Reactions have trailed the Nigerian government’s alleged lobbying of the U.S. to change the genocidal narrative in the country.
In an exclusive interview dated 23 January 2026, social critic, Yusuf Zariyi told Advocatus Africa that “The fact that the Nigerian government is willing to spend $9m on propaganda such as this is automatic proof that there is a Christian genocide.”
He further lamented that the action “demonstrates how compromised the state structures already are,” arguing that “Only someone who has something to hide goes that far to do a cover-up propaganda.”
The advocate for justice and good governance, whose southern-Kanuna region, in the north-central region of the country, has suffered various attacks from suspected Fulani militia in the past 15 years, also shared his thoughts on the government’s consistent denial of Christian genocide despite evidence published by international think tanks like The Pew Research and Aid to the Church in Need.
“Only someone who has something to hide goes that far to do a cover-up propaganda” – Zariyi
“Since the emergence of the APC in 2015, the general body language of the Nigerian government regarding terrorists has changed,” Zariyi said.
He criticised the government’s deradicalisation programme, suggesting that it creates a leeway for evading justice.
“The government seems to be more hasty in pardoning and ‘deradicalising’ the terrorists rather than eliminating them, while abandoning the victims, of course,” he underlined.
On why these denials have been sustained, the Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, Veritas University, Abuja said, “I think the denial by the Nigerian government has more to do with the ethnic, religious and also the ideological identities of the killers. They are Fulani Islamists militia.
“The fact that groups such as Miyetti Allah, that should be proscribed due to their murderous activities against Christians in the Middle Belt, are moving around freely and issuing all kinds of press statements, tells you that it is more likely for the present government or ruling party to admit that there is a genocide against Christians.”
“Admitting to a genocide would mean eliminating the foot soldiers carrying out these killings and their sponsors as well.” – Zariyi
Providing reasons for cover-ups on the contentious issues of Christian genocide, the expert noted that “Admitting to a genocide would mean eliminating the foot soldiers carrying out these killings and their sponsors as well. This single truth is what the Islamist elements in government are doing, whatever it takes to keep the genocide below the radar. But it’s a good thing that the world is no longer blind to the genocide.”
Responding to the recent US intervention against ISIS in the northwest, Yusuf said, “I think the primary mission of the US is to neutralise Islamists, especially in Nigeria, being the most dangerous place on earth today to be a Christian.”
On the arrest of Victor Solomon, a Christian in Kaduna who acted in self-defence, like Sunday Jackson of Adamawa State, who was released from prison custody after international public outcry, the critic explained that “Sunday Solomon or Zidane as he is nicknamed, is just another piece of evidence that the powers of the state are not only complicit in the massacre of Christians by the hands of these Islamists but are ready to punish Christians for daring to brave up to these Jihadists in defending their lives.”
“The powers of the state are not only complicit in the massacre of Christians by the hands of these Islamists but are ready to punish Christians for daring to brave up to these Jihadists in defending their lives.”- Zariyi
Comparing the two arrests, the former National Coordinator of the Middle Belt Patriots stated that “Sunday Jackson was such a case,” and advised, “I do hope that men of good hearts do not let this perversion stand; it will be instituted in Nigeria that even at the point of getting killed, self-defence against an Islamist is a punishable crime.”
