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 suffere...