Why do Nigerian and Ukrainian presidents sound so alike?
Presidents of Nigeria and Ukraine. Collage: UOJ
President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Nigeria over the Islamist terror targeting Christians. Defense Minister Pete Hegseth declared: “Either the Nigerian government protects Christians, or we will destroy the Islamic terrorists committing these horrific atrocities.”
And Hegseth is hardly exaggerating. Between 2019 and 2023, nearly 17,000 Christians were killed; in just the first seven months of 2025, over 7,000 more lost their lives. Since 2009, around 19,000 Christian churches have been destroyed or seriously damaged – an average of three per day.
Yet the reaction of the Nigerian authorities is striking. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated:
“Freedom of religion and tolerance have always been a cornerstone of our collective identity and will remain so. Nigeria stands against religious persecution and does not condone it.”
Sound familiar?
Here’s what President Zelensky told an American journalist about the UOC:
“Believers, their faith, their aspirations, and their churches have never been restricted by anyone. On the contrary, the state has always supported them, and they are very free.”
There’s no need to recall his repeated claims that Ukraine is practically an ideal of religious liberty.
True, believers and clergy of the UOC aren’t being killed – yet. They’re merely beaten brutally, have their teeth knocked out, their noses, jaws, arms, and legs broken. And churches aren’t destroyed – they’re simply seized.
But can one still claim that in Ukraine “people’s faith has never been restricted by anyone”?
Each of us can answer that question for ourselves.
Read also
A hint at a new demographic reality?
It appears that we are facing a mass influx of migrants from the poorest countries of Africa and other regions. And the absolute majority of them will profess Islam.
On the seizure of a UGCC сhurch in Tokmak
Statements by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church about “blasphemy” are not the cry of a persecuted Church. They are a textbook example of double standards.
On Budanov's statement regarding UOC
For Yelensky and his the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Budanov's statement was very untimely.
Why does OCU still celebrate Easter “with Moskals”?
On social media, “patriots” are again asking in exasperation: why are we still celebrating Easter with Moscow? How much longer?
Did Patriarch Bartholomew really mourn Filaret’s death?
Constantinople has never recognized Filaret as a patriarch – not “His Holiness,” not “honorary,” not under any title whatsoever. That alone makes the line in the Ukrainian presidential press service’s report sound astonishingly implausible.
Why did Dumenko sit in Metropolitan Onufriy’s chair?
The head of the OCU has his own residence – and Filaret’s residence as well. But what he needs is the Lavra, Metropolitan Onufriy’s office and chair.