After its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was apprehended by the military and handed over to the Nigeria Police Force, which allegedly executed him, the Boko Haram sect transformed into an insurgent group that the Nigerian military has not been able to overcome.
Things got even worse when the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Lakurawa and other terrorist groups came from the Sahel into Nigeria’s Northwest. First came cattle herders, engaging in altercations with farmers across the country, then bandits, kidnappers and full-blown terrorists.
As insurgency got worse in the Northeast, bomb blasts, banditry and terrorism took over the Northwest and North Central, and Unknown Gunmen reigned in the Southeast, hunting and killing defenceless Nigerians like game, the Nigerian military appeared to be flatfooted.
Over time, the military showed a failure or absence of intelligence-inspired response; slow or no response to terrorist assaults; and an unwillingness to act decisively against terrorists because of what is suspected to be conflicting orders that cannot be easily traced to any authority in particular. For instance, who issued the order for troop withdrawal shortly before the abduction of students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, in November, 2025 – as alleged by the governor?
We agree that the military may not have all the equipment needed to conduct operations in the various theatres. We recall that former President Goodluck Jonathan had to resort to unorthodox means to acquire military hardware after America used the Leahy Law to justify its refusal to sell arms to Nigeria.
It is, however, difficult to ignore the criticisms with regards to professionalism in the Nigerian military, which once took full charge of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces across West Africa and performed excellent peacekeeping assignments in Africa and central Europe.
There were alleged reports that American training programmes and military advisers were withdrawn when it appeared that sensitive and strategic information were about to be compromised by fifth columnists within the Nigerian military.
Even after former President MuhammaduBuhari was able to obtain American military hardware, there was insignificant improvement in the military’s operations against the insurgents and terrorists. Senior military officers were even abducted within Nigeria’s most prestigious military academy. News of the mayhem now appears common such that citizens treat it with shrugs.
While it was initially believed that the war against terrorism would end after the US, which designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, bombed the camps of terrorists in Sokoto State on 2025 Christmas Day, the wave of terrorism seemed to have increased.
It has become so difficult to end the depletion of the nation’s resources and the killing of our young men in this unending war that obviously has international dimension. If Boko Haram is indigenous, ISWAP is alien.
But the more insidious part is that there are local sponsors of the insurgency and terrorism. A foreign country once gave us a list of Nigerian sponsors of terrorism. Recently, the Federal Government released a list of internal financiers of terrorism without indicating if they were sanctioned or not. Naming them is not enough; they should be prosecuted.
The Minister of Defence said the recent bombing of Jillimarket in Borno State by the Nigerian Air Force was justified because the military knew that it was a known hub and rendezvous of insurgents and their civilian logisticians.
These revelations confirm that there are domestic enablers of insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria. Worse, there is a lack of elite political consensus in the country in the war against insurgency and terrorism.
One incident that directly demonstrates the absence of elite political consensus in Nigeria occurred a few months after President Bola Tinubu was sworn in 2023. As Chairman of ECOWAS Authority, he attempted to take a lead in implementing the stringent sanctions imposed by ECOWAS on Niger Republic because of a military coup.
The direct and strident condemnation of the action by elites of Northern Nigerian extraction was deafening. Apparently, the blood, marital, religious, language and cultural affinities between them and the people of Niger Republic had more overriding effect on their judgment than the interest of Nigeria. President Tinubu quietly withdrew from the actions.
It appears inescapable that the absence of elite political consensus is a major castrating cause of the inability of the Nigerian military to effectively overcome the lingering insurgency and terrorism. And until that foundational matter is resolved, it will be one step forward, several steps backward with this strategic quest.
We appeal to Nigeria’s divided political elite to close ranks and look out for the overall interest of the country instead of dwelling on divisive and sectional agenda. We fear that this long and tortuous journey of insecurity may lead to the balkanisation of this beautiful country of vast economic and human resources. Prevention is better than cure!
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