By Paul Ebi
Nigerian social commentator and development expert, Princewill Odidi, has sparked intense debate after openly supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent claim that a genocide is taking place in Nigeria. In a strongly worded statement titled “Good Morning Africa”, Odidi accused the Nigerian government of complicity and failure in addressing the country’s worsening insecurity.
According to Odidi, Trump’s remarks were not far from the truth, arguing that American intelligence is far too advanced to allow such a statement without verification.
> “Trump saying a genocide was ongoing in Nigeria was true. At a point, killings were no longer news in Nigeria’s media, so it was underreported by local journalists. Insurgents operate in broad daylight,” Odidi lamented.
He recalled a chilling moment when a northern governor admitted on live television that security agencies knew members of Boko Haram and their families but could do nothing.
> “This is the kind of lawless country we have built post-independence,” he stated.
Odidi further dismissed calls by Nigerian statesmen urging Washington to collaborate with Abuja through diplomatic channels rather than threats, insisting that such partnerships had only deepened corruption and emboldened insurgents.
> “So what exactly do you want America to do in the collaboration and diplomacy? Bring more money so our politicians continue to share? Or bring in more arms which will end up in the hands of terrorists?” he queried.
The U.S.-based analyst decried the impunity with which terrorist groups now operate, noting that Boko Haram and allied factions no longer hide their faces but hold open press conferences and overrun military bases with ease.
> “If the military cannot confront them, what then is the fate of ordinary, defenseless Nigerians?” he asked. “We have failed as a people, as a nation, as a civilization. Indeed, we are a disgraced country.”
Odidi painted a grim picture of life for thousands of innocent Nigerians abducted and held in terrorist camps, including young girls subjected to torture and sexual abuse.
> “Girls as young as 14 years, captured and abandoned in the forest, and life goes on as though nothing happened. Nigeria failed them,” he wrote.
Rejecting the notion of further international collaboration, Odidi made a controversial call for outright U.S. military intervention, insisting that decades of aid, diplomacy, and intelligence sharing had only worsened insecurity.
> “For the past 20 years, collaborations, diplomacy and aid have produced more terrorists. Invade and wipe them out!” he declared.
Odidi’s remarks have since divided public opinion, with some Nigerians applauding his courage to speak truth to power, while others criticized his call for foreign intervention as extreme and potentially dangerous.
Nonetheless, his statement underscores growing frustration among citizens who believe Nigeria’s political class has failed to protect its people and that international diplomacy has yielded little progress in ending the country’s prolonged insurgency.
