By Chukwudi Abiandu
Given the events leading to United States President, Donald Trump’s declaration of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), it has become necessary to interrogate not just the state of the nation, but also the mindset of some of our so-called leaders—particularly the governors and politicians who, out of sheer opportunism, are defecting in droves to the All Progressives Congress (APC) rather than build their parties.
Trump’s declaration was not made lightly. It came from America’s self-assigned role as the world’s sentinel against terrorism; a global responsibility to confront and crush it wherever it festers. In that light, the CPC tag on Nigeria is more than diplomatic censure; it is a moral indictment of the country’s leadership, especially under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose silence and inaction in the face of unrelenting bloodshed betray a chilling carelessness and moral emptiness.
How, one must ask, can a commander-in-chief, sworn to defend the lives and property of his citizens, carry on with such cold detachment as Nigeria drowns in tears, smoke, and blood from the marauding blades of Fulani Islamic fundamentalists?
Let us be clear: the argument that these killings predate Tinubu’s administration is beside the point. Even as leader of the APC, Tinubu never raised his voice in protest while his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, turned a blind eye to the ongoing Christian genocide. He was silent when it mattered most because it served his political convenience.
Yet, this same Tinubu who once weaponized insecurity to demonize President Goodluck Jonathan now hides behind cowardice. The man who berated Jonathan for incompetence now has the audacity to tell Nigerians, “If I fight insecurity, they will kill me.” That statement alone strips him bare—it exposes a man who knows the evil ravaging his country but chooses cowardice over courage, ambition over accountability.
It is, therefore, no wonder that Trump’s declaration resonates deeply with Nigerians. Tinubu’s silence is not statesmanship; it is complicity. His indifference to the cries of the bereaved is not political strategy; it is abdication of moral duty. He has proven himself a president who values survival over service, a commander-in-chief who has surrendered his people to terror in order to preserve his skin and his second-term ambition.
The result? A nation bleeding from a thousand wounds; mass graves, torched villages, displaced families languishing in squalid IDP camps while the invaders seize their lands and rename them. This is Nigeria under the APC, where terrorists bearing AK-47s are escorted to “negotiation centres” while unarmed citizens are buried daily in silence.
And then comes the ultimate shame: the revelation that the President was forewarned about the Yelwata attack but did nothing—true to his oath of non-action. The man who vowed not to “fight insecurity” for fear of death has now confirmed, beyond question, that he is unfit to lead a nation under siege.
Now, against this grim backdrop, Nigerians must ask: what message are the defecting governors and politicians sending when they abandon their parties and run into the APC’s bloody embrace?
Are they telling us that we must continue to follow a president who has publicly renounced the fight against terrorism?
Are they saying we should help them return to power under a man who has failed to defend his oath of office?
Are they telling us that insecurity, terror, and mass displacement are now acceptable conditions of governance?
When a governor defects to the APC today, he is not just switching parties; he is endorsing Tinubu’s moral collapse. He is validating a president who admits fear of terrorists but demands the loyalty of the terrorized. He is asking his people to follow him into the arms of those who funded Miyetti Allah with ₦100 million, an organization that openly promotes the surrender of ancestral lands to Fulani expansionists as the price for peace.
Is that the message these defectors are passing to Nigerians—that we should bow our heads, silence our conscience, and walk willingly into national subjugation?
If that is their message, then let them say so boldly. But they must also be told: history will not forget. Nigerians may be weary, but they are not blind.
Defection is not governance. Betrayal is not strategy. And cowardice, no matter how it dresses itself in political calculation, remains the most unforgivable sin of leadership.
The onus, therefore, is on these defectors to convince Nigerians that their defections are not endorsements of failure; that their crossing over to the APC is not a collective vote for insecurity, complicity, and shame.
Until then, Nigerians are justified to see every defection to the APC as an act of treachery, against conscience, against the oath of leadership, and against the blood of the innocent still staining our soil.
Chukwudi Abiandu, is Editor-in-Chief, Banner Communication Network, publishers of banneronlinenews.com
