Northern-Nigeria Perspective

The current state visit of *President Bola Ahmed Tinubu* to the United Kingdom was, by every ceremonial standard, a spectacle of prestige. From the stately reception to the banquet hosted by King Charles III at Windsor Castle, from the polished motorcade to the guard of honour, the pageantry was unmistakable. Accolades were generously dispensed; encomiums flowed with diplomatic grace. On the surface, it was an image of Nigeria elevated and respected. In diplomacy, such appearances carry the weight of symbolic honour.  2. Yet, beneath the glitter of these ceremonies lies a more troubling question: can honour be complete when it is divorced from context? The central flaw of the visit is not in the fact of diplomacy itself, but in its failure to reckon with moral timing - the invisible yet decisive measure of responsible leadership. A state visit may indeed constitute diplomatic honour in the abstract, but politics is never conducted in the abstract; it is judged in the li...

  A Hollow Cry: The AVID Letter to Trump and the Politics of Igbo Irredentism                         By           Umar Ardo, Ph.D The recent letter by the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) addressed to U.S. President Donald J. Trump is a disheartening display of national hatred and ethnic irredentism masquerading as religious advocacy. Dated November 2, 2025, and signed by Chief Dr. Sylvester Onyia and Dr. Godson Obiagwu, the letter thanks Mr. Trump for designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged persecution of and genocide against Christians. Beneath its polite diplomatic tone lies a familiar pattern of behaviour - the Igbo elite’s reflexive ethnic opposition to the Nigerian state, which they do not believe in unless controlled by them. 2. AVID’s claim that there is a genocidal campaign against Christians in Nigeria is not only false but maliciously misleading. I...