By Dr. Oto’ Drama, PhD.
NIGERIA is currently witnessing a descent into a state of nature where life is not only “nasty, brutish, and short” but has become an undervalued commodity in the marketplace of political rhetoric.
Within a mere 24-hour window, the nation was forced to witness a horror show of such magnitude that it should, in any functional society, trigger a national state of emergency.
The tally of our collective failure is staggering: four police officers murdered in Borno; a church and homes razed in Chibok on the eve of Easter; five siblings—including a two-year-old toddler—snatched from their home in Kaduna; and worshippers slaughtered during the very hours they sought spiritual solace.
This is no longer just “insecurity.” This is a systemic collapse occurring in real-time. To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the message must be blunt: This is unacceptable.
The Ghost of 2014: A Warning to the Villa
Mr. President, history has a cruel way of repeating itself for those who refuse to learn. You must resist the siren song of the comfort-room advisers who likely surround you today. Do not let them whisper the same toxic lies they fed Goodluck Jonathan—that these killings are “exaggerated,” “politicized,” or “orchestrated by the opposition.”
When terrorists can simultaneously strike security formations, religious sanctuaries, and private homes within hours of each other, it is not politics. It is an operational failure of the highest order. The most dangerous illusion a leader can harbor is the illusion of control while his citizens are busy digging mass graves.
From Rhetoric to Results: A Seven-Point Mandate
The Nigerian constitution is clear: the primary purpose of government is the security and welfare of the people. To abdicate this is to lose the moral right to lead. Belief in your capacity to lead still exists, but belief does not stop bullets.
To stem this tide, the Presidency must immediately pivot toward a doctrine of aggressive preservation: unified command, and zero bureaucracy. We can no longer afford inter-agency rivalries. Nigeria needs a centralized security command where intelligence is not processed through layers of red tape, but acted upon instantly.
The End of Reactive Security
Security forces must stop waiting for the next strike. We must hunt the forests of Borno, Kaduna, and our porous border regions must become inhospitable for terror. Identify, locate, and dismantle them permanently.
We do not need more televised briefings or “show of force” parades. We need covert surveillance, aggressive infiltration of terror cells, and results that speak louder than press releases. No Nigerian should go to a church or mosque in fear. During major festivals and in rural flashpoints, visible, rapid-response teams must be a standard, not a luxury.
It requires financiers, arms suppliers, and local informants. Until the “big men” behind the curtain—including any political protectors—are unmasked and prosecuted, the foot soldiers will always be replaced.
The “Golden Hour” Response
In medicine, the “golden hour” saves lives; in security, it’s the “golden minutes.” We must deploy helicopter-supported special forces and functional emergency distress systems. Help that arrives late is not help—it’s an autopsy.
Mr. President, demand truth from your inner circle, not loyalty. Leaders do not fail because they lack power; they fail because they are fed sanitized versions of a bloody reality.
Strictly speaking, this is not a partisan critique; it is a cry for survival. The soul of Nigeria is being eroded by the normalization of the bloodbath. We cannot afford to become a nation that shrugs at the kidnapping of a two-year-old or the burning of a church.
History will not remember your speeches, your economic charts, or your diplomatic travels. It will remember what you did when your people were being slaughtered in their homes and places of worship.
The nation is watching. The nation is waiting. And most tragically, the nation is bleeding. Mr. President, act now. Decisively. Relentlessly. Immediately.
_Dr. Drama, PhD Counterterrorism contributed this piece via: Nigeriandrama@gmail.com_