By Emmanuel Goladi
How many of you still remember the conspiracy against President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration with the Chibok Girls? I sincerely don’t care about Donald Trump’s motives for declaring Nigeria a country of concern and highlighting the genocide against Christians. What matters now is that the truth has finally caught up with those who once thrived on deceit.
Before the 2015 election, Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu, and Rotimi Amaechi all traveled to the United States to meet with then Secretary of State John Kerry. It was a strategic move that would later change the course of Nigeria’s political history. Not long after, the Bring Back Our Girls movement became a global sensation, capturing headlines across the world and painting the Jonathan administration as incompetent and insensitive. Western governments and global media joined in the chorus, while the opposition capitalized on the outrage.
The result was predictable. Jonathan was ousted. The All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged as the savior party, promising to end insecurity and restore national pride. But ten years later, what do we have? Kidnapping, killings, and bloodshed have worsened far beyond what they were under Jonathan. The same political class that weaponized tragedy to seize power has failed to heal the wounds they exploited.
Let’s be honest. What happened in 2014 wasn’t just about terrorism; it was a global script written to shift power. The Chibok abduction was a tragedy, but it was also turned into a powerful campaign narrative. The world’s outrage became the opposition’s political capital. And when APC took over in 2015, the so-called strongman Buhari inherited the same insecurity they blamed on Jonathan, only for it to grow into new monsters like ISWAP, banditry, mass abductions, and religious killings.
Now, under Tinubu, history is repeating itself. When Donald Trump declared Nigeria a country of particular concern over the killing of Christians, it wasn’t just a moral statement. It was geopolitical signaling. Trump’s words carry weight because they reflect a wider global consensus that Nigeria is sliding dangerously toward religious violence and state failure. Ironically, this is the same international pressure that once worked in APC’s favor.
In 2014, APC and its allies welcomed Western attention when it was used to discredit Jonathan. Today, that same attention has returned, but this time, it’s directed at them. Seedtime and harvest shall never cease. What was sown as political propaganda in 2014 has ripened into bitter fruit in 2025. Tinubu is now standing where Jonathan once stood, under the blinding light of global judgment, accused of negligence and weakness in the face of mass killings.
With Trump in the White House, Tinubu should brace himself for diplomatic heat. The United States will demand accountability on human rights and security, while Western media will likely revive the same narratives that buried Jonathan’s credibility. The opposition in Nigeria will also seize this opportunity to attack Tinubu, portraying him as complicit in the violence he promised to end.
The irony is striking. APC built its empire on the ruins of a tragedy and now faces the same moral storm it unleashed on others. The world is no longer impressed by recycled excuses. The first duty of any government is to secure lives and ensure prosperity. Tinubu must wake up to that reality or step aside for someone who can.
Nigeria’s insecurity is no longer a regional problem. It’s a national disgrace. The blood of innocent citizens, Christians and Muslims alike, cries louder than campaign slogans. And if anyone still doubts the severity of the crisis, I sincerely pray they experience what millions of Nigerians endure daily.
History has a brutal way of balancing accounts. What APC used as a ladder to power has become a mirror reflecting its failures. In 2015, they weaponized tragedy to bring down a government. In 2025, that same tragedy has returned to test their own conscience. Unless Tinubu acts decisively and restores peace, he risks becoming another president consumed by the very chaos that brought him to power.
Because in the end, Nigeria doesn’t need another clever politician. It needs a leader who can stop the bleeding.
