By O’tega Ogra

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital Engagement and Strategy

Following renewed claims from some Western figures, including United States Senator Ted Cruz and television host Bill Maher, alleging “Christian persecution” in Nigeria, O’tega Ogra has issued a firm rebuttal, asserting that Nigeria’s story will not be rewritten from abroad.

Ogra stated that there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria, but rather terrorism, a global menace that Nigeria confronts daily. He noted that both Muslim and Christian soldiers defend the nation side by side, and the country’s struggle is against terror, not faith.

He reminded critics that both Islam and Christianity have coexisted in Nigeria for centuries, with the constitution forbidding any state religion. “Our streets echo with both the imam’s call to prayer and the Sunday choir,” he said, emphasizing that unity, not division, defines Nigeria’s religious life.

Describing recent foreign remarks as ignorance dressed as concern, Ogra condemned attempts by outsiders to legislate Nigeria’s faith or question its sovereignty. “Nigeria does not legislate for Texas, and Texas will not legislate for Nigeria,” he added.

He dismissed such interference as a continuation of colonial arrogance, stressing that Nigeria seeks truth, not validation. “Faith in Nigeria is not a punchline. It feeds the hungry and shelters the displaced,” he said, accusing critics of exploiting pain for propaganda.

Ogra reiterated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s words that “Nigeria may bend, but we do not break,” affirming that the nation’s real story is one of perseverance, not persecution.

“Nigeria is not a victim to be pitied but a nation to be respected,” he concluded. “The cross, the crescent, and the ancestral spirit stand here in covenant, not in conflict.”