2.8 billion dollars is still a lot of money today. But it was worth lots more some four, five decades ago. So, you can understand the uproar when it was alleged that a sum of 2.8 billion dollars went missing in the books of NNPC (NNOC at the time) during a Military Government, and specifically, under the watch of a certain Minister for Petroleum Resources.

It was an allegation that jolted the country, given the size of the alleged missing sum and the standing of the Minister involved. In the midst of the national uproar, I met the Executive Vice-Chairman of an International oil company operating in Nigeria – incidentally, an American company. Over lunch, I asked as delicately as I could, if it was indeed possible, for that kind of money to go missing from the system and what a probe might find. He looked at me intently before saying ‘you might not find the big antelope, but you would find several bush rats should there be a probe.’

For some strange reasons, the Vice-Chairman’s answer came to my consciousness again some fifty years later, when the allegation of Christian genocide was levelled against our country in that you might not see the ‘Big G’, but you will find several levels of religious abuse. I know for certain that there is no Christian genocide as defined, in the south where I come from and I doubt if it has happened in the north. The word genocide is to me a quantum leap from what is happening in our society.

There is a religious marginalization everywhere in the country, low in the south against Muslims and traditionalists but very high in the north against Christians – with religious minorities in these areas having to use their native names to avoid being discriminated against sometimes. There is a serious and growing religious intolerance in the north which hardly exists in the south, with some northern States riding roughshod against the rights of Christians and Animists.

There are States where the Sharia Law is the law and non-Muslims are forced to comply or ship out – at the last count, over ten northern States have adopted Sharia as a State law in contravention of the Constitution and at no economic or even moral advantage to the people. Even a religiously plural State like Kwara State got in the news recently when some Islamic hardliners moved against the celebration if Isese Day, a purely traditional festival. The same State almost came to exchanging punches over some Christian schools a while back.

We have cases of people who have been persecuted for daring to embrace a new religion. We have seen the declaration of Fatwa on people whose words and actions have made some religious hardliners uncomfortable. Worse, we have seen people actually being stoned to death on the streets and in broad daylight on grounds that they desecrated Islam. In these cases, the State had been silent and the leaders mute. No line in the sand had been drawn, no culprits apprehended.

It is this silence that smirks of complicity on the side of State and northern elites. And in doing so, have played into the hands of pro-genocide advocates. There is also no denying that Boko Haram, ISWAP, ISIS and Fulani Herdsmen are Islamic groups. That they kill other Muslims is probably seen as collateral damage for larger economic, political, or even religious interests. I have no doubt that the insecurity in the north, driven largely by Islamic hardliners, and encouraged by varying private interests, would be severely curtailed if there was the political will on the part of northern elites.

If there is anything I agree with President Trump about, it is that the insecurity in the north which is spilling to other parts of the country, is self-inflicted. Just as the insecurity in the south-east is self-inflicted. Whatever interest – jihadist, separatist, economic, political, land, regime change – or a combination of interests fuelling the insecurity, none should be larger than the national interest. If there is anything that President Trump’s classification and the resultant international searchlight should teach us, it is that it is time to look in the mirror. Selfish interests in whatever form, have led to Nigeria becoming a killing field. I believe foreign interests are also involved. But no foreign interest would have a foothold without the acquiescence of the local leaders.

‘A lizard cannot get inside a wall if there is no crack in it’ says a Yoruba proverb. So, let’s look inwards and start fishing out the collaborators. For starters, who are the sponsors? Surely, we must have a list by now after all these years. Secondly, the north should stop indiscriminate breeding and learn to take care of its brood. These jobless youths have become foot soldiers and enablers. An uneducated mind with a hungry body is a perfect tool in the hands of a ruthless manipulator. Thirdly, lets enthrone religious tolerance and fight any injustice based on religion. Sharia law should strictly be for Muslims and not for the State.

Too many clerics are manipulating the minds of the people and too many rightwing religious leaders are gaining undue prominence on both sides of the aisle. It can only lead to intolerance which could lead to genocide. May God forbid a religious war. The constitution describes Nigeria as a secular State. It is for a reason. Let us keep it that way. I hope the National Assembly and President Tinubu will have the conviction and courage to act on this. They have to seize the moment and not sweep things under the carpet. Fourthly, we should strive for ethnic and religious inclusivity in every aspect of our national life.

Finally, I feel nothing but pity for those who seem elated that a foreign leader wants to invade their country. They are, in their naïveté, or delusion, expecting some knight in a shining armour to come and liberate them from their invisible chains. Since when has a Western leader been altruistic towards Africa? Least of all a transactional leader like President Trump? Not only are these Nigerians poor students of history, their self-worth must be so low that they don’t mind being ordered around by neo-colonialists, or indeed anybody in a white skin. They must also hate their country so badly that they don’t care if it is destroyed in the process. Otherwise, which country has the US left better than it met it after a military incursion?

Americans fought for what America is today at a price. Nigerians have to fight for what they want their country to become and be prepared to pay the price. No foreigner, no matter how well intentioned, is going to do it for them.

Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com