In July of 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris
The vice president strongly condemned any efforts to seize power by force in Niger, and emphasized that our substantial cooperation with the government of Niger is contingent on Niger’s continued commitment to democratic standards," the White House said on Thursday(1).
Despite efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the coup ultimately unseated President Mohamed Bazoum and resulted in him being taken hostage by rival forces. Kamala's attempt to quell the sedition was inconsequential, but fast forward to today and this momentary intervention effort could have serious political ramifications for 2024 and beyond.
In 2021, the Biden Administration removed Nigeria from the government's watch list, a move that caused much angst and consternation for numerous international watchdog organizations. In a June 18, 2024 commentary that appeared on the Alliance Defending Freedom International's website, Sean Nelson, Legal Counsel for ADF, underscores the importance of this very crucial policy reversal in his article, Why Nigeria is the Most Dangerous Country in the World for Christians(2):
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has long recommended that Nigeria be placed on the U.S. government’s watch list of the worst countries in the world for religious freedom. We strongly agree with this recommendation. But the U.S. State Department under the Biden administration removed Nigeria from the government watch list in 2021 without any clear reason.
The decision was outrageous. Certainly, the most dangerous country in the world for Christians should be recognized and designated that way by the U.S. government. These long-suffering Nigerian Christians deserve to have the international community on their side.
Nelson's article and disdain stem from the gruesome realities of Nigeria's extreme sectarian violence. The Islamic aggression against Nigerian Christians has been so horrific that many are understandably calling this Christian genocide. Earlier in his commentary, Nelson makes this crystal clear with alarming data and descriptive first-hand accounts:
But one country in particular, Nigeria, is the most dangerous country in the world for Christians. In 2022, roughly 5,000 Christians were murdered for their faith – more than the number killed in all other countries combined. For 2023, one estimate put the number of Christians targeted and killed in Nigeria at over 7,000.
The severe Christian persecution in Nigeria, particularly in the northern regions, makes it the most dangerous country in the world for Christians. I recently travelled to Nigeria and saw the effects of persecution firsthand. Let me share them with you:
...Churches face discrimination, false accusations, and destruction. In fact, one evangelist named Daniel Kefee was charged with kidnapping for helping a young Christian convert woman find safety. With our support, local allied lawyers were able to free him and win his case.
These facts are horrific, inhumane, and cry out for international attention and action from governments worldwide. In fact, Christian atrocities in Nigeria have been well documented where over 52,000 Nigerian Christians were slaughtered by Islamists from 2009-2022. During this same period, over 18,000 Churches and 2,200 Christian schools were destroyed or damaged by arson(3).
The slaughter of 5000 Christian Nigerians in 2022 is particularly significant because of the Biden decision in 2021 to remove Nigeria from the government's watchlist. This backdrop is critically important because in September 2022 and July 2023, Vice President Harris met with Nigerian Vice President Osinjajo(4) and President Tinubu(5) on two separate occasions. The White House readouts for both meetings identify the key topics discussed as summarized in the following:
Harris affirmed the enduring strategic partnership between the United States and Nigeria.
Vice President Harris reiterated the Biden-Harris Administrations commitment to address the global food crisis, noting that the United States has committed more than $7 billion in food security and humanitarian assistance to African countries since last October.
Free and fair elections in 2023 and a safe electoral process.
Vice President Harris welcome the Government of Nigeria's recent launch of its Energy Transition Plan.
Vice President Harris also discussed Nigeria's complex security challenges and affirmed US cooperation to counter terrorism.
Both leaders discussed the deteriorating security environment in the Sahel and agreed to work together to address terrorism in the region.
Harris and Tinubu underscored their shared commitment to defending democracy in West Africa and the Sahel and deep concern about the attempted takeover in Niger.
Public Private partnerships between both countries to increase private sector investment, digital inclusion, women's empowerment, and expand access to clean energy.
Harris highlighted the deep ties between the United States and Nigeria, including people-to-people connections and the Diaspora.
Between the two meetings, Harris seemingly covered numerous topics of importance to both nations. The list of items covered went from the general to the very specific. What seems to be overlooked or lacking with specific details, unlike some of the other items enumerated above, is the dark cloud of Christian genocide in Nigeria. Whether it was not discussed altogether, vaguely discussed, or addressed off-the-record is unclear, but guilt by indifference and inaction is Kamala's big dilemma and burden to bear given the apparent silence and lack of redress.
To be empathetic to someone that you’re shooting in the head is not exactly laudable. We don’t need empathy from these people. We need them to stop providing the weapons and the money that is actively killing the people that they’re supposedly empathising with.
If Harris' hands-off approach to discussing Christian genocide in Nigeria during meetings with her Nigerian counterparts is indeed true, which seems to be the case based on official documents and internet news stories, Christians, African Americans, and especially Nigerian Christians should be appalled and offended. This collective deserves and should demand a thorough explanation at the least.
As for Harris, her moral compass needs to be recalibrated as evidenced by her ongoing unresponsiveness and the amount of time that has elapsed since her meetings with Nigerian leaders. Even Harris supporters find her silence and invisibility unacceptable as captured in the WGBH commentary, Kamala Harris has nearly disappeared into the background:
[S]he seems to have disappeared. The president assigned her immigration, but on his first trip to the southern border, she was not there. And while the president’s approval ratings are low, hers have plummeted.
Still, I’m resentful that the volume of Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice — if not silenced — has been turned down to a whisper at a time when the issues facing this country are noisy and raucous. Whether it’s her choice or a decision from on high, diminishing her role is not the way to go.(6)
The Harris supporter's confession is a major blemish to Kamala's political reputation. The writer's comments echo what many already believe about her unsuitability as a Presidential candidate, and the Nigerian account alone is a crippling blow to her POTUS aspirations.
Because of the gravity of this issue, this story should not rest with the media or voters for the remainder of this election cycle. Religious persecution with utterances of genocide is too serious to dismiss or ignore as a topic for the media and for international policy considerations. Given the traumatic realities and facts surrounding Nigerian Christian suffrage, Harris appears incapable of confronting moral crisis and advocating for victims of gross and "systemic" evil without political bias. This indeed smacks of moral failure, political ineptness, and is unbecoming of someone who is the current Vice President aspiring to be elected to the highest office in the land. The following quote from The Hill article in March of this year, Hold Nigeria accountable for its failure to stop internal religious violence by Congressman John Rose (R-Tenn.) and William Roberts, magnifies Kamala's impoverished moral and political rectitude and affirms my position that Kamala has a "Nigerian Christian Persecution Problem":
Political leaders in the United States could do much more to come to the aid of Nigeria’s Christians, Mr. Koopman says. A House resolution that calls for the appointment of a special envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region has been sponsored by Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey House Republican. That envoy “would have the authority to call the U.S. government to action, for example by wielding diplomatic leverage or by using economic pressure,” Mr. Koopman says.
Bishop Anagbe endorsed Mr. Smith’s effort in his letter to A.C.N. The resolution, he wrote, should “add pressure on Nigeria’s international partners and the government to address the silent persecution of Christians in our country.
Mr. Smith’s resolution also calls for the State Department to redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” because of religious freedom violations. Nigeria was dropped from the annual list of nations of concern in 2021, a move deplored by many advocates of religious freedom. And, despite the Christmas attacks and other violent incidents throughout 2023, Nigeria was not included on the 2024 list posted on Jan. 4 by Secretary of State Blinken. But “the utter neglect of the needs and safety of Christians,” Mr. Koopman said, suggests that Nigeria should be included with other states where religious persecution is tolerated or encouraged by governments.
Vice President Harris needs to answer many questions regarding her role, or the lack thereof, in her failure to address and execute outcome-oriented solutions to empower Nigerian leaders to end the inhumanity carried out by Islamic extremists against Christians. Kevin Clarke's article highlights the kinds of measures that need to be embraced, enacted, and enforced from the White House to Congress to our international partners in order to be effective against systemic evil. Moral indifference and selective outrage are inexcusable and indefensible, especially for someone of Harris' stature, who represents America, the world's standard for the advancement of freedom and democratic ideals as a Republic and safeguarded by the world's oldest and most enduring government charter, the U.S. Constitution (over 200 years old).
From the abortion atrocities of the unborn to the oppression and persecution of Nigerian Christians, Kamala's career in politics and government is permeated by indifference and disregard toward the slaughter of innocent life when the prevailing issues do not square with her partisan liberal agenda. In this regard, Kamala's duty to act is less about objective, universal moral standards and principles, virtue, and the intrinsic value of persons and more about her preferences for intersectionality, political self-interest, and a debauched emphasis on political protests and social movements as tools of democracy, which she distorts and misrepresents incessantly. If Vice President Harris finds it fitting to be an outspoken critic against global atrocities and injustices that are only valid if they are in keeping with her liberal political agenda, her silence on this despicable evil in particular is political malpractice and politically disqualifying...period.
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2. See similar article with similar findings from January 2024 Catholic News Agency, Biden administration criticized for omitting Nigeria from religious persecution watchlist which gives an exhaustive treatment of the Nigerian Christian persecution catastrophe and why removal from the government watchlist is incredulous, inhumane, and irresponsible for both the U.S. and Nigerian governments:
The Christian population has increasingly come under fire in recent years and has been targeted by several Islamic terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and radical groups of the Fulani ethnic tribe.
According to the State Department’s report, there were over 4,000 Christians killed, 3,300 abducted, and 100,000 displaced in Nigeria between October 2022 and September 2023.
The Nigerian government has largely turned a blind eye to these attacks, in many cases refusing to dispatch police or military forces until well after attacks have occurred.
