Sadeeq Shehu
The call of the cuckoo to which Trump is responding now started years ago. It was started by a Nigerian cleric, our own “Bishop of the Caliphate” ministering unmolested, highly respected and accorded all courtesies , invited to meetings in the palace of His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto the Seat of the Islamic Caliphate in Nigeria. We in Sokoto ever courteous ever accommodating to visitors respect our Bishop of the Caliphate. One could say despite Sokoto being almost 99% Muslim You dare not point a finger at our Bishop of the Caliphate less you incur the wrath of His Eminence the Sultan.
Despite all this , blinded by resentment toward a particular president who denied him privileges, our Bishop in the Caliphate living and preaching pracefully began a dangerous campaign abroad.
He went before foreign parliaments, giving testimonies wrapped in emotion but empty of truth — claiming that the Nigerian Government was sponsoring a deliberate genocide against Christians. The irony of our own Bishop in the Caliphate propagating these theories is so striking.
His motive was not justice, but spite.
He sought to discredit a leader he personally despised.
And, tragically, some foreign lawmakers and NGOs believed him, swallowing his narrative wholemeal and turning it into what soon shaped American policy thinking on Nigeria.
Time, as it always does, moved on.
The president he hated is now dead.
A new president, more accommodating, has since restored his privileges.
And just like that — no more foreign trips, no more fiery speeches about “genocide,” no more tears before Congress.
But lies do not die when the liar repents.
They take flight — like the cuckoo’s call echoing across valleys — and sometimes return at the worst possible time.
Now, in November 2025, those same lies have borne poisonous fruit. And have found fertile ground to germinate in Trumps brain.
President Donald Trump has picked up that same false narrative and is now threatening to invade Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to defend “persecuted Christians.”
The irony? Even the cleric who planted the lie is now backtracking, saying, “No, it’s not exactly genocide.”
But the damage is already done.
What began as a vindictive tale has become a diplomatic crisis — a story told in bitterness, believed in ignorance, and now weaponized in arrogance.
The call of the cuckoo is sweet when it begins — but it is not a song of truth; it is a song of deception.
And when it finally returns, it does not sing of justice; it sings of consequences. Including the consequences of US military attack on Nigeria and Nigerians both Christians and Muslims including our dear Bishop of the Caliphate. The Americans have heat seeking missiles. But to the best of my knowledge they do not have Muslim-seeking-Christian-Avoiding-Missiles. We are all in this S- – T.
“The call of the cuckoo” can mean the sound of change, deception, or awakening, depending on the context — It is a poetic reminder that not every beautifully crafted call should be followed. Our Bishop (and others who followed in his steps bearing tales of an exclusively christian targeted government sponsored genocide) has unfortunately cut his nose to spite his country. Late PMB , safe from Trumps impending military invasion , the original target of this theory, would nevertheless turn in his grave.