By
Sa’adiyyah Adebisi Hassan
You are angry with Donald Trump not because he lied, but because he told the truth. You are angry that he called your country what it has become a disgrace a nation that cannot protect its own citizens, a government that rewards killers, and a people who cheer for their oppressors while booing those who dare to speak the truth.
Yet, the same people who foam at the mouth when Trump says “protect your citizens” are the ones applauding China a country that has turned parts of Nigeria into mining outposts, draining the soil, polluting the rivers, and looting gold from Zamfara while corpses pile up in the same land.
This is not patriotism.
This is pathological self-deception.
1. Truth hurts only when you’re living in denial
When Trump called Nigeria “a disgrace,” he didn’t manufacture the evidence. It’s there visible, daily, and measurable.
Terrorists roam free while soldiers and police die unpaid.
Citizens kidnapped in hundreds, and their families pay ransom through banks that the government refuses to track.
Students murdered for “blasphemy,” and the killers walk free.
Billions looted in palliative funds while millions starve.
If that’s not disgrace, what word fits better?
“Glory”? “Progress”? “Greatness”?
It takes a special kind of blindness to defend failure simply because the critic isn’t wearing your flag.
2. You cheer the thief because he smiles in Mandarin
While you’re busy cursing Trump, Chinese contractors and miners are quietly carting away Nigeria’s natural wealth under “bilateral agreements” that are nothing but economic servitude.
In Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kaduna, Chinese nationals have been repeatedly caught in illegal gold and lithium mining operations, some arrested with security escort. Rivers are poisoned, lands destroyed, and communities displaced but the government looks away because the looters come with soft loans and polite smiles.
In Niger State, over 500 illegal mining sites were exposed, most operated by foreign interests with local collaborators. In Nasarawa, villagers have protested against Chinese miners who polluted their only water source. Yet no serious prosecution followed.
The same people defending these deals shout “racism” when Trump speaks, as though patriotic indignation is treason.
China’s interests are not charity. They are business ruthless, calculated, and in their favour. But you mistake exploitation for friendship, because it comes in the language of “infrastructure development.”
3. The West says ‘fix your country’ the East says ‘sign here’
Western leaders criticize Nigeria because they see a country that refuses to help itself. They tie aid to accountability. They demand reform. They insist on human rights.
But China doesn’t care. China doesn’t ask questions about governance, corruption, or security. China just brings loans, takes resources, and leaves you with debt and pollution.
And you clap like slaves applauding the chain that glitters.
When Trump says, “Protect your people,” you call him racist.
When China says, “Give us your gold and pay interest,” you call it partnership.
That’s not national pride.
That’s mental colonisation in Chinese wrapping paper.
4. Patriotism is not defending failure it’s demanding better
A true patriot doesn’t attack those who point out his nation’s wounds. He demands those in power heal them. If Donald J. Trump’s comment angers you more than the massacres in Benue, Plateau, and Zamfara your patriotism is fake. If you hate him more than you hate the officials stealing your future you are part of the rot.
You cannot scream “sovereignty” when foreign companies control your mines, your ports, your loans, and your power grids. You cannot boast of independence when foreign drones map your territory for “investment opportunities.”
And you cannot claim dignity when you defend a government that arrests protesters but negotiates with terrorists.
5. The real disgrace is not Trump’s statement it’s our reaction
The disgrace is a country that spends billions rehabilitating killers but abandons the victims.
The disgrace is the silence of religious and political leaders who see evil and call it politics.
The disgrace is citizens who would rather fight the truth-teller than confront the truth.
Trump said what every honest Nigerian knows but fears to say aloud: The nation has become a parody of governance rich in excuses, poor in courage.
If you can’t handle that truth, it’s because you’ve mistaken complacency for loyalty and silence for strength.
6. Choose your shame wisely
You are angry with Trump for saying your house is on fire. But you are bowing to China while they quietly steal your roof, your door, and the very ground under your feet.
You hate the man who warned you,
and you celebrate the one who robs you.
If that’s not disgrace, what is?
Until Nigerians learn to confront truth with humility instead of rage, they will continue to trade dignity for deception cheering the thieves, silencing the prophets, and calling betrayal “diplomacy.”
The real enemy isn’t Trump.
The real enemy is the cowardice that cannot bear to look in the mirror.
