The monarch of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja (the 44th Olubadan), has urged Nigerians to put aside divisions and unite in confronting the menace of terrorism, stating that the recent warning issued by Donald Trump serves as a crucial wake-up call. According to a statement from his media aide, Adeola Oloko, delivered Sunday in Ibadan, Oba Ladoja made his remarks while receiving the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Wale Oke, at his palace in Oke Aremo, Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
He lamented that Nigeria “has been battling terrorism for over a decade,” tracing the challenge back to the late years of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014. He pointed out that countless lives have been lost, property worth “an inestimable amount” has been destroyed, families (especially women and children) displaced, and kidnappings have taken place.
He noted that successive administrations — Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, and the current President Bola Tinubu — have committed trillions of naira to combating insecurity. Yet he cautioned that terrorists “don’t know the difference between Muslims and Christians. They see everybody as prey, while they are the predator.” Reflecting on his home region in the South-West, where people from diverse religious backgrounds live harmoniously, Oba Ladoja expressed bewilderment that the same spirit appears elusive in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, Bishop Oke congratulated Oba Ladoja on his ascendancy as the 44th Olubadan and prayed for divine wisdom for him. He also advised President Tinubu to partner with US President Trump in tackling the scourge of killing and attacks on communities across Nigeria, particularly in the north.
The article further noted that President Tinubu had recently held meetings with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’adu Abubakar, and with the Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Abuja, as part of a broader engagement with religious and traditional leaders in response to the international attention triggered by President Trump’s comments.
Trump had previously described Nigeria as a country of religious persecution and human-rights abuses — a characterization which the Nigerian government rejected, insisting that the country’s constitution protects all faiths and that the security challenges are general rather than targeted.