12/02/2025
WHEN TRUMP’S BODY LANGUAGE FORCES TINUBU TO SIT UP
By Osoria Asibor
For years, many naïve Nigerians clung to the delusion that President Muhammadu Buhari’s “body language” was somehow enough to steer the nation in the right direction. It was a coping mechanism—an attempt to explain away his legendary inability to communicate, to provide direction, or even to show the slightest hint of mental presence. Nigerians could not understand him, could not read him, and eventually could not trust that he was thinking at all.
While the nation tried to interpret his silence, governance fell apart. Policies were inconsistent, leadership was absent, and the vacuum at the top allowed politicians and even senior military officers to pursue private interests with reckless abandon. By the time Buhari completed his eight years, Nigeria was a degraded shadow of itself—broken, directionless, and drifting.
Then entered another president with more political baggage than any leader in our recent history. Instead of shedding that weight and focusing on the constitutional mandate given to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu chose to continue the half-blind, half-hearted governance style of his predecessor. Under his watch, insecurity not only persisted—it worsened. Farmers were slaughtered in their fields, entire communities were emptied, and famine tightened its grip because those who survived the attacks were too terrified to return to their farms.
And while the nation bled, our military hierarchy—though not clueless—proved largely unpatriotic. Many officers pursued personal gain, leaving young soldiers to be massacred by both foreign invaders and misguided Nigerians who chose the path of terror. Terrorism has been with us since 2009, but what Nigeria witnessed in recent years was a new level of brutality, one increasingly targeted at Christians while moderate Muslims were caught as collateral damage. That targeted persecution fractured communities and weakened their ability to stand united.
Through all these years of slaughter, displacement, kidnappings, and public humiliation, the Nigerian president remained unmoved. Terrorists became celebrities—posting videos, granting interviews, mocking the nation’s security forces—and the government looked on, unwilling or unable to act.
But eventually, the cries of Nigerians reached beyond our borders. They reached the Oval Office.
This is where the story takes a dramatic turn.
President Donald J. Trump openly expressed his disappointment at Tinubu’s indifference to the mass killings—especially the killings of Christians. Regardless of Tinubu’s religious identity (and despite the extremist lineage of his vice, whose records are widely documented), Trump warned the Nigerian president, stating clearly that if Nigeria failed to address the carnage, the United States would apply kinetic solutions.
That warning sent shockwaves through the Nigerian government—not because they suddenly gained compassion for victims, but because American intervention could threaten the very seats they cling to. Self-preservation, not patriotism, forced them to act.
And now we are beginning to see subtle evidence that the government always knew what to do, but simply lacked the will. Their new attempts to shake up the military are not born from sudden wisdom; they are a reaction to pressure—external pressure.
If you ever wanted to know what “body language” truly means, this is it:
One nation’s leader demonstrating seriousness so strongly that another nation’s negligent leadership finally wakes up.
But let us be clear:
Until Sheikh Gumi—who moves freely and speaks like a public relations officer for terrorists—is arrested and prosecuted, the Nigerian government is merely performing for the cameras.
We want a Nigeria where:
Justice is swift and blind to status, tribe, or religion.
Displaced citizens are returned to their ancestral lands and compensated.
The military and security agencies are respected by both leaders and citizens—just like in the United States, Canada, and other nations with responsible leadership.
Anything less is mere pretense.
Until then, we watch.
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