Empty Diplomacy, Real Graves.. A Reply to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affair

[Toyin Falola]

Empty Diplomacy, Real Graves.. A Reply to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

By

Sa'adiyyah Adebisi Hassan

So the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has finally responded to Donald Trump’s statement declaring Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern.” But instead of addressing the core issue mass killings, targeted attacks, and the collapse of security they served us another diplomatic lullaby filled with empty phrases: “rules-based international order,” “celebrate diversity,” “laser focus,” and other recycled nonsense that means absolutely nothing to the families burying their loved ones.

Let’s be honest the Ministry’s statement is polished, polite, and politically sterile. It reads like a document written for foreign approval, not for Nigerians bleeding in their homes. You cannot “celebrate diversity” when diversity itself is under attack. You cannot talk about “tolerance” when extremists are turning villages into ashes. And you cannot salute the armed forces while underfunding them, politicising command structures, and failing to protect the very people they swore to defend.

1. Nigeria doesn’t need diplomatic grammar. It needs leadership.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote as though the problem was a PR crisis, not a humanitarian catastrophe. The issue isn’t that Donald J. Trump spoke the issue is why he needed to. When thousands die, when priests are kidnapped, when imams are killed in their mosques, when schools are raided it becomes global news because the Nigerian government treats domestic bloodshed like weather reports: “we note with concern.”

Noting is not enough.

Condemning is not enough.

Tweeting prayers is not enough.

Governance is about prevention, not press releases.

2. Stop hiding behind “extremism in the Sahel.”

That line “violent extremism across the West African and Sahel regions” is a cowardly deflection. The Sahel didn’t wake up and invade Nigeria. Nigeria’s insecurity is homegrown, bred by corruption, political neglect, and decades of impunity. If bandits can control territories, abduct citizens, and trade hostages for ransom, it’s not because of “foreign interests.” It’s because the Nigerian state has abandoned its people.

The Ministry loves to externalise Nigeria’s failures always pointing fingers outward while refusing to fix what’s collapsing within. Yes, there are foreign arms and influences, but it’s your own political elite who left the door wide open.

3. You salute the military but you fail them.

Every day, brave Nigerian soldiers are dying on the frontlines with poor logistics, inadequate equipment, and delayed allowances. You “salute” them in press statements but refuse to reform the defence system or demand accountability from commanders who play politics instead of war. Real patriotism isn’t a paragraph it’s policy.

4. Religious neutrality isn’t achieved through denial.

You claim the government “defends all citizens irrespective of religion.” That would be believable if victims from both faiths were treated equally, if justice wasn’t selective, and if investigations didn’t disappear into silence. Nigerians know the truth: some massacres get a presidential condolence message, others don’t even get a mention. That double standard breeds resentment, and resentment feeds division.

5. Diversity is not your strength if unity is fake.

You said “diversity is our greatest strength.” It should be but only when it’s managed with fairness, justice, and inclusion. Today, diversity is being exploited by politicians who weaponise ethnicity and religion to gain power. What’s left is a divided population drowning in insecurity and poverty while officials write poetic statements for the international press.

6. Nigeria doesn’t need foreign pity it needs internal truth.

Let’s be clear: Donald Trump isn’t a saint. His motives may be political, but his statement reflects a reality our government is too proud to admit Nigeria is bleeding. When outsiders start speaking for your victims, it means you’ve failed your own.

Instead of replying Trump with diplomatic niceties, the Ministry should have listed actions arrests made, communities rebuilt, militants neutralised, reforms underway. But no, it’s easier to write “we remain committed” than to actually be committed.

7. Words don’t bury the dead.

While you’re “noting statements” and “celebrating tolerance,” Nigerians are digging graves in Plateau, Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue, and Borno. Farmers can’t go to their fields. Parents can’t send their children to school. Entire local governments are now under criminal control. Yet, Abuja responds like a beauty pageant contestant talking about world peace.

Nigeria doesn’t need another polished paragraph.

It needs results.

It needs accountability.

It needs courage.

Until then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should spare us the diplomatic poetry and face the brutal truth: you don’t earn global respect by denying your domestic reality.

Trump may have his motives, but at least he called attention to a truth our own leaders prefer to bury.

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