Trump’s CPC Declaration: Scapegoating Ndigbo for Nigeria’s failure
For those who have followed events and the politics of Nigeria since her independence from colonial rule in 1960, the Igbo tribe has literally remained the beleaguered nation’s scapegoat for failure. And unfortunately, the nation has failed virtually in all fronts. Historically, Since the 1966 pogroms and the Civil War, the Igbo had often borne the brunt of national provocations even as the scapegoating of the resilient tribe routinely intensifies during election cycles, particularly in Lagos State, where they are usually targeted by political actors. So, as a pattern, blaming Ndigbo for the many failings of Nigeria has evolved as part of the culture of the nation’s politics. The Igbo are easily served as a prey in the nation’s treacherous politics of divide and rule.
However, although they are blamed for various national crises ranging from insecurity to economic decline, critical observers know the truth, and that the strategy is usually to distract the people from the perennial failure of Nigeria’s inept leadership. Not a few are in agreement that the country is bedevilled by a political class that revels in hypocrisy and double standards. They capitalise on the vulnerability and gullibility of an embattled citizenry to distract from the real issues weighing the nation down.
Perhaps, one of the most ridiculous instances of that entrenched culture of distraction was the recent attempt by the ‘propaganda department’ of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to impute that Ndigbo were behind the declaration of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern(CPC) by the United States.
In what appeared like a hatchet job by agents of the government, a recent report by the New York Times claimed that the United States relied on information produced by one Emeka Umeagbalasi, a screwdriver trader based in Onitsha, Anambra State, to justify its first official airstrikes carried out in Nigeria. Many commentators agree that even a moron would not believe such a report but being an Igbo, many gullible Nigerians would want to agree that Umeagbalasi’s research actually influenced the US Republican lawmakers and shaped narratives about violence against Christians in Nigeria.
Surprisingly, those spewing that narrative to smear the Igbo earlier said the US air strikes in Sokoto were carried out in collaboration and agreement with the federal government. That is a contradiction.
Many argue that even though virtually all governments employ propaganda as a tool of communication but it ought to be coordinated and made to appear convincing to the people. It is obvious that those handling the image of President Bola Tinubu’s government need to do more in the area of strategic communication.
Many still wonder how some agents and aides of government went to town with the narratives that the Igbo ethnic group led by IPOB influenced the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
It is in a bid to score cheap political points that power brokers sponsor such media narratives to scapegoat Ndigbo for the country’s diplomatic and security challenges. The hollow propaganda is that Igbo activism led to the CPC designation and prompted international pressure on the Nigerian government.
But critical observers know that it is just a ploy by desperate politicians to paint the Igbo black, and to serve as a distraction. It is preposterous to imagine that the security crises including terrorism, banditry, and herdsmen attacks are driven by the Igbo who do not control the major levers of federal power responsible for national security.
The truth is that facts do not lie as the US designation is based on “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations” of religious freedom, particularly regarding the mass killings of Christians in the North and Middle Belt.
Honest observers agree that the CPC designation was majorly based on reports from Middle Belt activists and human rights groups who documented severe religious persecution, especially against Christians amid successive governments’ inaction.
Activists documented systematic attacks, killings and forced displacement of ancestral lands often by “Fulani ethnic militias,” targeting Christian communities in the Middle Belt and other areas.
Groups like the Middle Belt Forum and others provided critical evidence and testimony, pushing for international recognition of the atrocities and holding the government accountable.
Reports from such groups highlighted a “mass slaughter” of Christians, specifically citing a series of attacks in June 2025 that killed over 200 people in North-central Nigeria. Activists and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reported that the Nigerian government either tolerated or failed to respond effectively to violence by non-state actors, including radical Islamist militants and armed Fulani militias.
Groups such as ADF International and various Nigerian Christian associations provided extensive documentation of over 52,000 Christian deaths since 2009, with Nigeria accounting for 72 per cent of global Christian killings in 2025.
Many observers are surprised that despite the obvious facts and video evidence that the Middle Belt actually championed the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, some power brokers are working round the clock to hold Ndigbo responsible for the ugly development. For those who understand the game, the recent efforts to demonise the Igbo is targeted at the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP), Mr Peter Obi ahead of 2027 general elections. The whole idea is to reinforce the stereotype that Ndigbo are against the continued existence of Nigeria as a corporate entity, hence, any presidential candidate from the tribe should not enjoy popular support from people of other extractions in the country.
Currently ahead of 2027, the social media is already awash with all manner of narratives by paid agents to paint the Igbo black. The strategy by some mercenaries of the government is to sustain a campaign of calumny against Ndigbo as the general election approaches.
However, what such people do not know is that national development is a collective effort which would remain a mirage without the contribution of the Igbo whose resilient spirit cannot be matched by any other tribe in the country. There is no doubt that for Nigeria to reach its full potential, the Igbo must be fully integrated into the highest levels of political leadership and treated with equity. Honest Nigerians know that the perennial efforts by some ethnic political buccaneers to demonise Ndigbo would not lead the nation anywhere.
