Nigeria’s presidency says a forthcoming meeting between President Bola Tinubu and former U.S. President Donald Trump will help clear up what it calls a “misunderstanding” over Trump’s recent comments alleging genocide in Nigeria.
Presidential Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said on Sunday that Trump’s remarks may have been misconstrued and that the two leaders would use their meeting to clarify the situation. Speaking to the BBC World Service, Bwala emphasized that “there is no genocide taking place in Nigeria,” insisting that the country’s security crisis affects citizens across religious and ethnic lines.
Bwala maintained that Nigeria’s challenges stem from terrorism and banditry, not targeted persecution. He stressed that Christians, Muslims, and people of all faiths have suffered from the ongoing violence in parts of the country.
“President Trump’s earlier administration supported Nigeria through arms sales to help in the fight against insurgency,” Bwala noted, adding that this cooperation showed the strength of bilateral relations between both nations.
He also reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to partner with the international community to address insecurity, while underscoring that any such collaboration must respect Nigeria’s sovereignty.
“It would not be diplomatically appropriate for the United States to take unilateral action without engagement and consent from the Nigerian government,” Bwala cautioned.
Trump had last week designated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” citing alleged religious persecution — a claim swiftly rejected by President Tinubu’s administration, which described it as “misinformed and misleading.”
