The immediate past Chief Imam of Lagos State University, Prof. Amidu Sanni, has described United States President Donald Trump’s threat of military action against Nigeria as “the misadventure of a reckless outburst.”
Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday, the Islamic scholar said the impending U.S. invasion could be avoided if the Nigerian government acted urgently and strategically.
He was reacting to the Trump administration’s decision to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under U.S. law for alleged violations of religious freedom.
Sanni, however, dismissed the allegations as hypocritical, accusing the U.S. government of ignoring worse human rights abuses elsewhere.
Prof. Sanni argued that the tension between both countries was a direct result of Nigeria’s systemic governance failures, ranging from weak diplomacy to poor security coordination.
According to him, the failures include poor international relations, an uncoordinated security architecture, and weak media engagement by government agencies. He added that misinformation by local and foreign non-state actors had further damaged Nigeria’s image abroad.
Sanni lamented that the ongoing killings across the country had claimed lives of both Muslims and Christians since the rise of Boko Haram in 2000.
He blamed successive governments since the return to democracy in 1999 for their inability to tackle the economic, political, and security challenges fueling banditry, kidnapping, illegal mining, and diversion of security funds.
The Islamic scholar maintained that Trump’s statements were driven by economic and political motives, not by genuine concern for human rights.
He argued that the reforms had weakened Western economic dominance, reducing the flow of “free petrodollars and unearned foreign exchange” to vested foreign interests.
Prof. Sanni also criticised the federal government for failing to appoint substantive ambassadors to key global capitals nearly three years into the current administration.
He further faulted the government’s media strategy, saying the presidency had not institutionalised regular engagements with local and international journalists — a failure that, he said, worsened misinformation about the country.
The former Chief Imam urged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) to issue a joint statement affirming religious unity and rejecting any foreign attempt to exploit faith differences.
He stressed that national unity and effective governance, not foreign intervention, were the only solutions to Nigeria’s security and diplomatic challenges.
