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It is beyond doubt that the primary responsibility of government is the security and welfare of the people. It is even constitutional. Section 14(2)(a) puts it succinctly when it asserted that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” A primary role is the main, core function or responsibility an individual, system, or entity is best equipped to perform, requiring the highest level of dedication, accountability, or capability. This means that whenever a government fails in this duty, it has failed completely. Only the living can enjoy welfare. Once a man dies, his thoughts perish.
In Nigeria today, the burial ground is housing a lot of politicians who have RIP written on their tombs. In all honesty, for most of them, the rip means rest in punishment. This may not be unconnected with the manner they allowed innocent Nigerian citizens to be kidnapped, killed, and terrorised by rag-tag insurgents who would have posed no threats for the armed forces or even the police force, if the security agencies got all the assistance they needed from the politicians who are at the helm of affairs.
On Monday, the 16th day of March, 2026, multiple suicide bombers hit Maiduguri, Borno State and killed more than 30 persons and injured more than 120 persons. The number of deaths may have increased by now. In Katsina State, bandits killed more than 15 persons this week in apparent breakdown of a purported peace deal in which the bandits agreed to lay down their arms. All other purported peace deals with bandits failed in the past because deals alone cannot prevent terrorism. The driving force of the terrorists is not ideological but criminality. It is a commercial venture for them. Making money is the main reason for banditry. Unless there is a legitimate alternative for them to make the money, banditry continues, and no amount of peace deals can solve it.
On 17th day of March 2026, President Tinubu, ill-advisedly, departed Nigeria for a two-day visit to the United Kingdom (UK). Kashim Shettima, the Vice-President, on 17th March, travelled to Anambra State for the second term swearing in ceremony of Charles Soludo. The President travelled to the United Kingdom with his Minister of Defence. This is in spite of the violent deaths of the innocent citizens of Nigeria. If this is not March madness, what is it? As stated above, the primary role of government in tackling insecurity requires the highest level of dedication, accountability, or capability. Where is dedication in the hearts of these men who are trusted with the onerous task of protecting their fellow citizens, but chose to go-a-celebrating in foreign lands. It is even more disappointing that Shettima is from Borno State.
President Tinubu has demonstrated by his trip to London that it takes only Donald Trump to make him do the right thing in fighting insecurity. Donald Trump personally went to receive the remains of six marines killed in the Iran conflict. He saluted their corpses and ensured the dignified transfer of the remains of the American heroes. Trump repeated the same thing when the next set of six marines lost their lives in a plane crash fighting for their motherland. He understands that the living marines are watching to see how they will be sent home if, unfortunately, they become victims. Strictly speaking, whatever is done for the dead is meaningless for the dead who knows or sees nothing. It is done for the living who witness the pomp and pageantry accorded to the dead and wish that they would be so honoured if their time comes. If these honours become removed from the heroes that give their lives to protect the nation, nobody will be willing to die for love of country. This is why the drive to recruit more people into the police and armed forces in Nigeria is going down everyday. Trump additionally postponed indefinitely his already scheduled trip to China in order to concentrate in prosecuting the war against Iran.
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Contrast this attitude with the Tinubu’s regime and understand why America is the most powerful nation on earth and Nigeria is racing uncomfortably in the direction of being the worst nation on earth. The only time Tinubu postponed his scheduled trip to the G-20 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, because of the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State on November, 2025, was because of the threat from Donald Trump.
United States President Donald Trump threatened Nigeria November 2025 with possible military action for the killing of Christians. He said in his Truth Social platform that “if the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing.’” The threat came after he said that Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria and accused radical Islamists of being responsible for mass slaughter. In his words, “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians!” He warned the Nigerian government to move fast.
Nigerian government, under Tinubu, incompetently helped to correct Trump that it is not only Christians who are being killed, all Nigerians are being killed. This became the greatest admission of catastrophic failure by any government on earth. A foreign power is claiming that only a section of the populace is being killed, but the government is saying that everyone is being killed. Which one is worse? This means that Trump was correct that Christians are being killed since they are part of everybody, and the government of Tinubu is correct because everyone is being killed.
As US is involved in war with Iran, Tinubu has started feeling a sense of liberation from the chokehold of Trump. Were it not for the Iran conflict, Tinubu would have moved fast to postpone the trip to the UK as he did in November 2025 when he postponed his visit to South Africa. Being in UK with his Defence Minister, his only response to the tragedy of the Ngoshe massacre in Maiduguri was to issue the directive that the entire service chiefs should relocate to Borno State. As usual, this is another unserious strategy. This is like Trump telling all his military service chiefs to relocate to Iran to ensure that the war is efficiently executed. Buhari used this option in Benue and Borno and they failed woefully. Tinubu is doing same thing and of course this will fail woefully. Proximity to a place of conflict does not automatically result in capacity needed to be triumphant.
Nigeria is a nation that needs more boots on ground, increased modern equipment for wars, increased welfare of the warriors, better training of the soldiers to fight asymmetric warfare, and dignified transfer of the fallen heroes with adequate welfare for their families. Tinubu should immediately instruct his lackey in the National Assembly, Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, to amend section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to make provision for state police. Tinubu had gotten away with everything he had wanted from the National Assembly. He changed the national anthem within a week. He got his complicated tax bills passed in weeks. He ensured the amendment, repeal, re-amendment of the Electoral Act within weeks. If he wants to criminalise democracy or abolish the legislature, this National Assembly will vote yes to it before even realising that the bill abrogated their offices. However, the National Assembly must retain its power to be the only legislative house to make laws as to how the state police will function. This is to ensure that the force will not be abused by the state governors who may use them to intimidate opposition politicians.
With the state police, more boots would automatically be put on ground. More intel would be available to the Nigerian state. The Zamfara State Governor stated that if he had state police, he would have wiped out the terrorists within a month. He confessed knowing where they were, decrying lack of men and materials to confront them. Tinubu has more than 30 state governors he had coerced to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). If he wants to change the Constitution to provide for state police, he would achieve it speedily. He needs only the concurrence of about 24 states to change the Constitution to guarantee state police.
The depressing thing is Tinubu’s penchant to play politics with everything, including the security and welfare of Nigerians. Tinubu set up Governors Advisory Council to advise him on state police. The governors unanimously approved it. He did nothing after that. Recently, it was ridiculous to see the Inspector-General of Police setting up a committee on state police. What can he do with it if the Constitution is not amended? Nothing. These actions are intended to buy time for Tinubu to use the federal police to conduct the 2027 elections. This is some form of corruption because it amounts to the abuse of public office for private gain. Playing politics with people’s lives is the worst level any government can degenerate to. If Tinubu wants to succeed in tackling insecurity in Nigeria, dedication, accountability, and capability is key. It’s obvious that insecurity is intractable under Tinubu, and this is because of the intractable corruption in his regime.
