective and they are killing Christians at will. We will come in guns ablazing and it will be short, vicious and sweet”- President Donald Trump, 21st November 2025.

 

 

 

Is it not strange that each time this ill-bred, ill-informed, racist and recalcitrant war-monger opens his foul mouth more attacks, killings and abductions take place in Nigeria?

 

Has it not occurred to anyone that he is actually fuelling the insurgency with his words and constant denigration of our people, our Armed Forces and our Government?

 

Is this not an attempt to create a clear justification for what they really wish to do to us: namely invade and bomb us to kingdom come and then divide our country.

This is the same way they demonised the Government of Sudan before unleashing the UAE-funded Janjaweed militia known as the RSF on them and creating carnage in Darfur.

This is what they did to Congo DRC too before releasing the Rwanda-funded M23 militia and the butchery started.

Is it not strange to you that the man that says he wants to deliver and protect Christians in Nigeria welcomed into the White House with open arms the greatest butcher of Christians on earth by the name of Ahmed Al Sharaa (AKA Julani) who is the newly-installed President of Syria, only the other day and even gave him and his wife a bottle of “sweet” perfume in the full glare of the media.

Apparently he loves the Christians of Nigeria but hates the Christians of Syria.

 

He also hates the Christians of Gaza and the Palestinian West Bank who have suffered immensly in the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Zionist State of Israel.

 

What an interesting paradox and contradiction this is and only a village idiot will be fooled by it.

Claiming that the King of Mar A Lago cares about Nigerian Christians is like claiming that the proverbial “big bad wolf” cares about Little Red Riding Hood or that Count Dracula cares about beautiful women. Believe such balderdash and poppycock at your own peril.

The Orange Man’s motivation for expressing concern about the plight of Christians at the hands of the terrorists in Nigeria is gain and not love and as for the plight of the Muslims he couldn’t care less.

 

The script is clear: stoke, provoke and fund chaos, discredit and weaken the sitting Government, incite the people, engender regime change and spark off a civil war which will enable you to pick up the spoils and plunder the nation dry.

Their evil eye is now on Nigeria. They say we have done nothing to stop the killing but they won’t tell you what they have done to stop supporting, enhancing and encouraging it for the last fifteen years?

They won’t tell you why they do not sell us the arms we need to fight the war or share the necessary intelligence with us.

They won’t tell you why they refused to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation until 2015.

They won’t tell you why they imposed an arms embargo on Nigeria.

They won’t tell you why they have refused to offer even the smallest assistance to our Armed Forces in this war over the last few years and up till now.

They won’t tell you why USAID was funding ISWAP and Boko Haram.

 

They won’t tell you that they covertly established and utilised Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al Shabab, Al Nusra, Ansaru, ISWAP and Lakurawa right from the outset whilst pretending to fight them.

They won’t tell you the carnage that they unleashed on Libya, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Congo, Sudan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Gaza, Yemen, Palestine, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Venezuela, Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and elsewhere either directly or through their local proxies and sponsored militias.

 

They won’t tell you why they have now focused on Nigeria and why they are attempting to do same to South Africa.

 

Nigeria’s case is even more pitiful and alarming and we are clearly being set up for the kill.

 

Every time we make progress economically those that do not wish us well from outside our shores undermine the efforts of our Government and they do so in collaboration with members of the opposition.

 

It happened when President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Umaru Yar’adua, President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari were in power and now it is happening under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

These dark and sinister forces which are led and supported by what the Holy Bible describes as “bloodthirsty and evil men” have no loyalty and offer no fidelity to any African nation or leader.

 

As a matter of fact they hate us with what the Holy Bible describes as “a perfect hatred”.

 

Consequently for the last 65 years Nigeria has been the victim and target of a vicious, well-planned, well-funded, well-orchestrated international conspiracy and the ugly events of the last fifteen years and particularly the last few weeks and months prove that.

 

During Obasanjo’s time when I was in Government the American State Department even went as far as to publicly and boastfully proclaim that by 2015 we would no longer be one nation.

 

That was their projection, hope and aspiration and they did everything in their power to achieve it but God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, kept us together and put them to shame.

 

Today as we attempt to cosy up to them despite their threats and insults my advice and counsel is that we guard our hearts jealously for we trust them at our own peril.

 

Men of blood and violence are incapable of honoring agreements and reciprocating friendship. And when they do they cannot sustain it.

 

In this respect the words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, are instructive.

 

A few days ago he said, “the war in Ukraine started because of U.S. interference and now they are imposing a 28-article plan on the country they themselves dragged into the war. The Americans BETRAY even their own friends. They support the Zionist criminal regime, are ready to ignite wars anywhere in the world for oil and underground resources and today this war has reached Latin America. Undoubtedly, such a state is unworthy of having a Government like the Islamic Republic seek ties and cooperation with it.”

 

Can anyone dispute the veracity of Khamenei’s words?

The truth is that the Americans are pathologically unreliable and unscrupulously treacherous.

 

What this means is that if, God forbid, things get out of hand in our country they may end up supporting the head of Boko Haram and ISWAP as our President. As far as they are concerned today’s terrorist is tomorrow’s leader. It really is that bad and if anyone doubts it they should find out what happened in Syria and Afghanistan!

 

Yet no leader has encapsulated the American disease better than President Gustavo Petro of Colombia when he said,

 

“A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein’s list from coming out they send warships to kill fishermen and threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil. They want to turn the region into another Libya, full of slaves.”

 

This insightful and incisive contribution cannot be dismissed or ignored because it is rooted in truth.

 

To those that still trust the Americans despite all these observations I say “caveat emptor” which, for those who never had the privilege of learning or studying latin, means “buyer beware”.

 

For the record I am aware of the formation of the U.S./Nigeria Working Group which was established a few days ago.

 

I have implicit confidence in the National Security Advisor, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who leads it and it’s other members who, in my estimation, are loyal and distinguished patriots like my old friend and brother and our Foreign Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.

 

Despite the confidence I have in them I urge them, for all our sakes, to be cautious of those they are working and collaborating with from the American side.

 

As they say, when you dine with the devil it is wise to do so with a long fork and knife.

 

Again as the Roman poet Virgil wrote in his literary masterpiece thousands of years ago titled ‘The Aeniad’, “beware of the Greeks, especially when they bring gifts”.

 

The Trojans learnt that lesson the hard way: let us hope that we do not.

 

What makes it worse is that now that they are reviewing the ‘Green Cards’ of nationals of all the ‘Countries of Concern’ as a result of the tragic shooting of two National Guard officers (one of whom has died) by Afghan nationals near the White House, this makes the matter even more dicey and complicated.

 

The Americans are now literally foaming at the mouth and looking for who to blame for their many self-inflicted woes so we must be cautious.

 

The bitter truth is that every time we take ten steps forward they band together with their local co-conspirators and take us twenty steps back because their greatest nightmare is a strong, independent, united, flourishing Nigeria that brings pride and dignity to Africa and the black race.

 

Any Nigerian that takes pleasure in the security challenges we are facing in our country today is either a sadist, a masochist, insane or simply naive and unpatriotic. This is not about Tinubu but about our country.

 

The terrorists are being funded and supported by a dark, sinister and relentless foreign force that seeks to tear us apart, destroy us, humiliate us, rob us, occupy our land, steal our resources, pillage our rare earth minerals, erase our identity, distort our heritage, re-define our history and control the entire globe.

 

They are doing the same thing in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, South East Asia and much of the world.

 

Those that applaud that evil force and encourage it to enter our shores “guns-ablazing” and bomb us in the name of trying to help us fight the terrorists that they themselves are funding do not understand world politics and have no knowledge of modern history.

There is not one country that the Americans have entered with bullets, bombs and violence and left better than the way they found it.

 

Outside of that once we lose our sovereignty we will never get it back.

 

Once we rely on another country to fight our battles for us we are no longer a nation but a vassal state of cowardly slaves.

 

The solution to the problem is to support and encourage our Government and Armed Forces to face the challenge squarely and win this war.

 

Whatever it takes it is their obligation and duty to do this and with our support and understanding they surely will.

 

There is room for criticism and even anger but there is no room for disloyalty to the national cause or betrayal and collaboration with those that want to bring our country to her knees.

Things are tough and the enemy appears to be gaining ground but we must keep faith with God and have confidence that our President can and will turn things around.

This is a time to pray for Nigeria and to pray for our leaders and Armed Forces and not to gloat or cheer on those who mock, despise, undermine and insult us and seek to subvert their efforts.

 

This is a time to show those that have described us as being “a disgrace” that we are more than able to handle our own affairs and solve our problems despite their obvious malice and acts of sabotage.

This is a time to have faith in our country and our people and remember God’s promise and word that Nigeria shall be great again.

This is a time to line up behind our President and let him know that despite all that is happening we still have confidence in him and that he is not alone.

 

Thankfully there is light on the horizon. For example it is great news that the 24 female students that were abducted by terrorists from Government Girl’s Comprehensive Secondry School in Maga, Kebbi state have all been rescued.

 

Kudos to President Tinubu, our Armed Forces and our security agencies.

 

When we couple this with the fact that just a few days earlier every single one of the 33 worshippers that were abducted by terrorists from a Church in Eruku, Kwara state were also rescued and 50 of the 303 male and female students that were abducted from St. Mary’s school in Papiri, Niger State regained their freedom it rekindles our joy and gives cause for hope.

 

We still have a long way to go and our joy cannot be full until every single person that has been abducted is rescued and regains their freedom and until every terrorist has been killed but these efforts are promising and noteworthy and put a lie to the tactless assertion by Trump that we are a “disgraced country” which should be shamed, insulted, threatened and brought to her knees before the entire world.

 

Anyone that believes that a man like that who violates international law and all the norms of decency and civilisation by bombing and blowing small fishing boats out of the Atlantic ocean and murdering innocent, defenceless and faceless Venezuelan fishermen in cold blood on the grounds that they are supposedly carrying hard drugs into his country, is sane or capable of fighting for Christians in Nigeria is uninformed and unintelligent.

 

Again anyone that believes that if and when Trump starts dropping bombs on Northern Nigeria in the name of delivering Christians from terrorism and persecution that he will make a distinction between Christians and Muslims when those bombs start flying is a dullard.

 

A few days ago Professor Wole Soyinka, the literary giant and Nobel Laureate, described him as a “mad man”.

 

He went further by saying “Trump said he would come to Nigeria ‘guns ablazing’ and that it would be ‘fast, vicious and sweet'”.

He concluded by asking, “do these words sound like those of a sane person to you?”

 

On another occassion he referred to him as “a petty dictator” and “a white version of Idi Amin”.

Soyinka is absolutely right.

On his part Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, a respected former Minister of Foreign Affairs said,

 

“when the most powerful man in the world threatens you with his own troops the devil is at the door knocking. We don’t want that devil to come in.”

I concur.

 

To compound the point one of the few intelligent and rational American commentators left on earth, Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Colombia University, in his reaction to Trump not turning up to the G20 meeting in South Africa, said the following to a South African audience the day before the meeting started.

 

He said, “why isn’t Donald Trump coming tomorrow? Because he has a four year old mentality and he is having a tantrum”.

 

This is apt.

Imagine a man with a “four year old mentality” that is given to “tantrums” having control over the worlds largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and being the Commander in Chief of the most powerful army in human history.

Only God can save us from such a creature.

If anyone has any doubts about the accuracy of Sachs’ categorisation of Donald Trump’s infantile and fragile state of mind I urge them to consider the following words which he posted on his X handle on November 28th, after few days after the successful conclusion of the G20 meeting in South Africa, and which graphically reflects his vindictive, petty and puerile disposition. He wrote,

 

“The United States did not attend the G20 in South Africa, because the South African Government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific Human Right Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers. To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them. Perhaps, worst of all, the soon to be out of business New York Times and the Fake News Media won’t issue a word against this genocide. That’s why all the Liars and Pretenders of the Radical Left Media are going out of business! At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our U.S. Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony. Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year. South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

If this vile, disrespectful and nonsensical verbiage does not betray the mindset of a spoilt, ill-bred and delusional four year old brat whose toys have been taken away from him then I don’t know what will.

Jeffrey Sachs, together with men and women like Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Lt. Colonel Scott Ritter, Chris Hedges, Abby Martin and Candace Owens are amongst the few that have the courage to call out Trump and his MAGA movement and still speak truth in America today.

They are the saving grace and redeeming factor of the American intellectual space.

The rest are mostly Yankee cowboys and cowgirls with little or no intelligence that are only interested in extending the boundaries of American hegemony and that present a very real danger to the peace and stability of the civilised world.

 

Recent events in Gaza, Darfur, Congo, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Venezuela prove that.

 

When it comes to his threats against Nigeria we must consider the fact that such is the level of Trump’s utter depravity that he is quite capable of blowing up a whole town with ALL the people in it, both Christian and Muslim, in the name of targetting and killing terrorists and saving Nigeria’s Christians.

 

His agenda is not hidden. Trump is attempting to demonise and dehumanise us ALL so that he can come in and slaughter us without consequence.

 

That is what we are toying with when we urge him to come and have his wicked way with us.

 

 

In case anyone is in any doubt about this I urge them to consider his words, spoken on the 5th of November.

He said, “we don’t lose wars. Sometimes, we don’t fight to win. We’ll stay around a country for 15 years, just bomb the hell out of everybody, make everybody miserable. Nobody knows why we’re there. You know the wars that never end — that wasn’t me. That was the stupidity of the people before me”.

 

He says that wasn’t him and describes the people that were in power before him as “stupid” but frankly none of them has been as brutal and brazen as he has been when it comes to killing innocent people and deploying military force and economic coercion against not just his own people but also the rest of the world.

Even his countries’ traditional allies have not been spared of his insults, threats, mockery and blackmail.

 

Those that believe his “that wasn’t me” mantra do so at their own peril.

 

Those that are praying for Trump to come and “save us” in Nigeria remind me of the proverbial turkey that is praying for Christmas and the proverbial ram that is praying for Sallah.

 

In the end, after their prayers have been answered, they will be slaughtered and devoured on that day but due to their low intelligence quotient they don’t see it coming despite all the evidence.

 

There is a reason that Rev. (Dr.) Munther Isaac of the Orthodox Church, Bethlehem in the West Bank said, “we Palestinians prefer to die and be martyred than to have someone like Trump defending us”.

 

I urge every Nigerian Christian, especially the excitable ones that claim to love Trump, that see him as their saviour and that insist on calling themselves Biafrans, to ponder on this.

 

You do not invite satan in to solve your problems. You do not invoke a demon to provide a solution for your challenges.

 

It is better for us to solve our problems ourselves and fight our own battles as Christians than to rely on Trump and the Americans to come and fight them for us.

 

A word is enough for the wise.

 

Before ending this contribution permit me to address the fundamental issues.

 

The question is whether we really do have a Christian genocide problem in Nigeria and the answer is ‘yes, we do’.

 

Again the question is whether we have a Muslim genocide problem in Nigeria and again the answer is ‘yes we do!’

 

Both Christians and Muslims are the victims of the terrorists and anyone that says otherwise is a pernicious and specious liar.

 

Any assertion that seeks to deny this incontrovertible fact is nothing but perfidy and deceit.

 

The final question is what can we do to solve these problems and the answer is as follows.

 

Firstly, we must resolve to kill every single terrorist and make it a criminal offence punishable by death to assist, collaborate, encourage, support, negotiate or pay ransoms to them.

 

Secondly we must resist every attempt by the Americans or any other group of foreigners and their local collaborators to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims in our country.

 

Thirdly we must get the Federal Government to provide the necessary security, do their job properly, keep them on their toes and hold them to account.

 

Fourthly we must inspire, motivate, encourage and equip our soldiers and security agencies and give them all the weaponry, resources and support that they need to do the job.

 

Fifthly we must urge our President to reach Lt. Colonel Eebyn Barlow, the highly acclaimed, celebrated, experienced and respected retired South African Special Forces officer that scored great successes against Boko Haram when President Goodluck Jonathan brought him and his company, Executive Outcomes, into our country in 2014 to assist and support our Armed Forces.

 

And finally we must get President Tinubu to reach out to President Vladimer Putin, enter a defence pact with the Russian Federation and urge the Russians to assist our Armed Forces in our fight against the terrorists.

 

We must also build greater, deeper and stronger economic ties with China and consolidate our friendship and diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the European Union.

 

What we must NOT do is trust the Americans or rely on them for ANYTHING.

 

We cannot trust a nation whose President has publicly referred to ours as “a shithole” and “a disgrace”, who has contempt for us, who constantly threatens us and says he will withdraw all the aid they have been giving us and who has a clear and distinct psychopathic disposition.

 

This seems to me to be basic logic.

 

Let us hope that someone is listening.

 

 

Permit me to end this contribution with the words of Trump himself which will give even his greatest and most ardent supporters in Nigeria and indeed throughout Africa and the Global South pause for thought and an insight into just how dark and sinister the inner recesses of his complex mind really are.

 

In a long post on his X page on Thanksgiving Day he wrote, inter alia,

 

“even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for: you won’t be here for long!”

 

After reading this if you still believe that Donald Trump is our friend I wish you luck!

 

May the Lord defend and protect the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

 

(Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, a former Minister of Aviation, the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, the Otunba of Joga Orile, the Aare Ajagunla of Otun Ekiti and a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo)

May the Lord defend and protect the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

 

(Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, a former Minister of Aviation, the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, the Otunba of Joga Orile, the Aare Ajagunla of Otun Ekiti and a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo)

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A Nation Held Hostage: The Shameful Politics of Calling Terrorists ‘Our Brothers

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When Nigeria’s Leaders Call Terrorists “Peacemakers”: The Dangerous Normalisation of Banditry

By FEMI OYEWALE

In a country bleeding from years of insurgency, mass abductions, jihadist expansion, and rural terror, one would expect political leaders to speak with clarity, courage, and conviction. But in today’s Nigeria, many officeholders have chosen a dangerous path: romanticising terrorists, legitimising bandits, and publicly describing armed killers as “our brothers,” “misunderstood youths,” or even “commanders of peace.”
This is not just reckless rhetoric — it is a national tragedy unfolding in real time.
FROM BANDITS TO ‘STAKEHOLDERS’: THE NEW POLITICAL LANGUAGE OF APPEASEMENT
Over the past five years, Nigerians have witnessed a disturbing linguistic and political shift. Terms that should be unequivocal — terrorists, jihadists, criminal gangs, bandit militias — are quietly being replaced with softer, sanitised labels in official statements.
Suddenly, men who burn villages, abduct schoolchildren, rape women, ambush soldiers, and extort helpless communities are being presented as:
Repentant fighters
Peace ambassadors
Community partners
Aggrieved citizens
Negotiators
Commanders of peace
This rebranding is not accidental. It is politically convenient, financially motivated, and rooted in a mixture of fear, corruption, and shortsighted calculations.
THE COST OF NORMALISING VIOLENCE
Security experts warn that elevating militants to the status of “partners” has three devastating consequences:
1. Terrorists Gain Political Legitimacy
Armed groups suddenly become power brokers — issuing conditions, attending negotiations, and influencing local governance.
Crimes against humanity evaporate with a handshake and a press conference.
2. Citizens Lose Trust in the State
Families who lost loved ones to bandits watch in disbelief as politicians pose for photos with the same men who destroyed their communities.
This deepens resentment, erodes confidence, and fractures national unity.
3. Violence Becomes Profitable
Once bandits realise that killing, kidnapping, and terrorising civilians earn them government attention — and in some cases, financial incentives — they escalate attacks to strengthen their bargaining position.
THE POLITICIANS WHO COURT BANDITS
From northern lawmakers openly advocating amnesty for bandits, to state governors hosting “peace talks” with armed killers in luxury hotels, the message is unmistakable:
Crime pays.
Violence pays more.
Terrorism pays best.
For some political actors, bandits serve useful purposes:
Useful for controlling restive communities
Useful for influencing elections
Useful as bargaining chips with federal authorities
Useful for sustaining patronage networks that flourish in chaos
And so, the cycle is sustained — deliberately or otherwise.
THE HYPOCRISY: NIGERIA PAMPERS TERRORISTS BUT PUNISHES PROTESTERS
The double standard is glaring.
While bandits are called “brothers”, young Nigerians protesting peacefully for police reform are branded “troublemakers,” “instigators,” or “security threats.”
While terrorists who kill soldiers receive cash, accommodation, and reintegration packages, unemployed graduates who join peaceful demonstrations face arrests, court charges, or brutal crackdowns.
This contradiction exposes the moral erosion at the heart of governance.
A NATION REBRANDING ITS OWN ENEMIES
Nigeria remains one of the few nations where:
Terrorists are defended by politicians
Bandits receive state escorts
Jihadists attend negotiation tables
Militants are prioritised over their victims
Leaders publicly introduce criminals as “partners in peace”
It is a bleak reflection of a nation losing its moral compass — and its ability to clearly distinguish right from wrong.
THE REAL TRUTH: THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE
Experts agree: appeasement does not stop terrorism — it strengthens it.
Countries that successfully defeated insurgencies did not do so by massaging the egos of killers. They relied on:
Strong political will
Professional, intelligence-driven operations
Community-based security networks
Economic development initiatives
Zero tolerance for armed groups
Until Nigeria returns to these principles, the crisis will continue to deepen.
NIGERIA MUST STOP HONOURING THOSE WHO DESTROY IT
Every time a leader calls a bandit a “commander of peace,” Nigeria loses a piece of its soul.
Every time a terrorist is rewarded instead of prosecuted, the nation’s moral foundation collapses further.
The truth is simple — and painful:
No country has ever achieved peace by flattering its executioners.
Nigeria must choose:
Stand with its citizens, or stand with their tormentors.
The nation’s future depends on this choice.


A Nation Held Hostage: The Shameful Politics of Calling Terrorists ‘Our Brothers
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THE PRICE OF FREEDOM: When Governments Talk to Bandits — The Confusing, Dangerous Rescue of 38 Worshippers in Kwara

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THE PRICE OF FREEDOM: When Governments Talk to Bandits — The Confusing, Dangerous Rescue of 38 Worshippers in Kwara.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

“DSS and the military say they “CONTACTED” kidnappers and secured the release — critics ask whether the state paid a hidden ransom and whether any deal will deepen Nigeria’s kidnapping economy.”

 

On November 18, 2025, gunmen stormed the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, killing two congregants and abducting 38 worshippers. The kidnappers immediately slapped an extraordinary demand (₦100 million per captive) a sum that made headlines and sickened relatives. The nation watched in horror as the familiar script of mass abduction and ransom negotiation ran again across our airwaves.

By November 24 the worshippers were free. But the sequence that led to their release has produced more questions than comfort. The Presidency’s information aide, Bayo Onanuga, told reporters that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military had “CONTACTED the BANDITS” and, through real-time tracking and pressure, secured the release without paying ransom. “THEY REACHED OUT TO THE KIDNAPPERS AND DEMANDED THE RELEASE OF THE VICTIMS AND THE BANDITS COMPLIED,” Mr. Onanuga said. The Presidency insisted no ransom was paid.

 

That official narrative (CONTACT, MONITORING, PRESSURE, RELEASE) sounds tidy. It is also deeply unsettling. For decades families, communities and sometimes local governments have paid to get loved ones back. Analysts and international observers have documented millions of dollars exchanged in secret transactions between captors and the captive’s handlers; such payments become part of the criminal ecosystem, emboldening more abductions. “The motivation of these groups appears purely economic,” SBM Intelligence’s head of research once told Sahara when discussing the KIDNAP-FOR-RANSOM boom. History shows payments (whether explicit or concealed) can have perverse consequences.

So which is it in Eruku? The Presidency’s line is that security agencies negotiated and that the bandits, confronted by surveillance and the prospect of force, “COMPLIED.” Critics ask whether the state’s words conceal a quieter transaction: a back-channel transfer of funds, local payments by community leaders, or a tacit bargain that leaves the bandits enriched and empowered. Nigerian reporting after the releases has been mixed: some outlets relay Onanuga’s position that no ransom was paid, while others note continued local reports of community-level payments or murky negotiations.

 

There are three hard, non-negotiable truths we must hold in mind.

First: in a country where kidnapping for ransom has metastasized into a criminal economy, any release that lacks transparent forensic explanation will breed suspicion. Between 2011 and 2020, some firms estimated that tens of millions were paid to kidnappers across Nigeria (largely by families and intermediaries) a fact that demonstrates both the scale and the secretive cash flows sustaining the crime. When governments insist “NO RANSOM WAS PAID” without opening records or allowing independent verification, cynicism grows.

 

Second: the ethical and strategic dilemma is real. Security experts, criminologists and ethicists describe an agonizing choice: refuse to negotiate and risk lives, or negotiate/pay and save people now while encouraging more abductions later. A growing body of research argues that ransom payments produce a perverse feedback loop: immediate human relief at the cost of long-term national insecurity. “Paying the ransom may save a life immediately, but it causes more harm in the long run by encouraging further kidnappings,” a recent ethical review summarized. Policymakers must reckon honestly with that calculus.

Third: secrecy is the enemy of accountability. If security agencies can secure releases by non-lethal means (surveillance, pressure, targeted operations) the public should be presented with credible, verifiable steps explaining how danger was neutralized and how captors were prevented from using the same methods again. If, instead, releases depend on opaque deals or payments through intermediaries, then the state is, in effect, subsidizing criminality with impunity.

 

Voices from the field amplify these concerns. Ikemesit Effiong of SBM Intelligence described the kidnap economy as mostly financially motivated, fed by poverty and the breakdown of social controls; each successful payout is a business case for the next abduction. Academics who study the phenomenon have similarly warned that ransom markets create perverse incentives and institutional corruption that erode state capacity. In other words: when the state or its proxies pay to free today’s victims, it often pays tomorrow, through renewed crime and weakened trust.

 

This is not an argument for cold-hearted refusal to save lives. It is a demand for honesty and strategy. If the DSS and the military really relied on real-time tracking, coordinated intelligence and pressure to force a surrender without money changing hands, the Presidency should publicize a clear after-action account: what assets were used, what intelligence nodes tracked the gang, whether arrests were made, and what follow-up operations will prevent recurrence. That would be a template for accountability and learning.

 

If, on the other hand, a payment (direct or indirect) secured the release, Nigerians deserve to know that too. Concealing payments achieves two dangerous ends: it normalizes secret deals between the state and criminals, and it institutionalizes a shadow market where bandits calculate the expected payout for every attack. Either outcome corrodes the rule of law.

 

There are practical reforms the federal government must pursue, simultaneously and without further delay. First: transparency and publish factual, declassified after-action reports of rescue operations that explain who did what, and how outcomes were achieved. Second: a national policy on ransom negotiations, designed with input from security services, legal scholars, community leaders and international partners, that specifies when and how officials may engage with captors and under what safeguards. Third: invest aggressively in community resilience such as rural patrols, credible policing, emergency funds for forensic investigations, while prosecuting collaborators and vigilantes who profit from abduction markets. Fourth: strengthen prosecutions and asset-forfeiture regimes that clamp down on the financial networks banking ransom payments. Evidence-based suppression of the economics of crime is as crucial as boots on the ground.

 

Finally, we must have a public conversation about responsibility. Families and communities pay because they lack confidence in their state. Governments that want to break kidnapping’s business model must first restore trust: by showing that the state can protect citizens, secure rescues lawfully, and deny bandits the currency they crave. Anything less is appeasement dressed as rescue.

 

The Eruku case should be a moment of clarity for Nigeria. If the DSS and military achieved a no-cash rescue through skillful intelligence and pressure, the agencies should make that model public and replicable. If they relied on payments (however camouflaged) the country must confront the cost of that choice and act to end the market those payments prop up. Either way, secrecy benefits only the criminals and deprives Nigerians of the truth.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM: When Governments Talk to Bandits — The Confusing, Dangerous Rescue of 38 Worshippers in Kwara.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

The 38 worshippers are home and for that we give thanks; but GRATITUDE must not silence ACCOUNTABILITY. The state’s job is not only to recover victims; it is to ensure the recovery does not fuel the next crime. Until the full facts of the Eruku release are laid on the table and scrutinized, the “MIRACLE” of a mass release will always carry the sour aftertaste of suspicion; and Nigeria will remain trapped in a vicious cycle where rescue equals reward and reward equals repeat.

 

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM: When Governments Talk to Bandits — The Confusing, Dangerous Rescue of 38 Worshippers in Kwara.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

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OfadaBoy, PocketMoni, LASG, others to Power 7th Edition of Ofada Rice Day Festival

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OfadaBoy, PocketMoni, LASG, others to Power 7th Edition of Ofada Rice Day Festival

 

OfadaBoy, PocketMoni, LASG is set to power the 7th edition of Nigeria’s largest indigenous food festival dedicated to celebrating Nigerian heritage and promoting nutritious, locally grown cuisine. The event themed Eko Dun Joor is scheduled to be held on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, Lagos.

This year’s theme is to Celebrate Innovation, Identity and Nigeria’s Culinary Future,” reflects the festival’s mission to champion homegrown foods, deepen cultural pride, and reinforce the importance of healthy, locally sourced meals.

Eko Dun Joor is swiped around Lagos’ essence and rich culture, which is in alignment with the core focus of Ofada Rice Day Festival.

The festival, sponsored by PocketMoni, Goldberg, Maltina, Fatgbems Group, Action Bitters is convened by Tobi Fletcher, Creative Director of OfadaBoy and President of the Association of Professional Food Service Providers of Nigeria (APFSPN), in partnership with his wife and co-partner, Oyinda Fletcher.

Speaking during a press briefing, Fletcher assured that the 2025 edition would be an unforgettable celebration of food, culture, and innovation.

“I speak today as the Convener of the Ofada Rice Day Festival, Creative Director of OfadaBoy, and President of APFSPN; standing proudly with my wife and Co-Partner, Oyinda, and our dedicated team who have worked tirelessly to make this year’s festival possible.

“Our theme is not just a concept; it is a reflection of my personal journey, my heritage, and our collective mission,” he said.

He revealed that the festival will feature performances by iconic Fuji star, Obesere, rap sensation, Reminisce, and high-energy bandleader Segun Johnson.

Fletcher stated that his connection to Ofada rice goes beyond business, tracing his roots to a line of first-generation rice farmers.

“My great-grandfather was the first Ofada rice farmer. It is a legacy built on sacrifice, innovation, and tradition. This work is a continuation of that story; a responsibility I carry with pride,” he said.

With nearly two decades of experience in the hospitality and food service space, Fletcher said he has witnessed the evolution of Nigerian cuisine; from challenges to breakthroughs; and believes strongly in the future of local foods.

“Ofada has risen from a small village staple to a national treasure and an emerging global culinary identity,” he noted. “Its rise represents the rise of Nigerian farmers, homegrown food businesses, cultural pride, and innovation in our food system,” he said.

Fletcher emphasised that Ofada rice is now more than just a meal; it is a cultural and economic movement entering a new era of modernization and global relevance.

This year’s festival will spotlight innovation through: new Ofada-based products, creative culinary presentations, sustainable farming solutions, young entrepreneurs redefining food culture and technologies enhancing processing, packaging, and distribution

At its heart, he said, the Ofada Rice Day Festival remains committed to empowering local food sellers, market women, small-scale vendors, cooks, and emerging food entrepreneurs.

The 2025 edition will also feature: cultural and artistic showcases, innovation hubs, farmer and producer conversations, food exhibitions and tastings, culinary competitions, and panel discussions with industry experts.

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food System, Mrs. Abisola Olusanya lauded the organisers and reaffirmed the state government’s support.

She reiterated that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration will continue to prioritise increased food production and improved food systems across the state.

Also speaking, Ifeanyi Chukwuekem, Head of Corporate Strategy for PocketMoni; the festival’s headline sponsor; expressed pride in partnering with OfadaBoy.

“It is important to align with a strong indigenous brand like OfadaBoy. We also want Nigerians to better understand what PocketMoni represents.

“We are the only fintech listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which speaks to our roots. At the festival, we will host an experience centre to further engage guests,” he said.

 

OfadaBoy, PocketMoni, LASG, others to Power 7th Edition of Ofada Rice Day Festival

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