Israel Umoh
In Nigeria’s endless theatre of conflict, few things travel faster than a dangerous idea. And “Youssouf” — a symbolic figure for the chorus of commentators, propagandists, and pseudo-analysts who peddle half-truths about a so-called Christian genocide in northern Nigeria — has become one of the loudest voices in this chaos.
The African Union Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf’s narrative is simple, sensational, and deeply flawed: that northern Nigeria is witnessing a singular, coordinated effort to exterminate Christians. This storyline feeds on raw emotion, historical grievances, and the nation’s long-standing fractures. Yet it is misconceived, reductionist, and utterly blind to the much broader tragedy engulfing the region.
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Hear the trained diplomat with oblong, unsmiling face declaring ‘‘There is no genocide in northern Nigeria, the said, rejecting accusations by US President Donald Trump that “very large numbers” of Christians were being killed in Africa’s most populous country.
“What’s going on in northern part of Nigeria has nothing to do with the kind of atrocities we see in Sudan or in some part of eastern DRC,” Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told reporters at the United Nations in New York, referring to Democratic Republic of Congo.
But in rejecting Youssouf’s simplistic framing, Nigerians must also reject the Federal Government’s equally dangerous counter-narrative — the repeated official insistence that “there is no crisis,” “there is no mass killing,” “there is no religious dimension,” and that those raising alarm are merely “politicising insecurity.”
The truth, as always, sits uncomfortably in the middle — and it is messier, bloodier, and more urgent than either side admits.
Let’s be clear: Northern Nigeria is witnessing mass violence. Entire communities have been displaced. Churches and mosques lie in ashes. Families mourn loved ones whose names may never make it to a police report, let alone a headline.
But what is not happening is a clear-cut religious genocide of Christians.
What is happening is far more complex — a lethal blend of: extremist insurgency, banditry, communal clashes, criminal opportunism, state failure, and political manipulation.
Reducing this sprawling crisis to a single religious agenda — as Youssouf and others do — blinds us to the fact that Muslim communities have also been massacred, abducted, and erased from the map by the same groups.
Yet the government’s constant refrain that “there is no targeting, no pattern, no religious undertone” insults survivors who have witnessed attackers choose victims based on identity.
Both narratives — Youssouf’s and the government’s — are irresponsible. Both erase part of the truth. Both deepen mistrust. And both, in their own ways, help the bloodshed continue.
Northern Nigeria is not suffering from a genocide. But it is suffering from chronic mass atrocities enabled by: weak governance, collapsing rural security, unpoliced borders, joblessness, extremism, and political cowardice.
Calling this crisis genocide distorts the solution. Calling it overblown destroys trust. What Nigeria needs is honesty — something in short supply from both the panicked prophets of doom and the government officials who pretend nothing unusual is happening.
The Ways Out
To reduce the carnage, the Federal Government must move past denial. A country cannot fix a problem it refuses to acknowledge.
Moreover, rural communities need functional policing, rapid-response units, early-warning networks, and trained community-watch structures.
Again, Leaks, corruption, and collusion with criminal groups have crippled trust. Accountability must be non-negotiable.
Target the financiers, cattle-rustling rings, illegal mining networks, arms traffickers, and ransom machines keeping armed groups alive.
Land-use reform, gazetted grazing routes or ranching systems, water infrastructure, and climate adaptation are critical.
Not photo-ops — but sustained, grassroots-level collaboration between Christian and Muslim leaders in hotspots.
Special courts for mass-atrocity cases, compensation for victims, and rehabilitation centres for the displaced.
Skills, micro-credit, agricultural support, and local manufacturing hubs — not endless palliatives.
Whether from Youssouf, political actors, or ministries — inflame tensions.
Nigeria needs fact-checking, transparency, and real-time communication during crises.
Northern Nigeria is not experiencing the genocide Youssouf imagines, nor the trouble-free landscape the Federal Government keeps insisting on.
It is experiencing something just as catastrophic: a sustained pattern of mass killings enabled by state weakness, extremist opportunism, and competing false narratives.
Until Nigeria confronts the full truth – not the comfortable truth, not the political truth, but the real one – the killings will continue, the divisions will harden, and both sides will keep shouting past each other as the country burns.
