In an opinion piece, “Nigeria Is Dead”, published in Sahara Reporters, the eminent political analyst, Bayo Oluwasanmi, amidst Nigeria’s security crisis lamented that “The immediate cause of death of the country of over 200 million people was brought about by the daily slaughtering of its citizens by Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists and bandits. Videos showed how the victims were tortured like no other in the history of humans. The victims were killed in such a way that they were able to witness their own torture before their lives were terminated…The body parts were spread around a bonfire while the terrorists raised up their guns with popped champagne in celebration while security agencies – police and the military – joined in the macabre ceremony…It was a gory, senseless, cruel, and frightening scene to watch.”
Sadly, Mr. Oluwasanmi couldn’t have been any closer to the facts on the ground. His view was corroborated by a later report by the U.S. Congressman Riley Moore, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations who met Nigerian victims in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). Mr. Moore recounted how “One woman was forced to watch as they killed her husband and five children. She, and her unborn child, barely escaped. Another woman’s family was murdered in front of her and her baby was ripped from her womb.”
The videos of such gory scenes had become a daily phenomenon in Nigeria. Yet, the government was profoundly indifferent. Rather, it was doing its best to delude the citizens into accepting the tragedy as a new normal. The then-sitting minister of Defence couldn’t have been more idiotic when he stated as follows: “Yes we know the location of the terrorists and bandits. But bombs cannot penetrate the forests.” The regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had given up completely on the insecurity amidst allegations and hard testimonies of state complicity.
In Tinubu’s Nigeria, politics trumps life. Thus, instead of any manner of attention on the insecurity, the regime splashed waves of volcanic propaganda that painted a picture of a best-ever-administration in history. The focus had shifted to the 2027 elections. Any dissenting view was seen as an enemy. With all the instruments of power, including the judiciary, legislature, armed forces, and Independent National Election Commission (INEC) under the firm grip of the Executive branch, throngs of elected officials under the platform of the opposition, most of whom are either very corrupt or afraid of winning re-election defected to the ruling party. The result has been a de facto one-party democracy with zero checks and balances.
The state hubris did not stop at the home front. President Tinubu was then busy shuttling leisurely from one inconsequential country to another, taking salutes, glowing with the euphoria of the pride that befits a leader of a nation of over 200 million people. His image makers, known for parading fallacies as facts, would rebuff critics, claiming the president could rule Nigeria from anywhere he chooses.
The only thing that mattered in terms of security of the Nigerian nation at the time was how best to guard these leaders and their families with contingents of military and police officers towards preserving power while the masses remained prey to terrorists. Calls for the desired attention or even mere sympathy towards the daily massacres fell on the deaf ears.
The ordinary Nigerians saw the malfeasance for what it was. They knew and continue to know that the Nigerian Civil war, a major conflict, lasted only 30 months, relying mainly on rudimentary technologies on both sides. Yet, the country had no answer for mere insurgency over 50 years later despite the prevalence of high-tech surveillance like satellites or drones. The masses saw and continue to see reasons to believe that the government and its allies cannot claim not to know that the leaders and the sponsors of the insurgency. They also know that the budgets to mitigate the insecurity had continued to soar. Yet, there was nothing to show for the huge spendings.
Nigerians saw and continue to see complicity at its barest form. They saw and continue to see an inhumane, cruel, and heartless leadership. They saw and continue to see how the naked ambition of one man has led to a seemingly dearth of the opposition and, by consequence, the hard-earned democracy. It truly was a hopeless situation. A tomorrow then appeared like an impossibility. The only option the people had was to resign to destiny.
The picture above was before October 31, 2025.
Come November 1 2025: the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump harkened to the tears of the voiceless and threatened a possible military action against Nigeria for condonening the widespread insecurity. The nomenclature or style notwithstanding! Insecurity is insecurity!! But Trump was dead serious.
Suddenly, very suddenly, the same Tinubu who was tone deaf to advice or critics started running helter-skelter. Suddenly, virtually all the very suggestions of the critics became the hallmark of the regime’s new policies to combat insecurity.
The first dramatic change was for Tinubu to shelve all foreign trips and focus on insecurity at home. The next was a presidential order to withdraw all the army and police officers guarding the VIPs, and deploy them for true national security. The forests which are the hideouts for the terrorists but deemed impenetrable by the government suddenly began to see a plan of attack. Victims kidnapped by the terrorists suddenly began to gain freedom. Just as the regime began massive recruitment into the armed forces. None of these changes and breakthroughs would have seen the light of the day without the Trump threat.
But Tinubu added salt to the injury along the way. His global propaganda to prove Trump wrong was the last straw. Consequently, the American president answered the prayers of the Nigerian masses by making good his promise to strike terrorist hide-outs apparently shielded for personal interests.
Clearly, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was aware of the country’s deep-seated security problems and knew potential solutions but chose to do nothing. This gives credence to the prevailing charge that he was indifferent to the severe insecurity because of sheer political reasons. This is a high crime. This is a gross abuse of office that has cost Nigeria tens of thousands of innocent lives and tens of billions of dollars. Even worse, Tinubu’s inhumane leadership has grossly compromised national sovereignty and made Nigeria vulnerable to neocolonial foreign military interventions. He has also lost control of Nigeria’s security architecture. Notice how the police force easily flouts Tinubu’s order to withdraw from the VIPs and focus on national security.
The Nigerian president is not only culpable of heinous crimes, but he is also weakened beyond redemption. His continued stay in office is an existential threat. Ordinarily, since impeachment is not feasible with a rubber-stamp legislature, the best option would have been to remove Tinubu through the polls. But, without a robust electoral reform, the 2027 presidential election is already rigged in his favor. Moreover, recent events have shown that Tinubu is irredeemable. Consider, for example, how he is once again resorting back to his old ways of chasing rats while his house is on fire. As at the time of this report, he is said to be in Europe, vacationing. Yeah, the man is “vacationing” in an unknown foreign land while foreign military strikes continue to rain in different parts of Nigeria. This further exposes his pattern of cruel leadership. And Mr. Trump knows this and has not hidden an utter dislike of the Nigerian leader. Yet, the fervent prayer is that Tinubu resigns and goes away quietly. Tinubu’s Nigerian crisis must not drag on to go the way of Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro. The African country deserves much better.
SKC Ogbonnia, a former APC Presidential Aspirant, writes from Ugbo, Enugu State, Nigeria.
