By King Wale Adesanya
Fellow Nigerians, and most especially to our leadership in Abuja, I write to you not in a spirit of panic, but of profound opportunity.
The recent designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by former U.S. President Donald Trump has, understandably, sparked national indignation.
However, to react with purely emotional defiance would be to miss the forest for the trees. As an economic analyst observing the global chessboard from a strategic vantage point, I urge us to see this moment for what it truly is: a clarion call born from a hidden war for global economic supremacy, with Nigeria’s vast mineral wealth, particularly its gold, as the central prize.
I lead a delegation to attend the AFNIS Conference in Abuja in July and we just concluded NCPTIC, Nigeria-Canada Partnerships Trade and Investment Conference here in Ottawa, I am confident that the Minister of Mining Dr Alake is aware of what Nigeria must do quickly.
The Real Battlefield: Not Religion, But Reserves
The insightful analysis by Anngu Orngu, “Trump Is Not After Nigeria but China,” correctly identifies the core issue. When President Trump shifts focus from a meeting with the Chinese President to the killings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, it is not a random act. It is a calculated geostrategic signal. The intelligence briefings landing on the desks of Western leaders clearly map the sinister connection between the instability in our regions and the systematic, illegal extraction of our gold and critical minerals.
The narrative is no longer just about farmer-herder clashes; it is about terrorism as a tool for resource control. Groups creating ungoverned spaces are, wittingly or not, clearing the path for foreign-backed cartels to plunder our resources.
The gold illegally mined in Zamfara, Niger, and Nasarawa, often under military escort for the wrong people, ends up strengthening the very reserves of our nation’s strategic competitors, particularly China.
This is the “hidden war” for Nigeria’s soul, a war where our national wealth is being siphoned away, fuelling global rivalries while our people bleed.
Nigeria: The Unwitting Pawn or the Strategic Kingmaker?
In the escalating rivalry between the United States and the China-led BRICS bloc, a key front is the fight for the future of the global reserve currency. Both sides are acutely aware that tangible assets, especially gold, will play a crucial role in backing economic might in the coming decades.
Nigeria, endowed with massive and largely untapped gold reserves, is not merely a bystander; we are a primary theatre of operations.
For China, our weak regulatory environment and pervasive insecurity present a low-risk, high-reward opportunity to secure the mineral inputs for its 21st-century industries.
The suspected lobbying for the Buhari-era Waterways Bill was a potential masterstroke to gain federal-level access to our mineral-rich river systems.
For the United States, watching China entrench itself in a strategically important country like Nigeria, and finance its ambitions through the very resources fuelling instability, is an unacceptable outcome.
Trump’s CPC designation is, therefore, a blunt instrument to pressure our government to sever these exploitative chains.
A Calm and Calculated Path Forward: Advice to Nigerian Leadership
This geopolitical squeeze is not a cause for alarm, but for astute strategy. Nigeria must not be over-anxious to issue diplomatic rebuttals.
Instead, we must adopt a posture of calm, confident sovereignty, leveraging our position to improve our lot globally. Here is a three-pronged approach:
1. Secure and Formalize the Mining Sector Immediately:
The federal government must declare a state of emergency on illegal mining. This requires a dedicated, technologically-backed security task force for the mineral-rich regions, not just to combat bandits, but to dismantle the entire infrastructure of illegal extraction and export.
We must formalize artisanal mining, bringing it into the tax net and the formal economy, thereby cutting off the oxygen from the foreign-backed cartels.
2. Assert Sovereign Control Over Gold Reserves for Economic Strength:
This is our most powerful lever. Nigeria must, as a matter of national priority, end the scandal of illegal gold smuggling.
Every ounce of gold mined on our soil must be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at competitive rates to build our sovereign gold reserves.
This is not a new idea, but it requires unwavering political will to implement.
By accumulating significant gold reserves, the CBN has a powerful tool to strengthen the Naira.
Gold-backed bonds or other financial instruments can be introduced to bolster confidence in our currency.
In a world nervous about fiat currencies, a Naira with the implicit backing of tangible gold reserves would be a game-changer for our exchange rate stability and our standing in international finance.
3. Play the Geopolitical Game with Wisdom, Not Alignment:
We should not have to choose between the U.S. and China.
Our position should be clear: Nigeria is open for business, but on our own terms. We will welcome transparent, mutually beneficial investments from all nations that respect our laws, our environment, and our people.
The message to both Washington and Beijing should be: “Our gold, and our other minerals, will be developed for the primary benefit of the Nigerian people. Partner with us legally and transparently, or not at all.”
#KWA TAKEAWAY: From Battleground to Power Player
The United States is after China. China is after our resources. And Nigeria must be after its own interests.
The CPC designation, however uncomfortable, has inadvertently done us a favour by highlighting the grotesque nexus between our internal insecurity and global resource plunder.
Let us not be a pawn in this great game. Let us become the kingmaker by mastering our own board.
By securing our mines, nationalizing our gold reserves to fortify the Naira, and dealing with the world from a position of strength and not supplication, we can transform this moment of geopolitical pressure into a golden opportunity for national economic renaissance.
The world is fighting over our gold; it is time we used it to fight for our own future.
KIng@ncbn.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
#KWA
#theNCBN
King Wale Adesanya, Economic Analyst, and National Chairman of the Nigerian and Canadian Business Network (Based in Canada)
About The Author
