Nigeria has no history of foreign invasion

Former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, has faulted United States President Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria if the alleged genocide against Christians is not stopped in the country.

Sani’s reaction, posted on X on Monday, directly addresses Trump’s statement on Truth Social, which warned that the U.S. “may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists.”

The human rights activist based his condemnation on an appeal to national pride and historical accountability, particularly rejecting the President’s description of the country as a “now disgraced country.”

“Someday we will all be gone. The future generations, including our children and grandchildren, will read about all that we posted and ask questions about where we stood on the urgent and controversial matters in this moment of our lifetime.

“I want history to record me among those who outrightly opposed, reject and unreservedly condemn any act of Mr Trump’s foreign military aggression against my country under any guise, disguise or excuse,” Sani wrote.

He pushed back against the “disgraced country” label, arguing that Nigeria, unlike some other nations, has no history of colonisation or large-scale foreign invasion.

He said, “My country is not a ‘disgraced country’ and will never be a ‘disgraced country.’ Anyone who is proud of his mother, who gave birth to him after months of labour in his ancestral land, will not accept his land being called ‘disgraced’.

“We are not a nation that has ever colonised, enslaved or invaded any country or countries and dropped bombs and killed millions of people and plundered their resources. Without such a record against other countries, we can’t be called ‘disgraced’.”

While acknowledging Nigeria’s security crisis, noting that the country “has been facing security challenges in the last 16 years,” Sani stated that Nigeria will “welcome any support and assistance to our security forces that will help in crushing and annihilating terrorists in our country.”

He also urged the Nigerian government to “step up efforts to protect the lives of our people and secure our country, which is the only country we can live without a visa or request for a visa.

“As a democrat, I respect but will never share the opinion of those who think otherwise, and want history to register them as supporters of foreign aggression.”

PUNCH reported in September that Sani had similarly faulted American commentator Bill Maher’s claim that Nigeria is experiencing systemic killings of Christians.

He also described Trump’s recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged persecution as “falsehood and misinformation”, insisting that terrorists and bandits do not target victims based on religion, but rather target citizens “irrespective of their religious beliefs.”