In working to help educate the internally-displaced children in Nigeria, and digging into the situation there, I’ve been blessed to form relationships with some of the top international experts in the field. These include multiple former ambassadors, a Catholic Cardinal (and personal friend of the Pope), think-tank leaders, international journalists, and many, many more.
Nigeria was victim of the worst of British colonialism. When Great Britain pulled out in the middle of the last century, they arbitrarily created the borders of modern Nigeria, ignoring natural tribal, cultural, religious and geographic divisions. (Despite the dire warnings by TE Lawrence “of Arabia” of endless future conflict, they did the exact same thing after WWI In the Middle East. Lawrence was right. A strategy to maintain control?)
Nigeria is roughly divided between North and South. The North has been ruled by Sharia Law for nearly 1000 years. For about that long, it has been the epicenter of the global slave trade. They’re the ones who captured and enslaved those who were sold into slavery in America and elsewhere. And they still have open-air slave markets today.
The South could be best described as a Book of Acts-style Christians community. It is vibrant, generous and genuine – unlike anything most American Christians have ever experienced.
Equilibrium has been kept in modern times through a culture of tolerance. The National Cathedral and National Mosque are side-by-side in Abuja, and the exact same height. Historically, the presidency has alternated between Christian and Muslim.
Radical insurgency has been ever-present but mostly kept at bay in the far North. The Nigerian Army fought against Boko Haram with US military advisors and intel assistance. That all stopped in 2014, during the “Arab Spring” period, when numerous stable governments were handed off to radical Islamists.
The Nigerian President at the time was fighting Boko Haram and gearing up for re-election. Suddenly, just as a radical fringe candidate from the North emerged – a brutal warlord named Mohammadu Buhari, on the record calling for global Sharia Law – Boko Haram started gaining ground. This is when the 276 Chibok Girls were kidnapped, amidst much international outcry, and numerous other atrocities were committed (including the brutal occupation of Ms. Hanatu’s village, which drove her to the IDP camp). Jonathan was on the ropes and ended up losing.
Buhari’s reign has been horrifying. Nigeria is now the number one nation on earth for Christian genocide, and it’s only getting worse. I can tell you from my own travels there, the whole nation is living in fear.
Here’s what most people don’t know: Guess who was Buhari’s on-the-record campaign advisor? This radical, fringe candidate’s campaign was guided by none other than David Axelrod, Obama’s political director. The reason Jonathan started losing to Boko Haram is because Obama formally cancelled American military assistance to the Nigerian government – because, he claimed, the don’t recognize gay marriage. (Forget the fact that homosexuals are publicly executed in the North.) Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Nigeria – but he didn’t visit the Capitol, instead he visited the mullahs in the North.
I have a friend who is a retired Level 5 military intelligence operative. He was a White House liaison then, and in the Situation Room when the Chibok Girls were kidnapped. We had real-time drone and satellite intel, and knew exactly where those girls were every step of the way. Nigerian Army forces were not far away. But we refused to give them the intel to save those girls. To make the Christian president look bad. To get the radical Muslim elected.
When Michelle Obama was holding up the #BringOurGirlsBack sign on social media, her husband was literally selling those same girls into a life of brutal sex slavery, all to get his man elected – and hand a Top 5 OPEC nation off to the Islamists.
When we bombed ISIS out of the Middle East, they moved to Nigeria. It’s now called ISWAP – Islamic State West African Province. Same sophisticated organization, same evil people, same torture and beheadings – and a new place where nobody is paying attention. Truly, we’re on the verge of genocide on the level of Hitler or Stalin or Mao.
Did you know one of President Biden’s first acts was to officially remove Nigeria from the official Religious Persecution Watch List? Now the victims can’t even apply for asylum.
I could keep going, but you get the picture. It’s bad, very bad.
Nigeria is a nation full of bright, educated, hard-working, passionate, entrepreneurial people and vast natural resources. They can emerge as global leaders if we let them. This current generation holds the key.
Boko Haram translated means “Western Education is Forbidden.” They’re fighting for a dark future by seeking to forbid the education of a generation of children.
This is why Ms. Hanatu asked for only one thing: “Help us educate these children.”
The children are the battleground. They are the future. That’s why we’re building schools there.
Find out more at www.LetUsRiseAfrica.org.
Mike Arnold is an international entrepreneur and missionary who is proud to call Blanco his home. Contact him at [email protected].
