A former Minister of External Affairs and respected diplomat, Bolaji Akinyemi, has condemned the recent invasion of Venezuela by United States special forces, describing it as a reckless provocation that could plunge the world into a catastrophic conflict.
Akinyemi, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, said the United States, under President Donald Trump, had blatantly disrespected Venezuela’s sovereignty and was now playing dangerously close to triggering a third world war.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Akinyemi expressed deep concern over the implications of Trump’s actions.
He said, “The first meeting with the President of Ukraine, Trump was screaming at Zelensky that ‘you are playing with third world war. It is Trump who is playing with the third world war, and this is frightening.”
The professor noted the geopolitical consequences of such aggression, especially for nations like Nigeria that are caught in the middle of global instability.
Akinyemi used the opportunity to reiterate his long-standing position that Nigeria must establish a robust power base to protect its interests in an increasingly volatile world.
He said, “We in Nigeria are at the crossroads of global instability. When in the 70s I was Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, I was advocating that Nigeria should build a powerbase that will protect itself.”
“People thought I didn’t know what I was talking about. My colleagues at the university at that time thought I had no business talking about power.”
Tensions escalated globally on January 3 when Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas.
To back up his claim, Trump posted a photo of a blindfolded and handcuffed Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault warship