Abdulkarim Murtala, a political scientist, in an exclusive interview with African Media and Communications Consulting (AMCC), analyzed the recent claim by former U.S. President Donald Trump about a possible military strike on Nigeria, describing it as “a reflection of deeper geopolitical anxiety rather than genuine concern.”
According to Abdulkarim, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration marks a historic shift in Nigeria’s foreign policy, the first in the nation’s history to resist paying direct allegiance to the United States. This quiet yet strategic repositioning, he said, has unsettled Washington because it suggests one thing: Nigeria’s vast natural resources and raw materials may now be strategically aligned with a rival superpower, China.
“For decades, Nigeria has served as a crucial node in America’s foreign policy across Africa,” Abdulkarim explained.
“Tinubu’s non-aligned stance, which emphasizes regional autonomy, threatens to dismantle that long-standing balance, and Washington is clearly uneasy about it.”
He further noted that Trump’s recent statement should not be dismissed as an impulsive outburst, but rather as part of America’s long-standing pattern of leveraging internal divisions within foreign nations to maintain influence without direct confrontation.
“This is not the first time,” he recalled. “During President Buhari’s first tenure, Trump made similar remarks. But after Buhari visited the White House, Trump’s tone shifted completely; a classic example of how the U.S. uses diplomacy as a tool of submission rather than partnership.”
Abdulkarim stressed that Nigeria remains an easy target because of its deep-seated religious and tribal divisions, internal fractures that foreign powers have often exploited to shape narratives and justify interventions.
“We’ve made ourselves vulnerable,” he added. “Our divided loyalties weaken our collective defense and make external influence easier.”
However, he clarified that a direct invasion is unlikely. “America’s real goal isn’t war,” he stated. “It’s submission, to make Nigeria bow politically and symbolically. The U.S. prefers compliance over conflict.”
He described Trump’s statement as carrying symbolic weight, “the tone of a father demanding his son dobale, a Yoruba term for total submission.” The near-unanimous reaction from both Democrats and Republicans in echoing Trump’s position, he argued, shows that the message was deliberate and coordinated, not coincidental.
In conclusion, Abdulkarim observed that the tension transcends Nigeria’s internal security challenges. It represents a global power struggle, a contest over who will control access to Africa’s largest economy and its abundant resources. “Tinubu’s independent posture may have triggered this reaction,” he said, “but America’s response reveals something deeper: a fear of losing its grip on Nigeria in a world increasingly tilting eastward.”
Is this the dawn of a new era in Nigeria’s foreign policy, one defined by sovereignty rather than submission?
#NigeriaRising #GlobalPowerShift #AfricaInFocus
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