By Sandra Kenneth
American rapper Nicki Minaj has issued a public appeal for more celebrities and influencers to use their platforms to speak out against the alleged persecution and violence facing Christians in Nigeria.
The Grammy-nominated artist made the call while speaking at an X Takeover event hosted at Tesla’s Giga Texas facility in Austin, Texas.
Explaining what drew her attention to the issue, Minaj cited her personal ties to the country, noting that her pastor is Nigerian, alongside her large following of Nigerian fans, affectionately known as “Barbs.”
“For Nigeria personally, my pastor is from Nigeria, so I have a link to Nigeria because of him and of course, I have a lot of Nigerian barbs,” Minaj said. “But what I started seeing was the brutality in which Christians are being treated there just for being Christians and I thought why isn’t anyone making a big deal out of this?”
Expressing frustration that critical humanitarian issues are sometimes ignored because they are not considered trendy or popular conversation topics, the rapper urged public figures to lend their voices to the cause.
“You know and sometimes when things aren’t cool like to talk about, people don’t just talk about it so right now,” she continued. “Actually I’m hoping that more celebrities or people, influencers, I’m hoping that they come onboards the train to start speaking out about what’s happening to Christians in Nigeria and I look forward to doing more to help in that way in that cause.”
