Nigeria’s Silent Conquest: The Fulani Invasion That Outsmarted the State.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

“Why America may not need to INVADE; because Nigeria has already been CONQUERED from within.”

For years, Nigerians have debated the hypothetical scenario of a United States invasion and how it would unfold, what it would mean for our sovereignty and how we would resist it. While we argue about imaginary wars, we ignore the cold truth before our eyes, Nigeria has already been invaded and conquered in SLOW MOTION.
This conquest did not arrive in fighter jets or tanks; it crept through our forests and farmlands, disguised as “HERDERS,” protected by POLITICAL POWER and empowered by GOVERNMENT SILENCE. The invaders are not American soldiers, they are foreign Fulani terrorists, many from NIGER, MALI, CHAD and SENEGAL, who have established enclaves within Nigerian territory and now operate like an occupying force.

The Slow-Motion Conquest of Nigeria. For more than a decade, these armed Fulani militias have seized farmlands, destroyed villages, imposed local rule, collected illegal taxes and even hoisted their own flags. In Zamfara state, gold and other precious minerals are mined and smuggled daily under the nose of the state. In Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa state, entire communities have been wiped out in coordinated attacks. From Southern Kaduna to parts of Kwara and Kogi state, the march continues; METHODICAL, SILENT and STRATEGIC.

A 2024 report by the Global Terrorism Index listed Nigeria among the world’s most terrorized nations, largely due to Fulani militant attacks, which now outnumber Boko Haram’s operations. The International Crisis Group has confirmed that many of these fighters are foreign elements, recruited and armed across the Sahel.

Shockingly, no administration has confronted them with the seriousness required. Why? Because many of their sponsors allegedly sit within the corridors of power. Even former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai admitted in 2012 that “foreign Fulani fighters were brought in” before the 2015 elections, an admission that should have SPARKED OUTRAGE and ACCOUNTABILITY. Instead, SILENCE FOLLOWED.

Government Complicity and Northern Elite Silence. Every rational Nigerian should ask: Why have successive governments, both led by Muslim presidents, refused to act decisively against Fulani terrorism?
The answer is painfully clear: what began as a pastoral conflict has evolved into a grand political and religious agenda. As far back as 1804, Usman dan Fodio’s Jihad sought to Islamize the entire region, with the symbolic goal of “DIPPING THE Qur’an INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.” That mission was halted only by British colonization. Today, the same ideology is being advanced through terror, land grabs and political control and this time, with government complicity.
The late historian Prof. Ali Mazrui once warned that “when a state chooses ethnic loyalty over national interest, it ceases to be a government and becomes a tribe with an army.” Nigeria today fits that description perfectly.
Our leaders have treated FULANI TERRORISM as “FARMER-HERDER CLASHES,” downplaying massacres as mere communal disputes. What do you call it when killers impose taxes, occupy villages, and establish their own laws? That is not a clash; it is occupation.

The Price of Fulani Political Domination. History has already delivered its verdict. Wherever Fulani political domination thrives, poverty, illiteracy and stagnation follow like a curse. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2023), the 10 poorest states in Nigeria are predominantly in the north, where the Fulani elite have governed for decades. Despite controlling political power, the region remains the least educated and most impoverished.
Compare that to the southern regions that experienced greater exposure to Western education and governance under British rule. Despite the injustices of colonialism, the South developed faster in LITERACY, COMMERCE and INDUSTRY. The South-East and South-West became engines of innovation, producing thinkers like Chinua Achebe, Chike Obi, Philip Emeagwali, Wole Soyinka and political icons like Obafemi Awolowo.
Now imagine if the Fulani Jihad of the 1800s had succeeded. Achebe might never have written Things Fall Apart. Chimamanda Adichie could have been married off as a child. Lagos, the commercial heartbeat of Africa, might have been a dusty emirate ruled by a district head. The vibrant cities of Aba and Onitsha might have been replaced by almajiri colonies.
As Prof. Wole Soyinka once said, “When you silence education, you amplify poverty.” The Fulani-dominated north has done exactly that and weaponized ignorance as a political tool to preserve domination.

Between Two Invaders: A Brutal Comparison. It may sound controversial, but Nigeria’s reality demands honesty. Between British colonialism and Fulani domination, the former produced far better results. While the British built schools, roads and systems of administration (ALBEIT FOR THEIR BENEFIT) the Fulani system has entrenched FEUDALISM, ILLITERACY and UNDERDEVELOPMENT.
Even Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first president, acknowledged in 1943 that “colonialism brought a paradox; it enslaved our bodies but freed our minds.” The same cannot be said of the internal Fulani invasion, which enslaves both body and mind.
Thus, before dismissing the idea of a U.S. intervention, Nigerians must reflect. America, for all its imperial flaws, could not possibly inflict a deeper wound than the silent genocide already consuming us from within. If Trump’s alleged warning to capture Tinubu within 24 hours sounds threatening, ask yourself: what threat is greater—the possibility of U.S. intervention or the certainty of internal annihilation?

The Real Question: Which Future Do You Choose?
Would you rather have the chance to be educated, empowered and capable of resisting oppression?
Or would you prefer to live as an illiterate almajiri, begging for scraps in your own land?
Nigeria must decide whether it wants sovereignty without safety or foreign help that restores peace. History shows that, painful as interventions can be, they have sometimes prevented far worse outcomes. If foreign involvement can halt the genocide of innocent farmers and reclaim stolen lands, is it truly worse than the Fulani conquest we live under?
As George Orwell once wrote, “The most effective way to destroy a people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” Nigeria is already halfway there.

Final Reflection: This argument is not against ISLAM or the FULANI ETHNICITY; it is against TYRANNY and HYPOCRISY. The Fulani are as human as every other group, but the POLITICAL MACHINERY that uses their name to dominate Nigeria must be dismantled.
Our nation is bleeding. Villages are burning. Citizens are dying. While we debate imaginary invasions, our REAL INVADERS dine with those in power.
Foreign intervention may be undesirable, but sometimes a BITTER MEDICINE is NEEDED to CURE a FATAL DISEASE. The truth is simple: Nigeria does not need an American invasion; it needs liberation from its own internal conquerors.