Trump’s threats: Nigeria’s weak foreign policy, others open door for interference

A research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Dengiyefa Angalapu, has warned that the United States President, Donald Trump’s recent threat of military action against terrorists in Nigeria could open the door for foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs and worsen insecurity.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, Angalapu said the statement by Trump had raised discussion among Nigerians, but it was important to unpack the issues and understand why it resonated with certain groups.

According to him, Nigeria’s conflict landscape is complex because of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature, with different groups interpreting insecurity through religious or ethnic lenses.

“Nigeria is multi-ethnic and multi-religious. If you examine the current conflict dynamics, although we have insecurity across all the six geopolitical zones, there is some kind of ethnic and religious correlation to it,” he explained.

He pointed out that in the North-East, groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP are driven by jihadist ideologies aimed at establishing an Islamic state, while in the North-West and North-Central, the situation is more complicated.

“In the North-East, you have Boko Haram, which is basically against western influence and education, but there is something fundamental about their activities, they are jihadist groups seeking to establish an Islamic state,” he said.

“In the North-Central, you also have groups like Ansaru and the Lakurawa who seek to establish an Islamic state. But bandits are more criminal and economic in nature rather than ideological.”

He noted that most of these groups claim to be Muslims, which has made many Christian communities interpret attacks as religiously motivated.

“One common trend about all these groups is that they profess Islam, whether they adhere to it or not is another conversation,” he said.