A Lagos scholar argues that the former U.S. president’s harsh rhetoric masks deeper motives — from racial animus to anxiety over Nigeria’s growing independence.
When former U.S. President Donald J. Trump threatened military action against Nigeria, citing “the genocide of Christians,” his words reverberated across both sides of the Atlantic. But for Professor Lai Olurode, a retired sociologist from the University of Lagos, the provocation was less about faith — and more about power, race, and fear.
> “Trump’s claim is a smokescreen,” Professor Olurode said in an interview. “Nigeria’s terrorist attacks are indiscriminate. They target Christians, Muslims, soldiers, civilians, and economic assets alike. This has never been a religious war.”
Trump’s comments followed his decision to once again designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” accusing its government of failing to protect Christians. Nigeria’s leadership has dismissed the allegations as false, insisting that violence in the country is driven by extremism and banditry, not state policy or sectarian persecution.
But to Olurode, Trump’s warnings are less a defense of religion than a reassertion of racial and economic dominance.
A former national commissioner with Nigeria’s electoral body, Olurode places Trump’s hostility in a long continuum of Western condescension toward Africa.
> “Since his campaign for the White House, Trump has embodied an open hostility toward black and brown nations,” he said. “His immigration policies were monuments to racial bigotry — opposed to the very idea of America as a multicultural nation.”
Olurode’s critique resonates with many African scholars who view Western diplomacy as a balancing act between moral rhetoric and strategic self-interest. Trump’s rhetoric, they argue, exposes the latter in unusually blunt terms.
Beyond race, Olurode believes that economic anxiety underpins Washington’s unease with Africa’s largest democracy — particularly as Nigeria moves toward energy independence.
> “For the first time in its history, Nigeria is refining its own oil,” he said, referencing the sprawling Dangote Refinery, the largest in Africa. “That development reduces dependence on American oil workers, shippers, and refineries. It upsets the global order that has long favored the West.”
He drew parallels with historian Walter Rodney’s classic argument in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa: that Western powers prefer a dependent Africa, one that feeds global industries but rarely competes with them.
> “A self-sufficient Nigeria disrupts that structure,” Olurode said. “It represents an Africa that is finally writing its own script.”
Nigeria’s growing cultural influence — from the global rise of Afrobeats to the success of Nollywood and the Nigerian diaspora — has also shifted the country’s international image. But Olurode suggests that this visibility comes with a cost.
> “Nigerians abroad are not just economic migrants; they are cultural ambassadors,” he said. “Our music, art, and entrepreneurship are reshaping Western societies. That multicultural reality unsettles conservative figures like Trump.”
Politically, Olurode contends, powerful nations often prefer fragile democracies to strong ones.
> “Few ever believed Nigeria could sustain twenty-five years of uninterrupted democracy,” he said. “America’s global dominance has often relied on instability elsewhere. A stable, democratic, and self-confident Nigeria challenges that pattern.”
A Call for Strategic Restraint
Despite his sharp critique of U.S. policy, Olurode urged the Tinubu administration to tread carefully.
> “We must remain diplomatic and strategic,” he advised. “This is not the time for emotional nationalism. America is a superpower in a largely unipolar world. Nigeria must avoid walking into a trap of provocation.”
His counsel is as pragmatic as it is patriotic. “If Nigeria goes under,” he added, “there will be no country left for our diverse aspirations.”
In the end, Olurode’s analysis frames Trump’s rhetoric as part of a broader contest — not between nations, but between two visions of global order. One rooted in hierarchy, dependency, and racial suspicion; the other in equality, self-determination, and mutual respect.
Whether Nigeria can navigate this storm without losing its footing may prove a defining test of its emerging global stature.
PIONEER NEWS 