Olu Allen
If you pay close attention to the rhetoric coming from Tinubu’s aides, you’ll notice a pattern: constant defence, endless denial, and recycled propaganda.
It’s as if their job description is to argue with reality rather than confront it. But reality is undefeated, and the reality today is that insecurity, whether we call it banditry, terrorism, or genocide, has become a national tragedy we are all drowning in together.
While the government lectures America about violating our sovereignty, we must ask a simple question: what sovereignty are we talking about when ragtag armed groups stroll into our communities, kill at will, and exit untouched?
Our sovereignty was compromised the moment non-state actors began to operate more freely than state forces.
Despite having intelligence, we lack impact. Despite having data, we lack direction. We are playing defence when the situation demands overwhelming offence.
Kidnapping has become lucrative in Nigeria because the state has not made it logistically impossible.
Criminals thrive because our system allows them to.
There is no cohesive strategy, no unified command, no doctrine of total victory. We respond in fragments while terror operates in networks.
This is not the season for politicking. Tinubu and his circle must forget 2027 for now.
There must be a country before there can be a second term.
Leadership at this moment requires national unity, not the constant political skirmishes and appointments driven by loyalty rather than competence.
Experts like Bulama Bukarti, and other Nigerians with deep knowledge of terrorism financing, counter-insurgency, and strategic security communication, should already be at the table.
This is not the time to gather praise-singers; it is the time to assemble Nigeria’s sharpest minds.
It is fair, and necessary, to admit that Tinubu may not have been fully prepared for the leadership he desperately wanted.
But preparation can be built. What must not continue is this stubborn attachment to party loyalists while the nation bleeds.
What is necessary now?
- A unified national security doctrine, one integrated plan, not isolated efforts.
- Disruption of kidnapping and terror logistics, funding channels, communication lines, supply routes, and sanctuary locations must be dismantled.
- Deployment of experts, not loyalists. select people with proven counter-terrorism experience.
- Transparent leadership communication, no more denial; Nigerians need truth and direction.
- Offensive operations, sustained, intelligence-driven action to reclaim territory and deter future attacks.
A patriotic call to action
Mr. President, this is bigger than politics. History is writing, and it will not be kind to any leader who fiddled while the nation burned.
Unite the country. Lead from the front. Bring in the best.
Take the offence. Show Nigerians a government that is fighting for their survival, not a government fighting critics.
Nigeria is yours to save, or to lose.
Allen writes on accountable leadership and promotes a secure, united Nigeria.
