The challenge of uprooting insurgency beyond presidential assurances

President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Katsina State and his interaction with soldiers of Operation FASAN YAMMA is a necessary morale booster to the country’s anti-terrorism campaign. As frontliners bearing the brunt of the campaign, soldiers need assurance of the government’s full support, amplified by the president’s charge that they are not to bow to terror. The President also vowed that government forces would take over every inch of the forests in the Northwest. Very reassuring charge by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation. 
 
However, given several assurances in the past that turned out to be empty, and the fact that insecurity is not abating across the country, the president and his security team need to take the campaign to a more determined level. The insurgency has become malignant and terrifying, and soldiers, as human beings first and foremost, cannot be impressed with any assurance even from the president, while their colleagues are killed by terrorists. There must be a visible commitment and sincerity of the government and the armed forces to bring it to a close.

The President should therefore go beyond podium sophistry and do the needful: recalibrate the anti-terrorism strategy, nurture the political will to go after insurgents and their sponsors. Truth be told, Nigeria has never been this unsafe and the country, sadly, doesn’t seem to be on the path to winning the fight. 
 
Despite the President’s assurances, authorities in the state have ordered the closure of schools in Guga District, Bakori Local Government Area, following renewed attacks by bandits in Dabara, Faskari Local Government Area, which left many residents dead. Kidnapping and cattle rustling have become frequent occurrences in that part of the state.
   
In Borno State, Governor Babagana Zulum has declared Mondays for voluntary fasting and prayer across the state to seek divine intervention and strengthen the people’s resolve against insecurity.  Zulum said: “In light of our current security challenges, I am calling on all residents of Borno State to unite in a collective act of faith and solidarity…Let us come together to seek divine guidance, healing and peace for our state.”
 
He added that “through prayer and reflection, we can strengthen our unity, renew our resilience and restore our collective purpose.” Former President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2022, had also charged Nigerians to seek divine intervention on insecurity. On that occasion, he said: “We have done our best, and will continue to do more by pursuing coherent and consistent policies to deal with terrorism. I hope God will listen to our prayers.”
 
Our governments seem to be at their wit’s end when it comes to dealing with the Boko Haram insurgents and their affiliates who now lay siege to vast territories in the country. What began as another localised sectarian skirmish under former governor Modu Sheriff in Borno has today transformed into a national security epidemic with the capacity to derail the country’s stability and progress.
 
Indeed, Nigeria had witnessed spates of sectarian uprisings in her chequered history, notable of which was the Maitatsine riots, occurring in the 1980s across northern states. Those deadly riots claimed thousands of civilian lives as well as security personnel. But the governments at the time acted swiftly and decisively to vanquish the menace.
 
However, with Boko Haram, successive governments since 2009 have not demonstrated grit in the manner they handled the insurgency. Instead, defence budgets have increased exponentially without any end to insecurity. Nigerians have seen the political class politicise the disaster to make political capital out of it. The All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to end the activities of Boko Haram in a matter of months, drawing from the touted military prowess of Buhari, who was their 2015 presidential candidate. Buhari ended his tenure of eight years, and under his watch, the insurgency spread all over the country. He vacuously wringed his hands and surrendered to divine help.  
 
The challenge is now on President Tinubu to uphold the constitutional charge that the primary responsibility of any government is the safety and well-being of citizens. As Commander-in-Chief, it is his constitutional responsibility to ensure that the entire country is safe, including all the forests across the country now inhabited and used by terrorists and kidnappers as a haven.

Tinubu must rally the military and indeed the entire country to have a positive mindset in the fight against terrorism. However, for Nigeria not to bow to terrorism and banditry, President Tinubu must go beyond ineffective motivational speeches. Government must go beyond rhetoric to defend citizens in their communities, farmlands and along the nation’s highways.
 
As things stand, the only spaces where citizens find a semblance of peace and security are in the city centres. Some local government headquarters are run by bandits and terrorists, as attested to by Zulum and the Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume. In some communities, terrorists levy taxes and impose their jungle laws and traditions. Even military barracks in far-flung locations in the Northeast are no longer safe. If care is not taken, the terrorists are closing in on the rest of the country. This is unacceptable, and the government needs to face it frontally, not in carefully crafted but empty campaign-like speeches.
 
President Tinubu is reminded of his Renewed Hope Agenda for the country, in which he promised to strengthen national security for peace and prosperity. The President should know that peace has eluded the country.  In the absence of peace, prosperity is nowhere to be found as productivity is hampered and farmers no longer have access to their lands. That must be reversed.
 
There must be accountability for the resources that are allocated to fight the insurgency. It cannot just be a bazaar of endless spending without probity. Governors should play their parts as owners of territories where insecurity takes place. They cannot wait endlessly for the Federal Government. They must take charge. The National Assembly should speed up processes to create a state police to enable governors to take charge. 
 
Let the government block sources of illegal arms importation and funding for terrorists. Nigerians charge the government to note that all lives matter and must be protected equally. No ethnic group is superior to others. Let the government close the gap of ethnic and religious division in the country. The entire country, including all arms of government, must unite to save Nigeria from being overrun by terrorists.