Singer Nicki Minaj defended religious freedom advocacy as an effort aimed at “uniting humanity” in remarks at an event profiling the threats to Christians in Nigeria.
Minaj gave the keynote address Tuesday at an event hosted by the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City, titled “Combating Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria.”
“Music has taken me around the globe,” she said. “I have seen how people, no matter their language, culture or religion, come alive when they hear a song that touches their soul. Religious freedom means we all can sing our faith regardless of who we are, where we live and what we believe.”
“Today, faith is under attack in way too many places,” she lamented, detailing how, “In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed.”
“Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart, and entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray. Sadly, this problem is not only a growing problem in Nigeria but also in so many other countries across the world, and it demands urgent action,” she added.
During her speech, Minaj also pushed back on the idea that raising awareness about the plight of Christians in Nigeria amounts to making a political statement: “Protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity. Nigeria is a beautiful nation with deep faith traditions and lots of beautiful barbz,” a word that refers to Minaj’s fan base.
“This is about standing up in the face of injustice. It’s about what I’ve always stood for my entire career, and I will continue to stand for that. For the rest of my life, I will care if anyone anywhere is being persecuted for their beliefs,” she vowed.
“When one’s church, mosque or place of worship is destroyed, everyone’s heart should break just a little bit, and the foundation of the United Nations, with its core mandate to ensure peace and security, should shake,” Minaj proclaimed.
Minaj’s appearance at the U.N. comes just over two weeks after she responded to President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for tolerating egregious violations of religious freedom by sharing a screenshot of the post on her X account, accompanied by the caption, “Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God.”
Her X post continued: “No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other. Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.”
Minaj’s post also caught the attention of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, who thanked her for using her “platform to speak out in defense of the Christians being persecuted in Nigeria” and invited her to visit the U.S. Embassy to the U.N. The singer indicated in an X post that she would be willing to take him up on his offer by responding to it directly: “I’d be honored. Thank you, Ambassador.”
In addition to remarks from Minaj, the event featured testimony from the Rev. Gabriel Makan of Nigeria, who provided details about the ongoing persecution of Christians in his country. “We’ve been experiencing this for a quarter of a century and it has been [an] extremely difficult experience for Christians,” he said. “Whole communities, villages have been extinct as a result of this violence.”
“Just within the last three weeks, there have been multiple attacks in Plateau, in southern Kaduna, in Benue, with nine out of 15 attacks in Plateau state,” he explained. “That simply shows that they believe that if they crush Plateau, they will crush Christianity not just in the North, but in all of West Africa.”
“We have mass graves literally in every community," he added. "I’ve been there. I’ve been in the trenches. I’ve been to these places.”
Makan said the nation's “porous” borders have also contributed to hostility toward Christians: “We have all sorts of people [migrating] into the country unchecked. We don’t know where they’re coming from but from the experience in [the] country, we know that a lot of them come with [plans to do] harm.”
