Trump’s threats: Nigeria’s weak foreign policy, others open door for interference – Angalapu

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Angalapu said the statement by Trump had raised discussion among Nigerians, but it was important to unpack the issues and understand why it resonated with certain groups.

According to him, Nigeria’s conflict landscape is complex because of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature, with different groups interpreting insecurity through religious or ethnic lenses.

Nigeria is multi-ethnic and multi-religious. If you examine the current conflict dynamics, although we have insecurity across all the six geopolitical zones, there is some kind of ethnic and religious correlation to it,” he explained.

He pointed out that in the North-East, groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP are driven by jihadist ideologies aimed at establishing an Islamic state, while in the North-West and North-Central, the situation is more complicated.

One common trend about all these groups is that they profess Islam, whether they adhere to it or not is another conversation,” he said.

“So, even when you have farmer-herder conflicts that are not religious in nature, the interpretation by many Christians is that the perpetrators are Muslims and probably propagating an Islamic agenda.”

Angalapu explained that Boko Haram’s attacks on churches and Christian communities had deepened mistrust between Muslims and Christians.

There is evidence that Boko Haram, JAS and ISWAP have targeted churches and people for being Christian because their logic is to have an Islamic state,” he stated.

“But the Muslim community also argues, rightly, that the terrorists have killed Muslims too and attacked mosques.”

He said this divide has become a major obstacle in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.

“Rather than uniting to confront the common enemy, Nigerians are now arguing about who is dying more or who is being displaced more,” Angalapu said.

“This polarization weakens our ability to fight terrorism effectively.”

The CDD analyst warned that the internal disunity and lack of coordination in Nigeria’s counterterrorism efforts could give room for foreign powers to interfere.

“It creates an opening for foreign intervention. The U.S. has already threatened military action, and Russia operates in nearby Sahelian states like Mali and Burkina Faso. This could easily bring U.S.-Russia rivalry into Nigeria.

He explained that if the U.S. intervenes militarily, Russia might view it as an attempt to penetrate the Sahel through Nigeria’s northern borders.

“Russia operates in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. It’s easy for Russia to come into conflict with the U.S. in Nigeria because they would say the U.S. wants to take over northern Nigeria and use it as an entry point into the Sahel,” he said.

Angalapu added that the situation was made worse by Nigeria’s weak foreign policy presence.

“Nigeria has not had ambassadors in the U.S. and many other countries for about two years. Since President Tinubu came on board, he hasn’t appointed ambassadors. That creates a foreign policy gap because the U.S. hears rumors and third-party information instead of Nigeria speaking for itself.”

He also identified the failure of Nigeria’s security system as a major cause of the crisis