Nigerian-American groups are struggling to resurrect a caucus in the US Congress as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions and designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” test ties between Washington and Abuja.
Several organizations said during a Capitol Hill briefing last week that reviving the Congressional Nigeria Caucus — which went dormant several years ago — was their primary legislative goal. “A congressional caucus creates a consistent space for dialogue and policy coordination,” said Nkechi Ilechie of The Nigerian Center, a Washington-based nonprofit.
But finding Congress members to co-chair the revived caucus has proven difficult, Ilechie told Semafor. While some have expressed willingness to join as rank-and-file members, none have committed to a co-chair role.
Nigerian diaspora groups are moving to build new relationships on the Hill. Gbenga Ogunjimi, founder of The Nigerian Center, pointed to a “new sense of commitment and partnership” growing within the Nigerian-American community while human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe offered a blunter assessment of the broader state of US-Nigeria bilateral ties, describing it as a “situationship.”
The push comes as the US-Nigeria relationship has grown increasingly complicated. Washington has boosted claims that attacks on Nigerian Christians by militants constitute genocide — a characterization the Nigerian government strongly refutes. The US military bombed militants in Nigerian territory on Christmas Day in cooperation with Abuja and now has American troops providing training and intelligence support. immigration is another source of tension. Nigeria has refused to accept third-party country deportations from the US while the Trump administration’s visa restrictions have hit Nigerian-American communities hard.