Intense lobbying of the United States (US) President, Donald Trump, by the Bola Tinubu government and Biafra nation agitators, to convince the former that there is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria for which the US should intervene, and/or the government’s efforts to nip the allegation in the bud, exposes more rot in the Nigerian system under the incumbent presidency
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
Nigeria’s battle to shape Washington’s view of its internal security crisis has spilt into a lobbying war, with the federal government dramatically outspending Biafran secessionist groups as both sides seek President Donald Trump’s ear over claims of a Christian genocide.
Scandalized by the Trump’s threat in November 2025 to go into Nigeria “guns ablazing,” the presidency and its allies moved swiftly to counter the separatist narratives in the US capital, signing a $750,000 monthly deal for six months renewable contract with the Republican-linked DCI Group to press Abuja’s case on visa policy, military cooperation, trade and tariffs, and to emphasise government efforts to protect Christians and Muslims and combat jihadist groups.
The scale of the contract dwarfs that of the shadowy and unknown Biafran Republic Government in Exile (BRGE), which is paying $66,000 a month to the smaller Madison & Washington lobbying firm to push for sanctions against Nigerian officials, greater US engagement with a putative Biafran administration, and even support for military strikes and favourable oil deals with Washington in an undefined future Biafra.
The oil rich Niger Delta does not consider itself part of a futuristic landlocked Biafra.
Both sides are targeting the same political terrain, tapping into conservative and evangelical networks close to the US President.
The lobbying scramble has unfolded alongside intensified US–Nigeria security contacts, including joint intelligence coordination and US air strikes on suspected jihadist targets in northern Nigeria during the last yuletide. Thus, the intense lobbying underscored how claims made in Washington are now intersecting directly with military, diplomatic and commercial decisions affecting Africa’s most populous country.
In the details of the latest contract to promote Tinubu’s cause in Washington, his supporters are paying the Republican Party-connected DCI Group $750,000 a month via Aster Legal in Nigeria to explain the Abuja government’s strategy to protect Christians and Muslims in Nigeria and secure US support to counter jihadist groups in West Africa, initially for a year, according to Africa Confidential reports.
The DCI Group fee is multiples higher than what the Biafran Republic Government in Exile is paying the Madison & Washington lobby company. This contract, announced on January 10 is remarkably ambitious for the fee of $66,000 with duration undisclosed.
Its aims include, seeking defence and security arrangements, counter-terrorism cooperation and engagement with US and international oil and gas companies under a hypothetical ‘new Biafran Administration’.
It argued that Christian-targeted violence in Nigeria is due to the complicity of the state under Tinubu and that a pro-US Biafran administration in south-east Nigeria would better serve US interests in the region and would also offer more favourable terms for US oil companies operating in ‘Biafra territory’. It failed to disclose that in the South-east zone, Christians are killing multiple Christians in separatist attacks.
Besides, the Pro Christian and Biafran-secessionist groups have been tapping into the religious right and evangelical Christian organisations in the US for a couple of decades, winning endorsement from senior Republican figures such as Ted Cruz (Texas R), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former Secretary of State (during Trump’s first term) Mike Pompeo.
According to the Africa Confidential report, such heavyweight supporters on the Christian-Biafra team may have prompted the Tinubu government and its supporters to splurge on a top-dollar lobby contract with ties to Trump’s circle in Washington.
Whatever their aims, Tinubu’s officials and their business supporters acted with extreme urgency according to the established timeline.
The timeline is as follows: On November 1, 2025, President Trump threatened to send troops into Nigeria ‘guns ablazing’ to stop what he called ‘a genocide against Christians’. Between November 2 and 19, Nigeria’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu’s team held discussions with the Department of Defense and other Trump-affiliated officials in Washington.
Besides, on November 20, Ribadu and Nigerian military intelligence officers met US Secretary for Defense, Peter Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine in Washington.
In the same vein, between November 21 to December 23, Nigeria and the US set up a Joint Working Group to ‘share intelligence and speed up arms requests’ according to Abuja; the two sides coordinate over targets and intelligence sharing.
While the US air attacks on suspected jihadist fighters in Sokoto and Zamfara states were originally scheduled for December 24, this was shifted to December 25, wherein US Airforce launched missiles against suspected jihadists in northern Nigeria after President Trump insisted that the raids should be on Christmas day and warned there will be more to come.
On January 8, 2026 President Trump told the New York Times that there are likely to be further US air attacks on suspected jihadists in northern Nigeria, while on January 12, the DCI Group, with close Trump ally Roger Stone as advisor, announced it was being paid $750,000 for months, renewable subject to performance to explain the Tinubu government’s efforts to protect Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to the US administration.
The timeline of actions will continue into the 1st quarter of 2026 when the US Congress is to decide whether to approve $346 million precision bombs and rockets to Nigeria, via the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
