Iliyasu Gadu
Ilgad2009@gmail.com
08035355706 (Texts only)
There is a busybody American Congressman, Riley Moore, who is so fixated about Nigeria that he is making plans to present a proposal to the Congress to break up the country. The bill he is planning to present to the American congress is ostensibly aimed at ‘’protecting Nigerian Christians against genocide from Islamist jihadists’’.
Riley Moore along with Senator Ted Cruz from Texas and another character called Mike Arnold who is presented as ‘’Mayor’’ of a city in Texas, but which is actually a little town of a few thousand people, have been the prime movers of the ‘’genocide—against-Christians’’ refrain. To their dubious credit they have been able to convince President Trump of their claims and to get the Congress to approve Trump’s proposal to declare Nigeria as a ‘’Country of Particular Concern’’ (CPC). Following from that President Trump had approved air strikes against suspected terrorist camps in Nigeria.
Not satisfied with that the Americans have moved a notch up in their campaign against Nigeria and this time it is to propose a break up of the country not minding the consequences this might bring.
Of the three American horsemen of the Nigerian apocalypse, Congressman Riley Moore is the most strident, pushing up the rhetoric almost to a point where one begins to ask what riles (no pun intended) him about Nigeria.
My checks about him reveal that he is a freshman congressman representing the second congressional district of the state of West Virginia in the House of Representatives. He is just barely a year into that elective office and has had no previous experience in the Congress. He is Welder by profession. Due to his relative inexperience in American politics, he is not considered fit enough to belong to the important House Committees of Foreign Relations or Intelligence matters.
The constituency he represents is made up overwhelmingly of affluent white people and very little of African American or Latinos.
And by history, West Virginia has a notorious distinction of slavery where African Americans were worked to the bone in the salt and coal mines in the state in addition to the tobacco and cotton plantations. There were recorded incidents of African American slaves often times buried alive working in the salt mines and their settlements burnt down deliberately by ‘’White crackers’’, a term that refers to the groups of white American enforcers of racial superiority over black people.
This is the background and tradition of prejudice and racial discrimination that Congressman Moore comes and it is not difficult to discern where and what drives Congressman Moore on his dangerous obsession about Nigeria.
Going by his undue attention on Nigeria, one would be led into thinking that he represents a constituency in the country at the National Assembly rather than a congressional district in West Viginia which he truly is.
So, one begins to wonder what dog does Congressman Moore has in Nigerian issues?
Right there in the United States of America in the city of Minneapolis there have been continuous outrage leading to demonstrations and pitch battles between policemen and residents of the city over the brutal and unjust killing of a woman Renee Good by the Immigration police of America. It is good of Moore to have empathy and charity for Christians in Nigeria, but is even more preferable for him to take up the matter of a white woman killed in a rather unjustifiable manner. In the city of Minneapolis and other cities in America, the police have taken to occupying cities intimidating law abiding citizens all in the name of enforcing law and order which is reminiscent of the Nazi era in Germany. A former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse ‘’the Body’’ Ventura who was once a popular WWF wrestler likened America to a ‘’third world’’ country where military men are seen patrolling cities and violating the rights of people to basic freedoms as enshrined in the constitution.
Has Congressman Moore, Senator Ted Cruz and Mike Arnold attempted to sponsor bills to resolve the growing disconnect and fractures between American races and classes?
It is instructive that Congressman Moore was recently on a fact-finding mission to Nigeria and all he could think to recommend was for the break up of the country. On what basis is he making that recommendation? Is he grounded in Nigeria’s history and culture? Should a rookie American Congressman with little or no knowledge and experience in American foreign relations make such a weighty recommendation and expect to be taken seriously? Is he using Nigeria as a stepping stone to gain the much needed experience and close his gap in that area?
The other questions needing answers from Congressman Moore is that coming from a background and tradition of a confederate state that has a documented history of racial oppression against people of colour, what moral right has he to pursue the break up of Nigeria bringing more hardship to its people than necessary? Is Congressman Moore following the footsteps of his forebears in extending his attempt to bring more hardship to the most important black nation in the world? Was Nigeria’s independence approved and secured by an Act of the American Congress? Does the American Congress have the right to determine how Nigeria exists? Is Nigeria like Puerto Rico, Guam or any of the American overseas dependencies? Has Congressman Moore schooled himself on these important issues or has he sought a more knowledgeable person to guide him through?
Nigerians will no doubt welcome Congressman Moore and the likes of Senator Cruz in helping to resolve Nigeria’s existential issues. Such help however should be in the form of constructive engagement with Nigerian officials. Nigeria is presently traumatized by the issues of insecurity manifested in many dimensions. There is also the issues of hunger, poverty, infrastructural challenges across several facets of life which have become burdensome to both the government and the people of the country.
To handle the issue of insecurity in Nigeria and narrow it down to only one side of the equation as the Americans are doing is gratuitously unfortunate. To turn it into an issue of opportunism challenges the morals of anybody who seeks to make it so without minding the consequences this may bring to Nigeria. The American interlopers cannot pretend not to know that what they are recommending as solutions to the existential challenges of the country are fraught with dangers that will rather exacerbate the situation than resolve it. And to think that these folks very well know that they will be far removed from the inherent dangers that will inevitably come with their dubious recommendations on Nigeria exposes how pretentiously callous and diabolical they are.
Nigerians should be wary of these Americans bearing gifts. They certainly do not mean well. If they did, they will bring their energies to resolve the existential issues raging back in America now. And if they really do love Nigeria for that matter as friends, they would not recommend measures that would tear apart the tensile structure of Nigeria under the guise of contrived morality or care. They are at best merchants of political profit and opportunism. And Nigerians should rather expend their energies in collectively fighting the ills of the country, than relying on the malevolent exhortations of foreign opportunists.
