Nigeria often behaves like a country that has not yet made up its mind to be serious. We say we will get there someday, but every passing week proves that we are still far away.
How does a nation in the throes of insecurity allow the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, to issue sensitive security briefings that should ordinarily come from the National Security Adviser, Defence Headquarters, or the military high command?
Where is the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu? Where are the spokespersons of the Army, Navy, and Air Force? Have they suddenly lost their voices that an overzealous presidential aide is now the government’s mouthpiece on combat strategy, classified intel, and military constraints?
Security communication is not a job for political propagandists. It is not the territory of those who do not understand the consequences of their own words. Seasoned security professionals know what to say, how to say it, and what not to disclose. Onanuga’s amateur commentary has now handed terrorists a textbook on how to continue exploiting the government’s vulnerabilities.
Speaking on Arise Television on 24 November, Onanuga declared that security agencies have “detailed intelligence” on the identities and locations of bandit groups responsible for recent mass kidnappings — including those from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State — but cannot act because terrorists embed themselves near civilian populations or use abducted victims as human shields.
In his words: “You can’t just go there. They need to be very careful… They go about abducting our people and use them as a shield so they will not be attacked.”
This raises a painful question: Why is a presidential media aide explaining the military’s inability to act? Why is he the one announcing why airstrikes cannot be launched? Why is he casually disclosing operational limitations that terrorists will now exploit even further?
Does Onanuga understand the national security implications of his statements? Clearly not. Because now, every terrorist cell in Nigeria knows — straight from the Presidency — that as long as they abduct more civilians and cluster near settlements, they are safe from military firepower. You cannot reveal operational limits in public and expect terrorists not to exploit them. Loose talk from within government is putting Nigeria at risk.
That reckless disclosure is not only irresponsible — it is a direct invitation to terrorists to expand their human shield tactics. No functioning government reveals operational paralysis on national television. This is not communication. This is sabotage.
Worse still, his comments on the release of the abducted Kebbi schoolgirls were nothing short of a clumsy attempt to launder failure into achievement. As the Atiku Media Office rightly said: “The release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy moment; it is a damning reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms while this administration issues press statements to save face.”
The President adviser’s remarks also raise critical inconsistencies. If the Department of State Services (DSS) and military forces were able to “track” kidnappers and “make contact” with them in real time, the central question is why these networks were not interdicted.
Effective counterinsurgency operations prioritize the capture or neutralization of hostile actors once their locations and communications are verified. Publicly acknowledging contact without corresponding enforcement undermines state credibility and signals operational incapacity, whether real or perceived.
When did Nigeria officially descend to the level where kidnapping becomes a routine telephone negotiation between criminals and state officials?
Under Tinubu, terrorists and bandits have become an alternative government: They kidnap at will. They negotiate on their own terms. They collect ransom unhindered. They walk back into the forests untouched. And the presidency congratulates itself afterward.
No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to be monitoring. No responsible government calls it success when abductors simply walk away to kidnap again. If the security agencies had real surveillance, allowing the kidnappers to escape is a scandal. If they didn’t, then Onanuga lied to cover up a catastrophic failure.
Either way, the statement is an embarrassing confirmation that the Tinubu administration has lost control of national security and is trying to spin paralysis into progress.
This weakness became glaring on Tuesday when a group of terrorists holding the abducted Kebbi schoolgirls released a viral video mocking the Nigerian government. In the footage, the girls — seated on the ground under the watch of armed militants — were asked to confirm the date, denied being molested, and affirmed that they were fed and protected.
But the most damning part was the terrorists’ taunt: “Since you were kidnapped, how many jets came to rescue you? You see that the government could not rescue you. Your release has nothing to do with the government. We are releasing you because we are in discussions with important people.”
Is this not humiliation of the highest order?
And just as Nigerians were still processing this disgrace, news emerged on Wednesday that President Tinubu has declared a “State of Emergency on Security.” Yet the only concrete directive was to “massively recruit” new police and military personnel.
Is manpower the core problem? Is it not obvious that mismanagement, misdeployment, and lack of coordination are the real cancers?
We have soldiers littered across the Southeast and South-south on operations that are opaque at best and counterproductive at worst. In the Niger Delta, reports abound of personnel entangled in illegal oil activities. Why not redeploy them to the regions where Fulani terrorists are testing Nigeria’s sovereignty?
Compounding these problems is the administration’s response. President Tinubu’s declaration of a State of Emergency on Security focused predominantly on directives to expand recruitment into the police and military. While manpower is a component of national security capacity, current evidence suggests that Nigeria’s security challenges stem less from personnel shortages and more from issues of deployment efficiency, command coordination, accountability, and resource misuse. Reports of opaque military operations in the Southeast and allegations of security personnel involvement in illicit oil activities in the Niger Delta highlight persistent misalignment between deployed force structure and actual threat locations.
Nigeria cannot be governed by excuses. The Government must stop enabling terrorists through incompetence and naivety.
God will not allow this country to be put to shame. Amen!
(IFEANYI IZEZE writes from Abuja. Contact: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)
