‘You Americans — you can have a gift for complicating our lives.” I’m paraphrasing what Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto in Nigeria, said perhaps prophetically earlier this fall. “Designating my country, Nigeria, a Country of Concern will only make our work in the area of dialogue among religious leaders in our country and elsewhere with the Nigerian state even harder,” he said during an event of Aid to the Church in Need, one of the international leaders in ensuring that we do not forget Christians who are persecuted for their faith.
Nevertheless, earlier this month, the U.S. named Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern.” The Biden administration had taken the country off this list in 2021. It was shocking and absurd at the time. Don’t get the bishop wrong. Christian persecution in Nigeria exists. To be a Catholic priest there means signing up for possible martyrdom. I had long advocated for our State Department to tell the truth once again and make the redesignation. Social media is flooded with reports of Christians being kidnapped or murdered simply for what they believe. But Bishop Kukah and his fellow clergymen had gotten used to the unhelpfulness of the U.S.
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