Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser on Policy Communication to President Bola Tinubu, has said Nigeria will only welcome a joint military operation with the United States, not a unilateral invasion.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC World Service on Monday, November 3, Bwala stated that any foreign military action on Nigerian soil without government consent would be diplomatically unacceptable.
His comments followed President Donald Trump’s recent threat to deploy US forces to Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians.
Trump had also listed Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” warning that the nation could lose US aid if it failed to curb insecurity.
Reacting, Bwala dismissed the claim of religious persecution, stressing that insecurity in Nigeria cuts across all faiths.
READ ALSO: Trump’s Military Threat Dangerous, Could Ignite Religious Conflict – Mahdi Shehu
He said, “We are grateful to President Donald Trump because during his first term, he approved arms sales that strengthened Nigeria’s fight against insurgency.
“In his second term, he has again shown interest in supporting the fight against Boko Haram, which we welcome — but such efforts must rely on credible intelligence, not isolated reports or social media narratives.”
Bwala emphasised that Nigeria remains a sovereign nation whose territorial integrity must be respected.
“If it’s a joint operation with Nigeria, that’s acceptable. But diplomatically, it is wrong to invade a sovereign nation without collaboration — especially one that remains a strategic partner in the fight against insecurity,” he said.
He added that any unilateral military intervention would only be justified if there were proof that the Nigerian government was complicit in the crisis, saying, “That is certainly not the case in Nigeria.”