COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN — WHEN ADVOCACY PREVAILS OVER SILENCE

Rendezvous

By Martins Yanatham Dickson

The term “Country of Particular Concern” is not a casual diplomatic phrase; it is an international American classification reserved for nations where grave violations of religious freedom or systematic persecution persist unchecked. 

When U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nigeria as such, it was not a hasty or ill-informed decision. It was a response born out of credible reports, consistent patterns of violence, and the glaring inaction of the Nigerian government to protect its citizens.

Let us be clear: genocide refers to any deliberate and systematic act intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. 

The killings, displacement, and destruction of predominantly Christian communities across Northern Nigeria bear undeniable genocidal tendencies. To deny this is to indulge in dangerous hypocrisy.

Yet, the tragedy cuts both ways. Muslim communities in the North-West have also suffered devastating attacks, villages burnt, families displaced, and lives lost to terrorist rampages. This is also true and must never be ignored. But the key difference lies in response and advocacy.

When the attack on Christian communities became vicious and unending, some Christians courageously raised their voices beyond Nigeria’s borders. 

They leveraged international networks, faith-based organizations, and global media platforms to expose the atrocities, even as the Nigerian government downplayed casualty figures, suppressed reports, and offered little beyond rhetoric. 

The world began to listen, not because the situation was new, but because somebody finally refused to be silent.

In contrast, many in the Muslim majority North-West, despite enduring unimaginable suffering, chose silence, either out of fear, complicity, or misplaced loyalty to political power. 

Reports have even surfaced alleging payments to certain clerics to “manage the narrative” or downplay the extent of the carnage. 

Instead of outrage, we saw negotiation, terrorists parading openly with weapons in broad daylight, attending so-called “peace meetings” with government officials and security agencies.

What peace can one negotiate with those who slaughter worshippers in their mosques during prayers? What understanding can there be with men who rape, abduct, and raze entire communities? Such appeasement is not peace, it is surrender.

The consequence of this double standard is now clear. America responded to those who cried out. 

The Nigerian government, by contrast, has continued to appear unbothered, trapped in cycles of excuses and hollow condemnations. This pattern of denial and lethargy has created a crisis of confidence. Nigerians no longer trust the state to protect them. 

Reports from rural communities consistently describe a disturbing reality: security agencies often arrive hours after attacks, when the terrorists have finished their mission and disappeared. No arrests. No pursuit. No recovery. No rescue.

This must end. Now is the time for decisive action.

The Nigerian government must rise above politics and act in the full weight of its constitutional duty, to protect lives and property without discrimination. 

Terrorists and their sponsors must be confronted, dismantled, and permanently neutralized. Anything less is a betrayal of our people and a mockery of national sovereignty.

If the government continues to exhibit indifference, the international community led by the United States will have both the moral and political justification to consider direct intervention as we are witnessing now 

The phrase “boots on the ground” no longer sound distant, but history teaches that where a nation fails to defend its citizens, others will eventually step in.

Nigeria stands today at a crossroads: between decisive action and international embarrassment; between reclaiming our humanity and losing our moral compass.

I call on president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to:

Choose action.

Choose justice.

Choose Nigeria.

Martins Yanatham Dickson

Public Affairs Commentator