Soyinka warns Trump against inflaming religious tensions in Nigeria

Soyinka warns Trump against inflaming religious tensions in Nigeria

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has cautioned United States President Donald Trump against making sweeping statements on religious persecution in Nigeria, warning that such remarks could heighten sectarian tensions and misrepresent the country’s complex security challenges.

Trump had recently directed the U.S. Department of Defence to prepare for “possible action” in Nigeria, urging the Nigerian government to halt what he described as the “killing of Christians.” The Nigerian government has since dismissed the allegation, insisting that insecurity in the country affects citizens of all faiths.

Speaking in an interview with Democracy Now, Soyinka said Trump’s comments risk deepening religious hostilities and distorting the real nature of Nigeria’s conflict.

“We must separate Nigeria’s long-standing internal problems from President Trump’s recent response,” he said. “The Christian–Islam, or Islam-versus-the-rest kind of dichotomy has existed for decades. It became truly horrendous when politics got mixed up with religious differences.”

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The Nobel laureate explained that extremist groups have long exploited religion for political and economic gains, while successive governments failed to address the problem decisively, allowing impunity to thrive.

He cited the recent lynching of a student accused of blasphemy — whose killers publicly bragged about the act but went unpunished — as an example of how justice failures fuel perceptions of a religious war.

“In truth, we are dealing with extremists — political Islamists, known sometimes as ISWAP or Boko Haram — not with Muslims as a people,” Soyinka clarified.

He warned that such groups have established ties with global terror

networks and possess advanced weapons that pose a major challenge to Nigeria’s military.

Soyinka also faulted previous Nigerian administrations for failing to confront violent fundamentalism early enough, saying external statements like Trump’s only make the situation worse.

“When we have sweeping statements like Trump’s, it doesn’t make things easier. It expands the regions of hostility and makes peaceful resolution even more difficult,” he said.

When asked to respond to Trump’s use of the phrase, “We will act very vicious and sweet,” Soyinka described it as “a troubling mix of ignorance and arrogance that could have dangerous implications for a fragile nation like Nigeria.”

Soyinka warns Trump against inflaming religious tensions in Nigeria