The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has claimed that the motive behind President Donald Trump’s recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and his allegations of Christian genocide is the US president’s interest in Nigeria’s oil wealth.
According to Bakare, who spoke during a State of the Nation Address at the Citadel Global Community Church on Sunday, the Trump administration considers Nigeria’s oil wealth, other mineral resources and critical sectors such as real estate as central to its agenda.
He added that Trump was also keen on Nigeria’s role in the value chain of emerging technologies, which he described as major pillars of the American leader’s foreign and economic policy.
The address marked Bakare’s first public reaction since Trump’s October 31 redesignation of Nigeria as a CPC and his subsequent “guns-a-blazing, fast, vicious and sweet attack on terrorists in Nigeria” comments, which triggered swift responses from the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Bakare recalled that shortly after Trump won the 2024 US election, he received a vision in which the American leader arrived in Sabo, Yaba, Lagos, aboard Air Force One, “dressed in Arabian thobe and ghutra” and declaring, “We are here now.”
He said the revelation signalled a “particular interest” Trump would take in Nigeria linked to Middle East politics, oil and gas, real estate, and the country’s expanding technology sector.
Bakare said, “It was clear to us that President Donald Trump was going to have a particular interest in Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s oil wealth and other mineral resources will be critical to the Trump presidency, as will our role in the value chain of emerging technologies.”
He added that the symbolic attire in the vision pointed to “religious implications” that could spark tensions if not properly managed.
“Trump’s Muslim attire was a clear indication that his interest in Nigeria could have serious religious implications, such that could cause religiously motivated social unrest,” he said.
Bakare labelled Trump’s leadership style transactional and urged the Federal Government to respond with a structured economic plan.
“President Donald Trump has proven to be a transactional leader whose threats are usually invitations to the negotiating table,” he said.
“The Nigerian government should present the United States with a mutually beneficial business proposal, one that will facilitate US business interests while guaranteeing Nigeria’s security, educational development, industrialisation and access to cutting-edge technologies.”
He urged the Federal Government to negotiate a strategic business deal with Washington rather than wait to be pressured, stressing that Nigeria must not miss the window of opportunity.
While he did not disclose details of his proposed plan, he insisted that Nigeria’s long-term development depended on striking agreements anchored on national interest.
