society
NIGERIA: A NATION OF PARTICULAR CONCERN. By George Omagbemi Sylvester
NIGERIA: A NATION OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by Saharaweeklyng.com
“How Insecurity, Economic Misrule, and Institutional Decay Are Dragging Africa’s Largest Democracy to the Brink.”
Nigeria is no longer a nation at a CROSSROADS; it is a nation at a CLIFF’S EDGE, dragged dangerously close to collapse by insecurity, corruption, economic mismanagement and institutional failure. To describe Nigeria as “A COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” is not an exaggeration. It is an urgent diagnosis grounded in data, daily experiences and the wailing voices of communities mourning their dead, burying their children and losing faith in a government that has repeatedly failed to secure life, dignity, and hope.
Today, more than 46% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, inflation continues to ravage every home and millions of young people are out of school, unemployed, or fleeing the country in desperation. The economy is battered, insecurity is rampant and governance is largely rudderless. But nothing captures Nigeria’s descent into chaos more painfully than the horrifying attacks on schools, a brutal reminder that even children, the most innocent among us, are not safe.
THE KEBBI SCHOOL ABDUCTION: A NATIONAL WOUND THAT REFUSES TO HEAL. On November 17, 2025, Nigeria was jolted again by a chilling act of terror. Armed men stormed the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State, abducting at least 25 schoolgirls in a coordinated predawn attack. The attackers scaled the school fence at about 4:00 a.m., opened fire indiscriminately, and dragged the girls into the forest.
In an act of courage and sacrifice, the school’s vice-principal, Hassan Yakubu Makuku, tried to shield the students. He was shot dead on the spot, executed for standing between young girls and the barrels of bandits’ guns. A security guard, Ali Shehu, was also shot and wounded while attempting to resist the attackers. This was not an isolated attack, it was a continuation of a horrifying pattern. The attacks in Chibok (2014), Dapchi (2018), Kagara (2021), Tegina (2021), Kuriga (2024), and now Kebbi all form a bloody chain of state failure. The haunting question remains: How many Nigerian children must be abducted before the government takes decisive action?
President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack as “REPREHENSIBLE,” ordering security agencies to rescue the girls. Though Nigerians have heard these promises before, promises that too often end in mass graves, unmarked graves, or traumatized survivors returning from months of captivity.
INSECURITY: NIGERIA IS BLEEDING FROM EVERY CORNER. Nigeria is now a battlefield.
Bandits control forests.
Terrorists dominate territories.
Kidnappers roam highways.
Cultists terrorize communities.
Unknown gunmen spill blood freely.
And criminals now view schools as marketplaces where children can be BOUGHT, SOLD and TRADED.
Between 2011 and 2024, more than 22,000 Nigerians were abducted, according to SBM Intelligence. Schoolchildren account for thousands. Today, the fear of abduction has become a cloud over education in the North-West and North-East. Parents are withdrawing their daughters from school. Teachers are resigning. Students attend classes under the shadow of death.
The African Centre for Strategic Studies warns: “Insecurity in Nigeria is no longer episodic; it is SYSTEMIC, SUSTAINED and INCREASINGLY NORMALIZED.”
AN ECONOMY IN FREE FALL. As insecurity expands, the economy collapses further.
• Food inflation soared above 30%, turning basic staples like rice, garri, and beans into luxuries.
• Fuel subsidy removal in 2023 unleashed nationwide hardship without adequate safety nets.
• The naira’s devaluation pushed millions into despair, weakening purchasing power.
• Power shortages cripple manufacturing and small businesses.
• Youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world.
The World Bank notes sharply: “Nigeria’s economic crisis is affecting the foundations of social stability.”
Businesses are shutting down. Investors are fleeing. The middle class (once the hope of national growth) is thinning daily. Nigeria is becoming a land of the extremely rich and the extremely poor.
THE ROT IN GOVERNANCE: CORRUPTION AND A CULTURE OF IMPUNITY. Nigeria’s governance crisis is not accidental, but engineered by decades of CORRUPTION, INCOMPETENCE and POLITICAL ARROGANCE.
Transparency International continues to rank Nigeria near the bottom of the global corruption index. Funds meant for security are siphoned. Allocations for education vanish. Social welfare programs become political compensation schemes. In many states, salaries and pensions are delayed while leaders parade luxury convoys and foreign trips.
As Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka once warned: “The greatest threat to Nigeria is not corruption itself, but the culture of impunity that protects it.” This impunity has now metastasized into a national cancer.
A BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT. The social contract between Nigerian citizens and their government rests on a simple principle: The people obey the law and the state protects life and welfare. That contract has been shredded.
When schoolchildren are kidnapped, when teachers are murdered, when farmers are slaughtered, when the state cannot secure food, jobs or electricity, then governance loses its moral legitimacy.
As renowned political economist Amartya Sen argues: “Development must begin with freedom; freedom from fear, hunger and insecurity.” Nigeria today offers none of these.
WHAT MUST BE DONE AND URGENTLY. If Nigeria is to avoid total collapse, five urgent actions are non-negotiable:
1. Secure the Nation — Not with Speeches, But with Strategy.
Nigeria needs technology-driven intelligence, forest surveillance, community policing and decisive operations that dismantle bandit networks permanently.
2. Protect Schools with a Real Safe Schools Initiative.
Deploy armed marshals, install perimeter security and establish rapid-response teams in high-risk regions.
3. Rebuild the Economy from the Bottom Up
Job creation, agricultural revival, MSME funding and power sector fixes must take precedence over cosmetic reforms.
4. Fight Corruption with Institutional Teeth
Special anti-corruption courts, open contracting and digitized government payments are essential.
5. Put Citizens First
Social protection must be transparent, targeted and shielded from political interference.
A CRITICAL SUMMATION: THE HOUR OF TRUTH FOR NIGERIA. Nigeria stands at a historic turning point. The abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi, the killing of their vice-principal and the rising waves of insecurity, poverty and corruption are not isolated problems; they are symptoms of a nation clinically ill and dangerously untreated. The world is watching. Nigerians are waiting. History is recording. If Nigeria fails to act decisively now, the consequences will echo for generations.
As long as we still breathe, hope is not dead.
In the words of my own reflection: “We must refuse to normalize decline. Nigeria must rise; not by chance, but by courage, sacrifice and the unyielding demand for a nation worthy of its people.” — George Omagbemi Sylvester
Real Reason I Defend Taye Currency with Passion -ace journalist, Wale Adeoba
City journalist, Wale Adeoba has declared that he is not a social media blogger but professional journalist.
Adeoba claimed that some people have been tagging him a social media blogger because of how passionately he has been defending his longtime friend who is one of the respected Fuji musicians, Alhaji Taiwo Adebisi a.k.a. Taye Currency.
In a chat on Tuesday, Adeoba who declared that he is a professional journalist versed in both print and broadcast journalism, noted that people should not be surprised when they see him preaching the word of God soonest.
“People should understand that I’m not a blogger. I’m a professional journalist. I don’t understand how they arrived at their notion. Maybe they’re doing that because of the way I’ve been defending Taye Currency since his misunderstanding his senior colleague, Alhaji Alabi Pasuma.”
Adeoba revealed that he has established a career in journalism in about three decades and is fulfilled.
“I am not a social media blogger but a professional journalist with years of experience”, Adeoba noted, urging the public to understand his actions are driven by loyalty to a friend not in pursuit of online fame.
Insiders hinted that Adeoba’s experience and credibility as a professional journalist has put him ahead in terms of influence and insight.
society
Thousands Gather as Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, ADC Tour Storms Ifedayo, Ila and Boluwaduro Federal Constituency
*Thousands Gather as Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, ADC Tour Storms Ifedayo, Ila and Boluwaduro Federal Constituency*
Thousands of supporters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Osun State, led by former governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, converged today on the ancient palace of the Orangun of Ila Orangun, Oba Wahab Kayode Adedeji Oyedotun (Bibiire I). The gathering marked the commencement of the party’s nine-federal-constituency tour across the state.
Addressing the crowd in Yoruba, Aregbesola declared that the major pillars of governance in Nigeria had collapsed, stating that security, infrastructure, education and the economy had deteriorated severely. “When your people are hungry and suffering, and you fail to show compassion, you cannot claim to be an Omoluabi,” he said. “Awolowo and our other founding fathers would not be happy seeing Nigeria in this condition.”
He added that the government had “failed in all the key elements of governance” and that Nigerians had rejected its leadership. “For the past two years, nothing has worked. They have failed woefully in governance,” he said.
Aregbesola explained that the tour was aimed at reawakening public consciousness and mobilising support for the ADC.
“We are here to tell you about the party that will restore responsible leadership and good governance to our country,” he said. “The policies of this administration have pushed thousands into poverty, hunger and hardship.”
He criticised the federal government’s priorities, noting that Nigeria has 37,000 kilometres of federal roads, more than 76 percent of which he said were not motorable.
“Instead of fixing these roads, the government is focusing on a coastal highway that will not address the nation’s economic realities,” he added.
Aregbesola maintained that the current government had performed poorly in security, the economy and education, which he described as the primary indicators of good governance.
“This is what our great party, the ADC, seeks to correct,” he said.
Reflecting on his administration in Osun, he highlighted programmes such as feeding over 50,000 children, empowering more than 60,000 youths and introducing pro-people, welfarist policies.
“This is what we intend to restore when you vote for us in 2026,” he said, urging supporters to spread the message of the ADC across communities in Ila Federal Constituency.
Aregbesola also encouraged residents of Osun to participate actively in the party’s registration exercise, which will be inaugurated tomorrow in Ilesa.
The tour marks another significant step in the ADC’s grassroots mobilisation efforts ahead of the 2026 general elections. It is scheduled to move to the Ayedaade, Irewole and Isokan Federal Constituency on Thursday, 20 November 2025.
Buratai, Gambari, Bajowa, others to discuss national security at Lagos conference
Amidst escalating issues within the nation’s security architecture, the Institute of Security Nigeria (ISN) will host its 18th international conference in Lagos on Saturday, 29 November 2025, with top political office holders, security chieftains, diplomats, traditional rulers, academia and media practitioners in attendance.
The conference, with the theme ‘Expanding the Frontiers of Innovations in Security Enhancement and Nation Building in Nigeria’ will be attended by a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (rtd.), who will deliver the keynote address.
Other personalities are a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Major General Olu Bajowa (rtd.); Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative in the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, among others.
ISN’s Deputy President/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adebayo Akinade explained that the conference would illuminate practical innovations for the strengthening of national security, while safeguarding rights and democratic governance; share evidence-based policies and operational best practices across the security ecosystem; forge actionable public-private-civic partnerships for prevention, protection, response and recovery; and identity legislative, institutional and technological reforms for sustainable impact.
According to him, ‘Nigeria’s security renewal hinges on innovation, anchored in law, oversight ethics and human security.
‘Technology without governance is insufficient. Governance without capacity is ineffective. Collaboration between federal, states, local governments, communities and the private sector must be systematic and not episodic. With sustained political will and professional leadership, reforms are achievable within a relatively short period and will deliver measurable improvements in safety, confidence and national development’.
The conference is expected to attract thousands of physical and virtual participants, including senior officers from the Armed Forces, the Police, the Department of State Services, the academia, civil servants, corporate security directors, the media and student groups, among others.
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