In the dirty game of Nigerian politics, where truth is rarer than a honest politician, the APC regime has once again unleashed its favourite weapon: the big lie.
This time, it’s a doomsday tale straight out of a bad Nollywood script – “The Americans are coming! They’re here to plunder our gold and rare earth minerals!” As if the ghosts of colonial plunder weren’t haunting enough, President Bola Tinubu’s spin doctors are now painting Uncle Sam as the villain in a heist movie where Nigeria plays the hapless victim. But let’s cut through the fog of this farce. The real thieves? They’re not storming in from Washington; they’re already entrenched in Aso Rock, siphoning our wealth while our people bleed.
Flashback to 2015: The APC rode to power on a tidal wave of propaganda, a $10 million war chest funneled through shadowy consultants – remember that Obama-era operative who scripted their “Change” fairy tale? It was a masterclass in deception, kicking Goodluck Jonathan’s media team into oblivion. Fast-forward a decade, and the playbook hasn’t changed. With 29.69% of Nigerians illiterate and the so-called elites too shallow for a Google search, it’s easy pickings. Donald Trump – yes, that Trump, 13,000 km away – has twice urged this government to rein in the Fulani militias, Boko Haram, and ISWAP tearing through the Middle Belt like hyenas on heat. Instead of gratitude or action, what do we get? Foaming-at-the-mouth deflection: “It’s not our failure; it’s an American plot to steal our treasures!”
Let’s do the maths these propagandists dread. In 2024, Tinubu himself boasted that Nigeria’s solid minerals sector – gold, rare earths, the works – raked in a pathetic ₦38 billion, or about $25 million. Pocket change for a nation of 220 million. Contrast that with China, the undisputed king of rare earths, which pocketed over $2.7 billion from production and sales last year alone. China’s reserves? A staggering 44 million tons. Vietnam: 22 million. Brazil: 21 million. Russia, India, Australia – even the US clocks in at 1.8 million tons, with Tanzania (890,000 tons) outpacing us. Where’s Nigeria on this leaderboard? Nowhere. Zilch. Our “vast” deposits? A figment of fevered imagination, or worse, a smokescreen for the real looting happening under our noses.
And the gold? Don’t make me laugh – or cry. While bandits and their political patrons mine it in Zamfara and beyond, the revenue vanishes into Swiss vaults and Dubai laundromats. Meanwhile, our crude oil – the black gold that should be our salvation – bleeds out at $22 billion a year to thieves who operate with impunity. NNPC’s ex-GMD, Mele Kyari spilled the beans: $1.9 billion lost monthly to theft and inefficiency. Saudi Arabia pumps 10 million barrels daily from reserves dwarfing ours, yet not a drop goes missing. Angola? Same story. But here? Our Niger Delta pipelines are sieves, guarded by ghosts while APC fat cats allocate N12 trillion and $1 billion to “security” from 2015 to 2023 – enough to buy peace, but squandered on yachts and Swiss accounts.
This isn’t incompetence; it’s criminal neglect wrapped in ethnic robes. From May 2015 to now, the US has pumped $10.3 billion (₦15 trillion) in aid and grants into this black hole of a government. And for what? To watch 8.1 million IDPs rot in camps, their homes torched by the very “unknown gunmen” the regime coddles? Christians in the Middle Belt slaughtered, Igbo communities razed in the Southeast – all while the oath-takers in Abuja twiddle thumbs and peddle deceptive piety to their base.
Trump’s “advice” isn’t invasion; it’s a lifeline from a concerned superpower. America produces 13.5 million barrels of oil daily, refines 18.4 million – they’ve got no need for our scraps. But partner with us? Sure, if we get our house in order. Indonesia, 90% Muslim and multi-ethnic like us, boasts a $1.4 trillion economy without this chaos. The UAE? Oil-rich, faith-driven, bandit-free. Why can’t we? Because our leaders thrive on division: “As long as the thief prays in our mosque or church, shares our tongue, we’re blind to the plunder.”
My people, we perish for lack of knowledge – and courage. The APC’s latest hysteria isn’t about protecting minerals; it’s about shielding their syndicate. They’ve rigged elections, rigged narratives, and now rig reality itself. Wake up, Nigeria. Demand timelines: When will Boko Haram fall? When will oil theft end? When will our GDP per capita climb above $1,000 (while Brazil’s soars at $10,300)? In 1970, we outpaced them all – Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia. Today? We’re the cautionary tale.
Ndi iberibe, jiri akpa beans kwoo coat – fools wearing bean bags as coats. It’s time to shed the disguise. Let the Americans help if they will; better that than another decade of banditry and balderdash. Our real rare earth? The untapped potential of a united, questioning people. Unearth it, or watch it stolen forever.