America bombed terrorists because Nigeria’s army couldn’t. Washington showed precision; Abuja showed rot. This wasn’t partnership—it was rescue. A nation that can’t protect its people forfeits respect and invites humiliation. I have heard the stories from the field. Nigerian soldiers sent to fight terrorists with rusty rifles. Armored vehicles that break down before reaching the front. Intelligence warnings ignored by Nigerian generals until villages are already burning. Meanwhile, these same generals build mansions in Abuja and buy properties overseas.
I will say this straight, without sugarcoating it. I
commend President Donald Trump and the United States for carrying out those “powerful and
deadly” strikes against ISIS fighters hiding in northern Nigeria. When killers
are hunting civilians and burning villages, precision matters. Speed matters.
Results matter. America delivered all three. The bombs hit their targets.
Terrorists died. That is what a serious military looks like when it decides to
act.
But let me also say the part Nigerians in power do not
want to hear. This operation is a public disgrace to the Nigerian Army. It is a
loud confession of failure. It is proof that corruption, incompetence, and rot
have hollowed out Nigeria’s security system so badly that a foreign power had
to wash Nigeria’s dirty laundry in public. That is not partnership. That is
embarrassment.
I read the statements from Abuja talking about
“structured cooperation,” “respect for sovereignty,” and “shared security
commitments.” Fine words. Clean grammar. Empty meaning. Sovereignty is not
something you borrow. You either defend it or you don’t. When foreign jets are
doing what your own army has failed to do for years, sovereignty is already
bleeding on the floor. When a man cannot protect his own house, he should
not brag about the locks on his door.
Trump did not whisper. He did not hedge. He called the
targets what they were: ISIS terrorist scum. He said the strikes were meant to
stop the slaughter of Christians. Abuja rushed to say religion had nothing to
do with it. That denial is political theater. Anyone who has followed Nigeria’s
security crisis knows that religiously targeted violence has been real,
documented, and brutal. Churches burned. Priests kidnapped. Villages wiped out.
Farmers butchered. The blood does not lie, even when officials do.
The terrorists America hit were tied to Islamic State
networks that grew out of the chaos left by Boko Haram’s evolution and
fragmentation. Nigeria has been fighting this war for over a decade. Since
around 2009, tens of thousands have died, and millions have been displaced,
according to international humanitarian agencies. Entire regions in the North
East and North West have lived under fear like a permanent curfew. Yet year
after year, Nigeria’s defense budgets ballooned into the billions of dollars.
Year after year, soldiers complained of unpaid allowances, outdated weapons,
and commanders more interested in contracts than combat.
I have heard the stories from the field. Soldiers sent to
fight terrorists with rusty rifles. Armored vehicles that break down before
reaching the front. Intelligence warnings ignored until villages are already
burning. Meanwhile, generals build mansions in Abuja and buy properties
overseas. A goat that eats where it is tied will never grow fat, but
Nigeria’s security elite have grown obese on the nation’s fear.
This is why America stepped in. Not because Nigeria asked
nicely, but because Nigeria could not deliver. The U.S. military has history
here. From the global fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria to targeted
operations across the Sahel, America has shown that when it chooses to strike,
it strikes with precision backed by intelligence, drones, satellites, and
logistics Nigeria does not have or does not know how to use properly. These are
not miracles. They are systems built on discipline and accountability.
The Nigerian government says it provided intelligence.
Good. That only deepens the shame. If Nigeria had actionable intelligence, why
did Nigerian jets not carry out the strikes? Why did Nigerian special forces
not neutralize these camps months ago? Why wait until foreign bombs fall before
pretending control exists? A drum that sounds loud is not always full.
The timing matters too. The strikes came right after a
deadly bombing in Maiduguri that killed worshippers inside a mosque. Terror
does not ask for ID cards before it explodes. It kills Muslims and Christians
alike. But patterns exist, and pretending they don’t helps only the killers.
For years, reports from human rights groups and church organizations have
documented attacks that specifically targeted Christian communities in parts of
northern Nigeria. Denying this reality insults the dead.
I am not celebrating foreign bombs on African soil. Let
me be clear. No proud nation should need another country’s air force to protect
its civilians. This is not a movie scene where help arrives just in time. This
is a failure scene, replayed too many times. Nigeria has Africa’s largest
economy by some measures. Nigeria has one of Africa’s biggest armies on paper.
Yet paper strength collapses when leadership is weak and corruption eats the
spine of institutions.
Trump’s language was harsh. Some people hate that. I
don’t. Terrorists understand force, not poetry. When he said there would be
“hell to pay,” he was speaking the language of deterrence. Abuja’s response
sounded like a press release written to offend no one and protect everyone in
power. That contrast tells the whole story.
History is unforgiving to weak states. Mali, Burkina
Faso, and Niger all slid deeper into chaos when their armies lost public trust.
Nigeria is flirting with the same edge. Every time foreign forces do what
Nigerian forces should do, that trust erodes further. Citizens begin to ask
dangerous questions. Why do we pay taxes? Why fund an army that cannot defend
us? Why do terrorists seem better armed than soldiers?
I commend America because innocent lives matter. I vilify
the Nigerian Army because this moment should never have been necessary. This
was not a joint victory. It was an intervention born out of dysfunction. Until
Nigeria cleans its military, punishes corrupt commanders, equips its soldiers
properly, and treats intelligence as a weapon instead of paperwork, this will
happen again.
When shame becomes routine, collapse is no longer a
surprise.
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