By Kachi Okezie, Esq.
Nigerians erupted with indignation when US President, Donald Trump, promised a “guns-a-blazing” military intervention in Nigeria to stop what he called the “genocide” of Christians. Not all, though. A small number of mostly oppressed population groups rather cheered in relief. When he followed that rhetoric with a Christmas Day air strike in Sokoto, the cry of “Sovereignty!” became almost a national anthem. That’s notwithstanding the Nigerian government sanctioned the operation.
From government officials to social media commentators, the reactions featured a common theme: Nigeria is a sovereign state; how dare an outsider step in?
But let’s be honest: Nigeria’s sovereignty is at best a polite fiction told with a dizzying dose of cognitive dissonance. While we puff our chests at Washington, we quietly bow our heads to the terrorists who actually run large swathes of our country. We cry “imperialism” at a drone strike, yet stay silent while foreign bandits impose “taxes,” hold townhall meetings, collect levies, and dictate the laws of survival in the North West and North East. Our government doesn’t just lose territory; it’s widely believed to negotiate with the invaders, pay ransoms, and effectively cede control.
This is the Great Nigerian Hypocrisy at play. We invoke the shield of sovereignty only when it’s convenient to hide our own domestic failures. The harsh truth is that if our government had fulfilled its primary constitutional mandate—to secure the lives and property of its citizens—Trump would have no pretext to act. The “invasion” isn’t the primary threat; the vacuum of leadership is.
We worry about Trump stealing our oil, but the average Nigerian in Borno or Sokoto couldn’t care less about oil wealth they never see. They care about farming without being kidnapped. They care about survival. To them, a government that allows terrorists to act as local landlords has already abdicated its sovereignty.
The real “colonialism” isn’t coming from across the Atlantic. It is happening within our borders, where mostly foreign terrorists fill the gaps left by an incompetent state. These bandits are the new governors, the new tax collectors, and the new law-givers.
It is time to stop the performative outrage. Our sovereignty isn’t a flag to be waved only when we feel insulted by the West; it is a responsibility to be earned by protecting our own people. Until we reclaim our land from the “tax-collecting” terrorists and the corrupt officials who allow them to thrive, our talk of sovereignty is nothing more than empty noise.
Nigeria’s dignity won’t be saved by shouting at Trump. It will be saved by finally deciding to govern ourselves with courage, and without fear or favour.
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
