The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said that diplomatic efforts between Nigeria and the United States are yielding results amid recent tensions between both governments. This comes after US President Donald Trump alleged that Christianity in Nigeria was facing an “existential threat” from radical Islamist groups.
Speaking during an interview on Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim on Monday night, Idris disclosed that communication lines between Abuja and Washington have been re-established and are proving effective.
According to him, the United States has been understanding the situation better since communication was opened, and a lack of discussion led to the recent controversy.
“Channels of communication have been opened, I can confirm that; we are talking to them, and I think they are understanding the situation better.
We believe that most of the information is a result of a lack of a proper understanding of the diversity and complexity of the problem we have at hand,” he said.
Idris further alleged that certain lobby groups in the US are linked to a proscribed separatist organisation in Nigeria and are working hard to misinform American authorities.
He concluded by refuting some figures and positions from the US government regarding Nigeria’s internal challenges, stressing a better understanding of the nation’s realities.
“Let me also put it out there that we are seeing a direct connection between (US) lobbyists and (a) proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria, and we have seen how they have set up this lobby in the US, contacting high-up people in the United States to help them to lobby.
What we are saying is that, yes, indeed, the situation is there, we have conflict in Nigeria, we have a security situation in Nigeria, but in the past the United States government has helped Nigerian authorities to deal with this situation; so we are calling on them to partner with us once again, to help push this, and then we have peace once and for all in our country.
We want to tell the world that this is not the case, and to appeal to them, (that) we share the concern of people from our country, and we also share the concern of the international community, including the United States, about some of these killings going on.
But what we want at this point is an understanding of the diversity and the complexity of the situation.
Some of the assumptions are based on data that largely cannot stand any scientific scrutiny,” he added.
