A former top government official has thrown his weight behind growing international concerns over religious violence in Nigeria, warning that the country’s leadership cannot complain if desperate citizens look beyond its borders for protection.
Babachir Lawal, who served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, made the stark assessment during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today Monday evening. His comments come amid escalating tensions between Abuja and Washington over characterizations of violence targeting Christian communities.
“The government should assure us that they can give us the peace, security, and prosperity that we desire,” Lawal said bluntly. “If they are unable to do that, they cannot blame any part of society that decides to seek help anywhere.”
The former SGF didn’t mince words when addressing recent statements from former US President Donald Trump, who has described killings of Christians in Nigeria as genocide. “It’s a genocide; if it’s not a genocide, it is a pogrom,” Lawal declared, aligning himself with Trump’s controversial assessment.
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He pushed back against arguments from some quarters that more Muslims than Christians have died in Nigeria’s security crisis. “If 1,000 children are killed, and among them one is your own, your worry is about that one,” Lawal argued, adding pointedly: “Why dodge the fact that those being accused of carrying out the genocide are Muslims, not Christians?”
The African Democratic Congress chieftain revealed that President Bola Tinubu himself had once raised similar alarms. According to Lawal, Tinubu led an All Progressives Congress delegation to former US President Barack Obama ahead of the 2015 election to report that “Christians were being slaughtered in Nigeria.”
Lawal also criticized the government’s handling of military equipment, lamenting that Nigerian soldiers continue dying because they’re fighting well-armed terrorists with outdated weapons. He argued that debates over whether the violence constitutes genocide miss the point entirely—the government’s primary duty is guaranteeing security.
The Nigerian government has consistently rejected genocide claims, maintaining that terrorist groups kill indiscriminately regardless of religious affiliation.