THE CRISIS OF NATIONAL SECURITY
The Armed Forces must be well provided for to prosecute the war
Five months after President Bola Tinubu declared a national security emergency, stating in his broadcast that “There will be no more hiding places for agents of evil,” it would seem the ‘agents’ have metastasised, wreaking havoc all over the country. In the month of March 2026 alone, Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) carried out sporadic and coordinated attacks in Ngoshe, Konduga, Marte, Jakana, Minok, Kukawa, Damboa, Mallam Fatori and Buratai within Borno and Yobe States in the Northeast, leading to the killings of several civilians and military personnel, including top commanders. In the Northwest, bandits have also intensified attacks across Zamfara, Katsina and Kebbi States, sacking villages, and abducting innocent residents.
The picture is not too different in some parts of Niger and Kwara States in North Central where people have fled communities for fear of attacks and abduction. All these have prompted many Nigerians to ponder whether the authorities have lost steam in the war against insurgency and banditry. In the latest incident on 9 April, the insurgents attacked the location of 29 Task Force Brigade in Benisheik and later Ngamdi, both along the Maiduguri-Damaturu Road, killing some soldiers and razing down the brigade location after carting away arms and ammunition. They also killed the army brigade commander, Brigadier General Oseni Braimah.
These recent attacks indicate that the country has probably reached a tipping point in this war, and it is time for the political leadership to look beyond the usual or routine management and take extraordinary steps to stem the ugly tide. The inference by Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the killings are because of the 2027 general election is not supported by any empirical evidence. Besides, making political excuses cannot be the solution to a serious national security challenge.
When the president declared emergency in the security sector last November, we raised questions about whether the measures announced were far reaching enough. We also noted the mixed messages and incoherence with senior government officials saying different things depending on their audience. As things stand, the president may need to take direct command and control. That may require a direct engagement with the men on the field to understand their requirements and take extraordinary steps to properly fund the war.
The essence of this is to enable the president to have a clear understanding of where military efforts sit in the overall resolution of the crisis and the harmony with other issues bordering on governance, cooperation with neighbouring countries, and galvanising a whole of society approach to the crisis. More importantly, it will help untie the web around funding requests to meet military operational requirements which, as constantly advocated, goes beyond normal budgetary considerations. What media reports of military leaders having to lurk around ministers and heads of agencies in Abuja to virtually plead for funds suggest a dangerous gap in prosecuting the war.
Indeed, from the comments of some soldiers out there in the Northeast theatre as often read on social media, one could establish a largely ill-motivated force. When soldiers keep using the same old and unreliable weapons or assume that the adversary have superior weapons, this can erode their enthusiasm. The catalyst to getting rid of this feeling is to inject new and modern weapons in substantial quantity into the theatre. We have seen this work in the past with the acquisition and deployment of some sizeable number of the Russian made T72 tanks in 2014. These vehicles played a substantial role in the clearing of occupied communities that enabled the 2015 general election to hold.
Of all the responsibilities heaped on the president by the constitution, that of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is the most overarching. The survival of the political edifice of the Nigerian state overrides everything else. The criminals who are contesting the legitimacy of the Nigerian State pose an existential threat. To that extent, resource allocation to national defense and security should override all other budget allocations. President Tinubu should make national security the guiding principle of a new resolve. Without a secure nation, politics and elections have no meaning.
That is the defining lesson of this moment.
