₦airaland Forum

Hayaoga1:
It's a pity that people are actually siding a soldier who is protecting a property that was not legally acquired by his boss. Soldiers are quick to act in such cases but they cannot protect innocent Nigerians from the hand of bandits. Useless soldiers.

No mind them

tunjijones:
F

See m*u*m*u talk.

But you can collect aids and grants from foreign countries.

Only in September 2025, US aid to Nigeria amounted to over 500 million USD.

aids on what please?

Max24:
These Fulani Associations and militias were becoming too powerful from the time of Buhari. We need Trump to help clip their wings. No wonder Tinubu has to lock up one of their leaders then when he thought he could disrespect Tinubu as a Yoruba man. Won't be surprised if they are among the coup backers. 15 out of 16 arrested plotters are from the North. Born to rule mentality.

hmmm
What of the remaining one ?

omojeesu:
Trump Is Not After Nigeria but China — The Hidden War for Nigeria’s Soul

By Anngu Orngu

I am following with deep interest the ongoing debates that are erupting over Donald J. Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom violations. Many Nigerians, including analysts I respect, are rushing to interpret that decision through the narrow lens of Western imperialism or anti-Islam bias. Others are dismissing it as another of Trump’s theatrics; a foreign leader speaking loudly to his conservative Christian base.

But as someone who is studying policy, governance, and environmental security — and as a Nigerian who lovws his country deeply, I am insisting that President Trump is not after Nigeria. He is after China. And Nigeria, whether we are realising it or not, is standing today as one of the hidden battlegrounds in the long-running strategic rivalry between the United States and China.

Trump’s Silence on China and His Sudden Shift to Nigeria

What is capturing my attention is how Trump is behaving immediately after his meeting with the Chinese President in Tokyo just some few days ago. He said nothing too detailed about the content of the meeting. Instead, he is stepping out and talking about Nigeria — about the mass killings of Christians, the destruction of rural communities, and the rise of religiously-motivated violence in the Middle Belt.

To a casual observer, that shift looks random. But in the language of global diplomacy, it is a signal. You don’t move from Tokyo to Nigeria in one breath unless there is a linking thread. Trump’s intelligence briefings are showing that Nigeria’s crisis is being tied to Chinese economic interests. That is what many of us are failing to see.

China’s Deep Hand in Nigeria’s Bloody Mining Economy

We are not deceiving ourselves when we say Nigeria is sitting on gold. Real gold. And not just gold — we are sitting on columbite, tantalite, lithium, and other rare earth minerals that are vital to modern technology: electric cars, smartphones, satellites, even weapons. Whoever is controlling the supply of these resources is controlling the future of global power.

China is dominating global rare-earth production and refining, but as its domestic reserves are depleting, it is expanding into Africa — and Nigeria, with a weak regulatory system and persistent insecurity, is looking like a prime target.

Across Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Taraba states, illegal mining is exploding. Beneath the surface of that chaos is a powerful network of Chinese-backed miners, local collaborators, and militia protection rackets. In some communities, entire villages are being emptied out by attacks so that the land is being “freed up” for mining.

A visit to some communities in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa where the soil is carrying visible scars of reckless excavation. Locals are speaking of strange foreigners arriving at night and trucks loaded with ore moving under military escort. These are not fairy tales — they are the daily reality of a nation losing its wealth to foreign hands under cover of terror.

Terrorism as a Tool for Resource Control

We often view terrorism in Nigeria as purely ideological — a religious war or a clash of civilizations. But when we look closely, we are seeing that terrorism is becoming a deliberate tool for resource control.

Groups that label themselves as herders, bandits, or insurgents are aligning with illegal miners. They are attacking Christian farming communities, killing or displacing the inhabitants, and leaving behind ungoverned zones/spaces ready for exploitation. Chinese middlemen and local cartels are moving in to dig, extract, and export. The minerals are leaving Nigeria illegally, ending up in Dubai, Hong Kong or Shanghai — enriching foreign economies while Nigeria bleeds.

When Trump is talking about Christian persecution in Nigeria, many people are thinking he is pandering to faith-based voters. But he is also responding to strategic intelligence. His government is discovering that China is using Nigeria’s instability as a shield for illegal extraction — and that thousands of Christian lives are not being lost randomly, but as collateral damage in a global economic war.

The Buahri Waterways Bill — China’s Trojan Horse

We are remembering how, under President Buhari, the Water Resources Bill was being pushed. Nigerians from every corner resisted it and rightly so. On the surface, the bill seemed like administrative reform to bring all inland waterways and adjoining lands under federal control. But beneath that surface was something far more sinister.

Those waterways; rivers, streams, wetlands are not just water routes; they are mineral corridors. Many of Nigeria’s richest alluvial gold and rare earth deposits are located along these river systems. By centralising control of the lands, the bill if pass was paving the way for foreign interests especially Chinese-linked companies to gain access through federal licences, bypassing state governments and local communities.

I believe Chinese advisers and investors were quietly lobbying for that bill. They were seeing it as a legal shortcut to Nigeria’s mineral heartlands. Fortunately, Nigerians resisted it fiercely. But the attempt itself exposed how deeply Chinese mining ambitions are penetrating our policymaking corridors.

Trump’s Intelligence Briefing and the Bigger Picture

Now imagine Trump sitting in the Oval Office, reviewing a classified intelligence briefing ahead of his meeting with the Chinese President. The report might read:

“China is funding illegal mining operations in Nigeria through proxies. Minerals are being smuggled to China. Terrorist groups are clearing Christian farming zones to open mining fields. Nigeria’s government is aware but failing to act.”

If I put myself in Trump’s shoes — a man obsessed with America First, economic nationalism, and confronting Chinese influence, I see why he is doing what he is doing.

That explains why after his meeting with the Chinese President he is saying nothing about the trade war or Huawei. Instead, he is focusing on Nigeria. He is not only expressing moral outrage, he is sending a geostrategic message to Beijing and Abuja alike: “We see what you’re doing in Nigeria, and we are watching.”

The CPC designation thus becomes a diplomatic weapon; not just to defend religious freedom, but to pressure Nigeria’s leadership to confront internal terrorism, regulate its mining sector, and cut off China’s exploitation routes. It is also telling China that the U.S. will not silently allow Africa’s mineral corridors to slip into Beijing’s hands.

The Blood of the Poor, the Gold of the Powerful

As a development professional, I am telling ourselves that underdevelopment is not accidental. It is a system maintained for the benefit of those who profit from chaos. The violence ravaging Nigeria’s north and middle belt follows an economic logic. It is driving farmers away from ancestral lands, weakening resistance, and clearing the field for predatory extraction.

In many of these regions, the victims are overwhelmingly Christian farmers. Their lands sit on mineral deposits. Their displacement often labelled as “herder-farmer clashes” is enabling illegal mining. Every truckload of gold leaving Zamfara or Niger without record is carrying stolen wealth plus the blood of innocent people.

When Trump is referring to “Christian genocide,” it may sound dramatic to some. But to me it is truthful. He is naming what the rest of the world is refusing to name: a systematic campaign of dispossession combining religion, resource greed, and geopolitics.

Nigeria at the Crossroads of Global Power Politics

Nigeria is now standing at a dangerous crossroads. On one side is China — aggressive, patient, and comfortable operating in the shadows. On the other side is the United States — loud, moralistic, and determined not to lose strategic ground. Both are seeing our country as strategic: China for minerals; America for influence.

For Beijing, Nigeria is a silent goldmine. For Washington, Nigeria is a partner slipping away. And for Nigerians like us, we are caught in the middle — a proud nation being turned into a chessboard for foreign powers.

The truth is uncomfortable: our leaders allowed it. Through negligence or complicity, they permit foreign powers to profit from our insecurity. Every village burned in Benue or Plateau, every displaced farmer in Nasarawa, every illegal mining pit in Niger is part of the same global script — the conversion of African lives into raw material for foreign profit.

What Trump’s Move is Actually Signalling

Trump’s move is not hostility toward us. It is a wake-up call. He is using America’s legal and diplomatic tools like the CPC designation to jolt our leadership into action. He is highlighting the shootings in Plateau, Benue and Southern Kaduna not just out of empathy, but because those regions sit atop mineral deposits that feed China’s industrial machine.

When he says “The persecution of Christians must stop,” he is also meaning “Nigeria must stop enriching our biggest rival through the corridors of instability.” His message, though blunt, aligns with what every patriotic Nigerian should demand: a state that protects its people, its land, and its resources.

Nigeria Must Wake Up

Nigeria cannot continue to live in denial. We must stop pretending our insecurity is purely domestic. It is not. It is being sponsored, exploited, and sustained by global powers who see profit in our pain.

We must press for urgent reforms — a national mining framework that shuts down illegal foreign operators; a security architecture that protects communities; and leadership that understands that when a Nigerian village falls, the nation’s sovereignty is being stripped.

We must draw the connections from the blood on our farmlands to the gold in Chinese vaults. From Christian families fleeing in the Middle Belt to the wealth fueling Asian factories. From the failed waterways bill to the shadowy corridors of global mining diplomacy.

Conclusion

President Trump is not after Nigeria. He is after China and Nigeria is just one of the theatres where this global confrontation is playing out. His warnings about Christian killings and religious freedom are carrying more than moral weight; they are linked to strategic intelligence.

As a Nigerian, I accept his message not as an insult, but as a challenge — a reminder that sovereignty lies not only in our flag, but in how we protect our people, our land, and our resources.

If we fail to act, the silent war between the United States and China will keep being waged on our soil — not with tanks or missiles, but with shovels, mineral flows, and human suffering.

It is time for Nigeria to wake up.

Anngu Orngu writes from Koti-Yogh, Ute, Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.
oranngu@gmail.com

Hmmm
Is this accurate?

Nwaikpe:
The funny thing about these "startup" things is that the main ingredient is noise.

The real startups are at the backstage, achieving a lot, with little noise at the front to show.

One thing still remains spectacular as shown in this list: Africa lacks innovation. Everyone is a copycat, and the best that stands out is the one that copies and then makes the most noise. Everything that is referred to as a startup in Africa, particularly Nigeria, is simply a carbon copy of "online banking" apps that they all refer to as "fintech" or another messaging app they refer to as "social media app." It's nothing new; it's nothing interesting. Once someone can use some JavaScript or whatever and put together some code for mobile banking and then tie one or two third-party security and cash transfers to it, they refer to it as "fintech," and to attract the traffic, they tie the words "borrow and pay later" to it, where people can borrow money.


No innovation, no intelligence, no novelty. It's just the same old thing. Why are there no significant startups trying to solve our power issues in Nigeria? Why are there no startups in health? How about education? How about travel and transportation? How about hospitality?
None of them wants to think. They just want to organize shows in Lekki and Ikeja and invite some dreadlocked, earring-wearing guys and also some brown-dyed-hair girls to sit around like yahoo-yahoo people and be forming Gen Z startups.

Modified:

A startup is not just a computer code-powered business. A startup can also be an offline real business. The necessary qualification for a startup is "innovation" and "scalability."

....

FarahAideed:
Is he the only person that has won Nobel prize ?

No but the only one in Nigeria
And the first Black African for that category

This Nobel Prize Award they pain some people shaa...

To be frank some people just hate this man because of the Nobel Prize...

franchasng:
Trying so hard to link the supposed coup to Igbos, hahahahaha, we understand oh


They couldn't arrest the big wigs behind the supposed abi alleged coup....na ordinary Chukwuma in Oyigbo venting out his frustration on social media they claimed is the organizer of the coup, as per who? Is he a serving military or wealthy politician or who to organize coup?


APC and their wonders

You are not making any point... So out of everyone they went after, the sacked service chiefs, you have to single out an Igbo man ?

cr7lomo:
U can cook food that a whole community will finish , but u can't finish the food a community cook for u... I really pity ur tribe...u have made enemies from every single tribe in Nigeria....una don finally cast ... the whole country now have seen what the igbos saw decades ago

Igbos sef does not align well with Ijaw so stop the capping

shortgun:
Any day you try to pull out of Nigeria you will be given the Asaba treatment generously. We all know you won't dare

What is the Asaba treatment about

WesleyPepper:
Yorubas have indeed suffered in this country.
I remember confronting late Pa Adebanjo during a symposium to commemorate the death of Late Adekunle Fajuyi at the UI conference center in early/mid 2016.
The killings were worse around the creeks of Arepo and Ikorodu.
I’m sure never do wells like this former Minister were the brain behind such attacks

Yorúbas were killed in Lagos?
By which people abeg

I knew this day would come. When I read that news back then - that you tore your green card - I was really sad about it, because I didn’t want the US to ban one of the finest treasures to come out of Africa. You really went too far, abeg - my mentor.

givedemwotowoto:
He deceived the American. If you do that in America the person will go after you. They don't just move on. "Betrayer" is such a common word in your group that's why you're projecting it on him.

Deceived him on what exactly

MT:
Pastors say Holy Spirit would protect us. Israel has never spoken about Holy Spirit but bombs and deadly weapons.

That’s the birth place of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is actually happening?

Hmmm

KingOfAmebo:
Legit programmers don't sell to hackers, hackers build there own from scratch, a code is a code and what you use the code for depends on your intentions, It's just like a knife, you can use the knife for cooking and also use it to kill someone, it doesn't make the knife evil or good.

We have Hackers in the category of Black Hat, White Hat, Green Hat and White Hat...the Black Hat Hackers are the ones used by the Yahoo boys for their exploits. the White Hat Hackers are the gatekeepers that ensure the Black Hat Hackers don't gain entry into systems by conducting what is called PENETRATION TESTING or PENTEST...you can read more on this online

It is already a pain explaining these things to you guys sef.

He said Legit programmers - that is real coders (in this context) whether white or black hat.
Most Yahoo boys buy the tools that is already available (made by the black hat hackers.)
They don't code it themselves that's the point.

Good2go1:
From the map your shared, North west is more than times 3 of the size of southwest so your argument does not hold water

what of the population?

Elusive001:
So you know better than those who were there? You know better than IBB?

THOSE? just one man. IBB?

Dogalmighty17:
So Hausa have looooong been indigenes of Lagos state. And they aren't making noise about it. They have every right to demand for a local government of their own in Lagos.

Omo they don't have the right o abeg. LAGOS is Yoruba mans land

franklytru:
Ii is only the rich and those that knows it's worth that use the paid version of Open AI. People like you use free version and not required to pay VAT.
Since you are not rich enough to be captured in the Tax net, you should stop bothering yourself over nothing.

But what are they doing with the tax money in terms of development

Offpoint1:
You get money to waste... Enter Indian guys telegram for update

name of the chanel pls

ComeComing:
No sane human trusts a Yor0ba man — Dead or alive.

..Always living up to their name(s).

but Sowore ( a Yoruba man) is taking the lead for your protest

Hope Igbo's will remember Sowore in the future.

Like Wole Soyinka in the 1967
And was incarcerated because of Igbo's
Yet today he is receiving steady insult from them.

BATified2023:
don't b clever by half

We all have western region, eastern region and northern region then but now we have been splitted into 6 geopolitical zones

North west
North Central
North east
South west
South south
South east.

Y are u south east people hell bent on still sharing resources of south south.


U are from south east, oya tell me resources of south east (anambara, Enugu, imo, ebonyi, Abia) that was taken to other places to develop them?

My point exactly

We had
Old western region
Old eastern region
And Northern region
Back then in history, which is now history...
Even Delta and Edo state where in Old western region.
Some people need to read books.

MOJ584:
Dear Professor Efulu Efu,

Speak very louder so that the Caliphate can hear you clearly. Your first tenure is almost gone & Anambra still has NO semblance of an emerging city let alone the Dubai you promised them

Always making baseless statements like Obi's investments being next to nothing et al

Most reasonable people both home & abroad knows that the Contraption needs the Igbo Man far more than the Igbo Man need it....... FACT !!!

in what ways does Nigeria need the Igbo's more than the Igbo's need Nigeria?

givedemwotowoto:
The older generation of Igbos and the eastern region should stand their ground and not exit Nigeria unless compensation is paid for all the resources that were taken from the region to develop places like Lagos, Abuja etc.

I don’t like a whole region being gaslighted by people who milked them dry and divided them for selfish political gain. If you must leave, take back everything you contributed to Nigeria, demand compensation for everything.

what resources? The major oil producing state are not in the South East

Demigod22:
I lived off campus and in a lodge of 45 rooms, more than 15 rooms have campus couples living campus marriage. You will see these girls cooking, washing, cleaning and being wifey.

The tertiary institutions are a crazy place. My experience for four years convinced me that I can never date a student no matter how beautiful she is.

How sex is being given and received in school like two neighbors sharing salt is mind-blowing, many girls you don't need to ask them out, during birthday party, end of the year party, neighbors in the same compound, classmates in the department, staff to students, even the bike men, a Mairuwa got a student pregnant in my school, even a secondary school boy in the University secondary school got a 300 level Sociology girl pregnant too.

Sex is really common and cheap in school. When a neighbor has a birthday and throws a party in the compound, a neighbor must bang a neighbor. Cheating and fornication piqued in school.

School is the place that even the good ones turn wild. Those girls that went to school as a virgin and graduated as a virgin without smooching, sucking, fingering, masturbating, anal sex, send nudes, are quite few and rare.

wow

Tradman:
This remaind me girl wey we stage as if we are acting porn with camera on. Sotey the babe they call me porn star. I enjoy kpekus shall wen I was in uniben. Toto na water for me

wow

badoh:
When Buhari was damaging the country, the northern part of the country looked away and kept mute cos they were enjoying the movie, now that Tinubu is winning over opposition, the likes of El-Rufai and Atiku will be praying that the military should strike because they know that their chances keeps dwindling everyday. That is why as a president you should never entrust key sensitive military formations in the hands of those not from your region. I also know a particular section of the country is also praying for military takeover, they believe if they cant have it, then southwest should not have it, that was why they thwarted the ambition of MKO and supported the military government not to handover power to Abiola.
I'm not in total support of Asiwaju but you cant take the backdoor to seize over power from the southwest, it will definitely backfire and the protest that will follow may be difficult to bring under control. They have seen it is practically impossible to stop him through the ballot and now looking trying to use the military to usurp his government. The northerners better be patient until 2031 when it will be their turn instead of looking for short cut to take over power.

nice take

CaptainJune:
Reminds me of the cryptocurrency crash many investors suffered recently.

37 million naira up in smoke. Trading and marriage are quite alike.

when was this?

Softmirror:
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 where are our 'i must marry a VIRGIN' nl guys?!!!

Make Una come explain wetin dey happen?! Abi na dat Davido's boy Israel go come explain?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


Una think say successful Marriage is all about marrying a virgin?

I don't see any point here because the man have many wives and wants more. If it was only her and there was problem, then the logic can hold.

TheBizGenius:
Heheheheheh. I understand why you would think like this but it's actually not true.

The real issue is that our society values and rewards different elements compared to their own. And as the business/management adage goes, "What gets rewarded gets repeated".

We value small thinking, oppressing your neighbors with small money, relationships without depth, the mysterious that we call "miracles" etc.

They value big thinking, legacy (long term) thinking, crowd funding to help others, clear processes for success, education/constant learning etc.

Our results will surely be different.

Nice take

franchasofficia:
If Tinubu truly means well for Nigeria and wants to end this insecurity, he should order Nigerian military to go back to their barracks, they are compromised, the top generals who are core Northern Muslims are in bed with these terrorists; some for Islamic purpose, others for financial purposes and using the insecurity to enrich themselves by looting the funds allocated for security and fighting insurgency. It's a big business for them, so cut off their lifeline and order them back to their respective barracks and use half of the trillions Nigeria has been wasting on fighting this endless, unwinnable war on insecurity to hire foreign mercenary outfits to end this nationwide insecurity before it finally consumed the whole of Nigeria.



Hire Chinese or Israeli mercenaries and watch insecurity become a think of the past in Nigeria

nice take