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By Alebiowu Kehinde
An appeal has been made to the United States government by Tolu Bankole, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to drop the threat of military intervention in Nigeria and instead redirect its focus toward freezing the assets of terror financiers and corrupt Nigerians holding illicit wealth abroad.
Bankole, who serves as the party’s National Leader for Persons with Disabilities, issued the appeal in an Abuja statement on Monday titled, “Warning Against Beating the Drums of War: Nigeria Needs Peace, Not War.”
His statement was a direct response to remarks made by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who over the weekend threatened that his administration “may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists.” Trump’s comments followed the recent U.S. designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” due to alleged religious persecution.
Bankole cautioned that external hostility against Nigeria was misplaced and dangerous, arguing that conflict would only worsen the nation’s problems.
“Nigeria needs peace, not war. We cannot afford another conflict. War is never the solution to our challenges; it only deepens pain, poverty, and division,” Bankole asserted. “What our nation requires now is support to strengthen democracy, boost the economy, and sustain the gains of the ongoing reforms.”
The APC chieftain specifically urged Washington to take decisive action to clamp down on financial crime. He called for the freezing and prompt repatriation of looted funds and proceeds of banditry hidden in foreign banks, stating such actions are essential for Nigeria’s developmental projects.
“Those involved in looting the nation’s resources must be prosecuted according to the law,” he said. Bankole criticized the situation where individuals live comfortably abroad with stolen funds while allegedly plotting to destabilize Nigeria, labeling it a “double standard.”
Bankole implored the international community, especially the United States, to demonstrate genuine friendship by engaging President Bola Tinubu’s administration through constructive partnerships. He suggested collaboration in areas like technology transfer, infrastructure development, agriculture, and intelligence sharing to effectively combat terrorism and banditry.
He concluded by stressing the importance of unity among Nigerians across all religious and ethnic lines, warning that any conflict, whether internally or externally incited, would only reverse national progress and inflict untold suffering on citizens.
