As Nigeria grapples with growing security challenges, a former minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Nduese Essien, has accused President Bola Tinubu administration of failing in its constitutional duty to protect citizens.
In a statement he issued on Monday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Essien described the wave of killings, kidnappings and terrorist attacks sweeping across the country as evidence of a government that has lost control and prioritised political survival over national security.
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‘Nigeria dangerously close to normalising terror’
Mr Essien, a former member of the House of Representatives, cited a disturbing list of recent attacks as proof that insecurity has become a “normalised” national condition.
In Borno State, Musa Uba, a brigadier general and three soldiers were abducted and executed. In Kebbi, 25 female students were abducted. A worship service in Kwara was attacked, leaving some people dead and 38 kidnapped, while over 300 pupils and teachers were abducted in a Catholic Church-run school in Niger State.
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Police officers, Civilian Joint Task Force members, students, farmers, clerics, infants and nursing mothers have been victims in attacks spanning Sokoto, Niger, Kwara and Borno states within days.
“These are no longer isolated incidents,” Mr Essien said. “Nigeria is dangerously close to normalising terror.”
The former minister accused the Tinubu administration of showing neither urgency nor seriousness in responding to the escalating violence.
He said, without providing evidence, that the recently appointed service chiefs lacked ‘relevant experience or strategic depth’, and that key security roles appeared to have been filled as political rewards.
“Defence is not a patronage portfolio,” he said. “It is the backbone of national survival.”
He also referenced long-standing allegations that some individuals within government and security agencies maintain ties with terrorist networks — a claim long denied by officials but widely echoed by analysts, affected communities, and some retired military officers.
“A country cannot defeat terror when those protecting citizens may be compromised,” he warned.
Population explosion, poverty and radicalisation
Beyond weapons and troops, the former minister pointed to underlying socio-economic drivers accelerating the crisis: mass poverty, lack of regulation in polygamous marriage practices, millions of out-of-school children, unemployment and systemic government neglect.
“These children roaming the streets without education or hope become cheap recruits for terror,” he said, adding that Nigeria cannot continue ignoring its exploding youth population.
Mr Essien further linked insecurity to corruption, accusing government officials of diverting security funds and exploiting crises for political gain.
“Reports are published but never acted upon. Nigeria is broke not because we lack revenue, but because of leakages and looting,” he stated.
He also condemned attacks, arrests and intimidation of Nigerians who are in the opposition, describing such actions as “political terrorism” that endangers democracy.
“It is ironic that those who once led protests now deploy force to silence dissent,” he said.
Call for national resistance and reform
The former minister challenged President Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, the Defence Minister, and the service chiefs to “deliver results or step aside.”
He called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society and the media to hold the government accountable and reject silence.
“Nigeria stands at a crossroads. If we fail to act, this insecurity will define our future for generations.”
Mr Essien’s message echoes growing frustration across Nigeria, where highways, schools, and worship centres have become hunting grounds for terrorists and bandits.
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With tens of thousands killed and millions displaced in more than a decade of worsening violence, the question now—posed starkly by his statement—is whether Nigeria still has the leadership capacity, moral will, and institutional strength to reverse its slide.
“Stand together, defend our country, and refuse to remain silent while it bleeds,” Mr Essien said.
Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesperson, when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, said that the former minister was expressing his opinion.
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