Follow Us on Google
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
—Colin Powell
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Across Nigeria’s landscape, from the far northern states of Sokoto and Borno to Benue, Plateau in the central zone and Edo, Ondo and Abia in the Southern part of the country, the number of women widowed by the killing of their husbands continues to rise, every passing day.
These men comprise civilians going about their normal lives, seeking means to earn an honest living and soldiers who fell at the hands of blood-thirsty, base men and even youths conscripted into the inglorious criminal bands of terrorists and jihadists flying the flags of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram, Ansaru, Lakurawa and others, whose foot soldiers are believed to be high on cocktails of drugs. Not only do these worst of the worst kill innocent victims, they maim, rape women, rip pregnant women open and feed the unborn babies to their dogs, kidnap travellers and hapless people from their homes, farms and even school. Only just a few days ago, young candidates writing the Universal Matriculation Examination conducted by the Joint Admissions Board, JAMB, were abducted. Again, Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Senate cried out, calling on the Federal Government to rescue the 400 people, mainly women and children abducted from Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. They were said to have been taken by Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad, a faction of Boko Haram, which overran the community and destroyed homes as well as military formations. An obviously livid Ndume lambasted the Federal Government for its fundamental failure in protecting lives and property, even though the energetic public relations machinery of the Armed Forces had announced that the military had liberated the area.
Over the past 15 years, starting in Borno, when Boko Haram morphed into a terrorist group, the nation has been bleeding from the terrorists in communities. The more audacious attacks claimed the lives of very senior army officers, among who were: Brigadier General – Dzarma Zirkusu, Commander, 28 Task Force Brigade, Chibok, killed in November 2012 with other soldiers in an ISWAP ambush in Askira Uba, Borno; Musa Uba, ambushed near Wajiroko, Borno. ISWAP released video of him in captivity before he was killed in 2025; Oseni Braimah killed on April 9, 2026, during an assault by insurgents on a military base in Benisheikh, Borno. Similarly, Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels have been killed. They include Lt. Col. Muhammad Abu Ali, Commanding Officer, 272 Task Force Tank Battalion, killed with 4 soldiers in 2016 while repelling a Boko Haram attack at Mallam Fatori, Borno State; Col Dahiru Chiroma Bako, Operation Lafiya Dole, who was ambushed near Wajiroko, Borno in Sept 2020. He later died from injuries sustained in the attack; Lt. Col Z. Manu, killed Sept 2020 when bandits ambushed his team in Katsina State; Col. Aliyu Saidu Paiko, Commanding Officer, 202 Battalion, killed Oct 2025 by Boko Haram in Bama LGA, Borno; Lt.Col S. I. Iliyasu, Commanding Officer, 222 Battalion, killed March 6, 2026 during coordinated insurgent attacks across Borno; Lt. Col Umar Farouq, killed March 9, 2026 when insurgents overran a military base in Kukawa LGA, Borno and Col. I.A. Mohammed, 242 Battalion, killed April 2026 in Monguno, Borno when Boko Haram used armed drones to strike his convoy during reinforcement.
Through the years, the political leadership has never lacked interest in addressing the burgeoning terrorism that threatens the very existence of the nation. What has been in short supply is what Ken Blanchard aptly captured this way: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses – only results.”
Essentially agreeing with him, Louise Brooks, adds that “anyone who has achieved excellence in any form knows that it comes as a result of ceaseless concentration.”
Delivering results requires actionable, focused effort, perseverance, and a shift from excuses to accountability. This entails prioritising action over activity, and understanding that consistency, rather than perfection, leads to success. In other words,, when you stop giving excuses, you start giving results.
Today, Nigerians from all walks of life are fed up with hearing the same statements about the government being on top of the situation or the President ordering the Service Chiefs to go after the insurgents.
It is now time to hold the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, who assumed office in October 2025, to what he said in his inaugural address at the handover ceremony.
He pledged to devote his energy, experience, and vision to safeguarding Nigeria’s peace, unity, and territorial integrity.
To achieve the goal, he needs to do things differently, to be effective and deliver the results want. First, he has to shift the war from telling Nigerians the number of terrorists that were neutralized in a day and begin to evaluate its success with different metrics that focus on the economic impact of what has been done and the territory recovered and controlled by the military. This is basically what the terrorists – their measure of success is reflected in the taxes they charge farmers and the trade routes they control.
The military should begin to see governed territories as areas where a farmer can work without paying ISWAP tax. They should begin to use infographics such as digital maps of such areas that can be zoomed in and verified on Google Earth. If popular markets in the north still serve as places that facilitate their logistics, then it does not matter if hundreds of insurgents are killed in the forest strongholds. What Nigerians want are open roads, safe farms and to see displaced people returning home to their ancestral communities..
When you target markets used by insurgents and civilians with air strikes, and kill both civilians in the process, such action only levels the grievance of the people, further making it easier for recruitment to happen. Rather, the Armed Forces should give more priority to gathering intelligence that will enable the military to identify and block the pipeline they use to distribute their bombs. It is known that fertilizers and batteries are used to make the improvised explosive devices. The intelligence service should undertake covert operations to find how they get the large quantities of fertilisers and batteries. Hence, the Armed Forces Intelligence services should develop a secure mechanism for recruiting and managing informants with appropriate incentives.
The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Identity Management Commission compelled all bank customers to link their National Identification Number (NIN) to their accounts, which already had a Bank Verification Number (BVN). This was ostensibly done to track money laundering. So, the Armed Forces need to work closely with NFIU, which will create a special unit that will deploy readily available sophisticated information technology with the appropriate algorithm, to track the businesses that move money required to buy stocks of fertilisers, batteries and other bomb components. If properly targeted with cash inducements, useful intelligence can be obtained, to unmask the suppliers to the insurgents. In other words, pay for human intelligence and move to provide protection for informants.
Nigerians don’t want speeches; enough has been said. They want results they can feel, see and celebrate. It is possible.
