The two reverend sisters appeared seriously manhandled. One telltale sign was their immaculate white garment which, upon their release late last week, looked almost brown. The sisters, together with seven others, were kidnapped on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at Eburumiri, Ibagwa Aka, in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State. Reports have it that one of the sisters has just been ordained and was returning home to hold thanksgiving with her family members. That was how she and her colleague fell into the hands of criminals. As we say here, Nigeria has happened to them. The trauma will probably live with them for life.
The primary responsibility of any government is the security and welfare of citizens. Any leader who fails to provide these two things have failed. In Nigeria today, citizens groan when it comes to welfare and security of life and property. This means in effect that the government in power has failed. It needs to redeem itself before it is too late.
Concerned Nigerians have spoken a lot about the urgent need to tackle insecurity in the country. It appears the more they speak, the worse the situation turns out. Despite promises, President Bola Tinubu has failed to arrest the situation.
In the North-East, the situation is dire. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents have become more daring. They have intensified their attacks with drones and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). In January 2025, ISWAP killed 20 soldiers and 40 farmers in Borno. Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State lamented recently that the terrorists now attacked and kidnapped people almost on a daily basis in many communities.
In the North-West, the Lakurawa terrorists are in charge. They have killed hundreds of people in Sokoto and Kebbi States.
In the North-Central, Fulani herdsmen have made life unbearable for the citizens. Last month, they killed hundreds of innocent citizens in some parts of Plateau and Benue States.
Though the South is relatively better, it has its own worries when it comes to insecurity. Kidnapping and other forms of criminality hold sway in some parts of the South-East and South-South. The same thing with the South-West. Everywhere you go, citizens live with their hearts in their mouths.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported in its 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey that 614,937 people were killed in Nigeria between May 2023 and April 2024. Out of this figure, 206,030 were killed in the North-West while 188,992 people were killed in the North-East. Over two million people were reportedly kidnapped within the same period.
This unsavoury situation has affected food security in the country. Not sure of adequate protection, many farmers have abandoned their farms for fear of being attacked by herdsmen. In the North-East where Islamic insurgency is at its peak, millions of people are at the risk of starvation. The worst affected states are Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
On the Global Terrorism Index, Nigeria has continued to score low. It emerged sixth most terrorism-affected country in the world in the latest ranking as against the eighth position it took in 2023 and 2024.
With this kind of scenario, the much-sought after investors will continue to elude us. Or who will want to invest in a country where the security of investment is not guaranteed?
The most disheartening thing is that the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces who should provide leadership and reassure frightened citizens appears not bothered. Beyond the usual condemnation of killings and threats to deal with perpetrators, the President has not shown serious efforts to tackle the problem. He is concerned more with when to travel to France and some other sane countries to cool off in the name of going for working visit.
Tinubu was in France when some terrorists invaded Plateau on a killing spree last month. A President worth his name would have rushed back home to take charge of affairs. Not here in Nigeria where life is so cheap and meaningless. From France, the President reportedly travelled to the United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria.
Last Friday, he went to Katsina State principally to attend the wedding of Governor Dikko Umar Radda’s daughter, Aisha. But before the wedding, he visited frontline troops of OPERATION FANSAN YAMMA in Katsina. He was said to have told them that the threats of terrorism, banditry, and insurgency had persisted for too long. Nigerians, he added, were counting on them to end the menace and reclaim every inch of our territory. He assured the soldiers that “we are taking bold steps to equip you with advanced technology, superior intelligence, and robust logistical support to not only defend this nation but to dominate and defeat every adversary. Your welfare is my top priority.”
This is good to hear. But, was the President serious or just playing to the gallery? We are tired of hearing such motivational talks. Our soldiers appear tired too. They need more of concrete actions than promises of an elusive paradise.
Obviously, modern warfare is driven by technology and intelligence. In realization of this fact, former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration made some noise when it acquired 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets in 2021 from the United States. With the recent upsurge in insurgency, it does appear that the jets are no longer the game changers as then Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had enthused. The Nigerian Air Force needs to come in fully into this war instead of the occasional raids which often result in collateral damage in some communities.
In every sane country, when an elected official is not able to carry out the responsibilities entrusted on him, he resigns. Tinubu should take full responsibility for the spate of insecurity in the country.
He should start by declaring a state of emergency on insecurity in Nigeria. For a minor political fuse, he declared emergency rule in Rivers State. He probably hopes to gain some political mileage from his suspicious actions in the oil-rich state.
In other words, as long as his personal security and selfish interests are guaranteed, whatever happens to the generality of the Nigerian masses is inconsequential. Other political heavyweights who could have persuaded him to provide security to all are also comfortable. They have the wherewithal to hire as many policemen as possible.
This is why the United Nations recommendation of 1:450 police-to-person ratio is a mirage in Nigeria. Out of less than 400,000 policemen, over 80 per cent reportedly provide personal security to the so-called very important persons (VIPs). Successive police bosses have ordered the withdrawal of Police Mobile Force (PMF) from these VIPs. But this has not worked.
The current Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, also ordered the withdrawal when he assumed office in 2023. As if he has forgotten his initial directive, he issued another withdrawal order last month when he saw the way a Chinese insulted Nigerian mobile policemen by publicly dishing out a token amount of money to them in a viral video. Who is fooling whom?
Tinubu should summon his service chiefs and give them marching orders to confront and eliminate terrorists in every part of Nigeria or be sacked. He should seek collaboration with other countries that face similar challenges as Nigeria. He should tap from their wealth of experience on how they battled insurgency in their countries.
It is not enough to beef up the defence budget. The President must ensure that the funds are well deployed in the areas they are much needed. To serve as a motivating factor, the welfare of soldiers should be paramount. If politicians who are known to have no other business other than politics could acquire exotic cars and mansions, there is no reason those risking their lives for all of us should be treated shabbily.
If after all said and done, the insecurity situation still persists, Tinubu should then resign or step aside for a more competent person to take over the mantle of leadership of this country. Nigerians have suffered enough!
Re: Rivers political malaria and Ibas’ strange drugs
Bravo Casmir, but did Tinubu actually fight for the enthronement of this democracy? Some eloped abroad when Abacha released ‘just a little heat’ in the polity. These set can’t value this ‘precious democracy’ that we have now! Non-committed ‘foreign NADECO members’ are incomparable to the ‘local NADECO’ members who faced the ‘real fire’ of the Abacha Armageddon!
Tinubu is trifling with our democracy going by the activities of Wike & Ibas. The three musketeers won’t relent until they sink this democracy before 2027. But God forbid! From day one of this administration, we all saw how officers of this present National Assembly emerged.
It was obvious they would be subservient to the dictates or whims & caprices of Tinubu; in forever appreciation of his role in their emergence. Regrettably, we have a puppet National Assembly who are tied to the apron springs of Tinubu.
Tinubu is setting our democracy many years back. Glad to know that Iba in Igbo & Yoruba means fever. ‘Ogwu iba’ and ‘ogun iba’ (in Yoruba) mean anti-malaria drug/medication.
The Igbos and the Yorubas must have something in common ancestrally. Ibas (multiple or different kind of fevers) eg malaria, typhoid, Lassa etc. Can you see why he is not getting it right. The diagnosis on what ails rivers was wrong.
The prescribed drugs are in favour of APC’s Wike sorry PDP’s Wike or PDP-APC’s Wike; confusion break bone. Apology to the late Fela. It is either Ibas is acting according to the script (ogwu/ogun iba) handed over to him or an ‘overzealous Ibas’ is acting beyond the script. But whose fault?
–Mike, Mushin, Lagos,
0816 111 4572