The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Garba Shehu, has said the removal of Nigeria from the watchlist of
religious violators by the United States is “a triumph of diplomacy and
sagacity over hate-driven foreign policy, itself founded on false propaganda.”
Nigeria was removed from the watchlist in the run-up to the
visit by US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken to the President, Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement he signed on Friday, Shehu said the President
“is truly satisfied with the decision by the United States to remove Nigeria
from that unwanted list of countries.”
According to him, Blinken said the decision of the administration
of US President Joe Biden was “based on facts.”
This is as he stated that Nigeria was included in the list
on the heels of falsehood and misinformation about the country orchestrated by
extremist groups and the Indigenous People of Biafra in a well-funded
international media campaign.
The statement read in part, “In expressing the country’s
appreciation for this, the President noted that there is freedom of worship in
Nigeria, and no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her faith.
Since Nigeria was included in December 2020, in the
aftermath of the Donald Trump’s election loss, it has taken only 11 months for
this decision to be reversed under the Biden administration.
“This sad and uncalled for ban came on the heels of 12 months
of lies by some extremist groups and the banned terrorist group the Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB’s well-funded international media campaign.
Nigeria should never have been on the list. It was included
after paid right-wing American lobbyists were funded millions of dollars by
IPOB to spread falsehoods and misinformation about Nigeria. Those who willingly
took money from terrorists spread falsehoods against a democratically elected
government. They took advantage of well-meaning, God-fearing Americans to whom
they spread their lies.
“Their aim was to drive a wedge, for political advantage,
between the two great religions and by doing so, make true their fake claims
that Muslims and Christians cannot live side-by-side in love and peace. They
did not care if their maliciousness was the cause of religious tension. In
fact, it is possible they sought to encourage it to prove their point. Yet,
despite all the funds at their disposal, they only convinced for a brief time
those who had been voted out of office by US citizens to add Nigeria to the
list.
“It is a fallacy to suggest Nigeria lacks religious freedom.
A visit to any city will see a surfeit of posters for religious groups, for
Muslims and Christians alike. Nigerians wear our faith on our sleeves.
Nigeria is one of the most religious nations in the world –
near equally balanced between Muslims and Christians. It is well-known the
President counts amongst his personal friends many global Christian leaders,
though he himself is Muslim; our Vice President is an Evangelical pastor; our
cabinet is equally balanced between Christians and Muslims.
“This is not to say
there are no tensions. The President and all who serve in his administration
know there are. And they are being addressed: for instance, the present
administration is the only government since independence to introduce a plan to
address farmer-herder clashes. Today that plan is working. Many states are
taking the lead in its implementation because they, not the Federal Government
control land.
“What we said at the time of the listing remains true that
the government under President Muhammadu Buhari is run in accordance with our
constitution. The losses of life and threats to the lives of our civilian
populations from communal and inter-communal violence, banditry and terrorism
are of great concern to the administration. It is, therefore, incorrect for
anyone to assume the position that the government is doing nothing to address
these intertwined threats.
“This administration has successfully dispossessed
terrorists in the Northeast of all land and territory that they held; forcing
them into hiding out amongst remote forests and across borders and they are
being fought in those locations.
“To address the cases of violence against the civilian
population in the face of the harsh odds imposed by the COVID economy, this
administration just recently recruited 10,000 new constables. All arms of the
Military and paramilitary agencies have been authorised to recruit additional
men. The procurement of military hardware has been intensified.
“With this egregious listing removed, US-Nigeria relations
are now reset, and we can jointly seek resolution to other critical matters –
including the fight against terrorists across the Sahel region. This task was
complicated by the now reversed decision. To that end, the present
administration looks forward to working with the Biden administration on
matters, bilateral and multilateral that are important to our friendly states.
“President Buhari is satisfied with the decision by the
United States to remove Nigeria from a list of countries deemed to lack
religious freedom, placed there by a previous US administration no longer in
office.”
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