₦airaland Forum

United States congressmen have urged the U.S government to take tougher action against countries violating of religious freedom, citing Nigeria as one of them. The call to action came amid growing concerns over the rise of religious persecution and violence worldwide.

According to witnesses testifying before the US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, Nigeria is at risk of descending into widespread Christian-Muslim violence, with the country being described as the deadliest place on the planet to be a Christian by former US Ambassador, Sam Brownback.

The committee’s hearing, convened by the Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, aimed to assess the mounting threats to religious freedom globally.

The US government had previously designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, CPC, over alleged religious freedom violations.
However, those that testified at the hearing argued that the US government had not done enough to protect vulnerable groups, with some calling for more stringent measures, including sanctions and economic penalties.

Speaking at the congregational hearing, Rep. Chris Smith, Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Africa, emphasised the need for the US government to take a more stricter stance on religious freedom, citing countries such as China, North Korea, Sudan, and Nigeria as examples of governments that severely restrict or violate the right to practice one’s faith.

He noted that Nigeria had taken small actions in addressing religious violence, adding that the CPC designation was a phenomenal first step. He called for the government to apply other policy tools, including sanctions and other economic penalties.

“On the topic of Nigeria, President Trump’s Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation in October was necessary, long-overdue, and bold.

“In his first administration, with the strong backing of his Ambassador-at-Large, San Brownback, who testified at my 2020 hearing, President Trump recognised that the mass killings by Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa, and armed Fulani terrorists against Christians in the Middle Belt, which were clearly motivated by ethnic and religious animus, meant Nigeria met the criteria for a CPC designation, and was so designated.

“Tragically and inexplicably, President Biden and Secretary Blinken took Nigeria off the list; effectively giving the Nigerian government a free pass for enabling religious violence. Genocide Watch has called Nigeria ‘a killing field of defenseless Christians.’

“That wrong in our foreign policy has been righted with the President’s CPC designation. We commend and thank him for that action.

“Now, while the iron is hot, we must urge the government of Nigeria to protect the rights of persecuted Christians and non-radical Muslims. The CPC designation is a phenomenal first step, but in statute, it is accompanied by 15 different policy tools, including sanctions and other economic penalties that can and must be employed to improve the situation on the ground.

“We cannot take our eye off the ball. Christians in the Middle Belt are still being massacred. The government of Nigeria has taken small steps, but a culture of denial by Nigerian officials persists.

“I am deeply concerned that Nigeria has hired the K-Street lobbying firm DCI to the tune of $9 million (that’s $750,000 a month), and a Nigerian billionaire has entered into a $120,000-a-month contract with Valcour to influence Congress and the executive branch.

Following the President’s CPC designation for Nigeria, it’s time for the Department of State to issue the full list of CPC designations. He emphasised the importance of US leadership in promoting religious freedom globally and protecting vulnerable religious groups.

In a prepared submissions ahead of the hearing, Sam Brownback, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, identified Nigeria as “the deadliest place on the planet to be a Christian,” pointing to increasing patterns of violence, displacement, and insecurity. He warned that early signs of a wider “Muslim-on-Christian war” were emerging across Africa, with Nigeria at the center of this danger.

Brownback expressed concerns over the influence of foreign actors, specifically mentioning China, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, in Nigeria’s security environment, suggesting their involvement complicates stability.

He stated that militant Islam was conducting purification efforts in the MENA region and beyond, with Nigeria and Syria serving as key areas of focus where other faiths are excluded.

SHOCKER: ‘13.5m Nigerians’ voted manually in 2015 presidential poll — and Buhari got most of those votes.........

"...Out of this number, 10,184,720 votes are from states won by Buhari and 3,351,591 votes came from states won by Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, representing 75 percent and 25 percent of accredited voters respectively..."

"The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted it has the capacity to transmit election results electronically from remote areas across Nigeria. ..."
"INEC's Position On Electronic Transmission Of Election Results In Nigeria."
https://dailypost.ng/2021/07/17/inec-states-position-on-electronic-transmission-of-election-results-in-nigeria/?

"Telcos Contradict APC, insist Nigeria has Capacity for Electronic Transmission of Election Results.."
https://www.icirnigeria.org/telcos-contradict-apc-insist-nigeria-has-capacity-for-electronic-transmission-of-election-results/

https://punchng.com/inec-counters-nass-says-nationwide-e-transmission-of-election-results-possible/

https://dailypost.ng/2021/07/17/inec-states-position-on-electronic-transmission-of-election-results-in-nigeria/?

https://dailytrust.com/electoral-act-amendment-senate-proposes-mandatory-electronic-transmission-of-results/

"Senate Passes Bill Allowing Electronic Transmission Of INEC Results." https://dailytrust.com/electoral-act-amendment-senate-proposes-mandatory-electronic-transmission-of-results/

https://leadership.ng/no-electronic-transmission-of-result-in-electoral-act-lawan/
Lawan: No Electronic Transmission Of Result In Electoral Act (Video)

"The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says there is no law making it mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results electronically..."
https://gazettengr.com/electronic-transmission-of-election-results-not-mandatory-says-apc/

So what this means is that the president of Nigeria, The Legislature, The Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC ) and the whole governance structure of the country, came together to fool the citizens of this country. This is because, till the election day, the sane and patriotic citizens of this nation were told that election results would be transmitted electronically to the INEC server that was also later denied shamelessly by the same INEC.

You as the government, promised the people that the results of the elections will be transmitted electronically and when you did your internal polling before the election and found out that the ruling party's candidate was going to loose to an opponent from an unfavorable party, you secretly decided to do away with the BVAS?

"IREV Failure: INEC Owes Nigerians An Explanation, Says Jega...."
https://www.channelstv.com/2024/01/26/irev-failure-inec-owes-nigerians-an-explanation-says-jega/

"The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has said it is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations..."
https://sunnewsonline.com/us-knocks-nigerias-presidential-nass-poll/

Here are at least four reasons why Buhari and APC politicians won’t yield to the popular demands for a transparent and fool-proof election in 2023.

One, every pointer at this point points to a plot to perpetuate the current ruling elites in power beyond 2023 whether or not they win an election. The stakes are high for them because they can’t risk people from outside their circle succeeding them for fear of being held to account for the terrible crimes they are committing now.

Second, as a consequence of the first point, they have already machinated a conspiracy to rig the next election with plausible deniability. Electronic transmission of votes would frustrate this.......

It also turned out that even Buhari’s 2015 electoral victory was tainted by the sort of manipulation that electronic transmission of votes would have made impossible. According to DeepDive Intelligence’s analysis of INEC’s publicly available data on the 2015 presidential election, Buhari was a disproportionate beneficiary of possibly fraudulent votes that were masked with and legitimized by “incidence forms.

Of the 31,746,490 accredited voters in the election, 13,536,311 — representing 42.6 percent of voters — voted without biometric accreditation. Out of this number, 10,184,720 votes are from states won by Buhari," the group found.

In other words, more than 30 percent of the votes Buhari got in 2015 did not have biometric accreditation and had to be legitimized by “incidence forms.” If provision hadn’t been made for incidence forms, if every vote had to have biometric accreditation, Buhari’s final vote tally might have been different from what it was.

That experience must have taught him and people in his inner circle that technology isn’t their friend and must be resisted at every point in the conduct of elections. This was perfected and implemented again in the 2019 election, which Buhari obviously lost but which was rigged for him again.

The strategies for rigging started when Buhari declined assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill on December 7, 2018 that would have, among other things, made biometric verification of voters and on-the-spot electronic transmission of votes mandatory. You don’t expect a person who benefited from more than 10 million unverified votes to sign a law that requires that every voter be verified biometrically.

Buhari and APC henchmen obviously love ballot snatching that favors them. After all, APC ballot snatchers in Lagos had a field day without the slightest consequences in the 2019 election. They only want to murder ballot snatchers that aren't APC thugs.

It is obvious that the 2023 election is already rigged more than a year before it will take place. But if they are allowed to get away with it again, forget about democracy ever taking roots. Nigeria would officially be a rigocracy.

Dalohad:
Where is the road that lead to Maryland? Please use arrow to depict.

During the colonial era, Lagos was largely confined to Lagos Island and nearby mainland areas, with much of the surrounding mainland, particularly places like Ikeja, Ikorodu, and Lekki dominated by dense bush, swamps, and mangrove forests.

You can see the bushy areas of Ikeja which tells you that Lagos had lots of forest and swamps. Zoom to see as far as the eyes could see. All you see is forest. Most of these structures seen here are still standing till today. Additional structures were added as the year progressed.

Another location which had some form of human activity was the then Ikeja Airport.
There wasn’t any human living around the Police college and the Ikeja Airport back then in the 1930-1940s. All you saw were farms and forest homes.

Another location in Lagos which has so much life today that was then used as a farm was the location of the Ikoyi Polo Club. It was a fruit growing farm back in the days.

Photo Contributor: Duckworth E. H., 1894-1972 (Photographer/Collector)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTEEp0Tyukw?si=5aPkS8uycwB0ZU8E

"For Those Of Us Who Travel Abroad Frequently, Nigeria is Better Now Than it Was Three Years Ago" - Billionaire Okoya’s 19-Yr-Old Son, Wahab.

Instablog, are you afraid?? Why not also tell the question asked before he started saying that trash.
Simple question o
"Do you know the price of fuel in Nigeria today". pic.twitter.com/QIskSMUOwH

— biggestdre (@potentialamuni) February 2, 2026

Wahab Okoya has shared his perspective on Nigeria’s current state, stating that the country has improved compared to three years ago.
Speaking during a recent interview with Cruise show, Wahab explained that the progress may not be obvious to those who live in Nigeria full time, but is more noticeable to people who travel abroad and return.

In the clip he said; “If you compare Nigeria of three years ago to Nigeria of today, we’re getting better. I know it’s because you guys live in Nigeria, but for us that go to school and come back, like when I come back, the change is so visible.”

Wahab also suggested that Nigerians may not be giving the government enough credit for its efforts, despite the economic and social challenges facing the country.

“We are not giving our government credit because it’s hard, and they are really trying,” he added.