society
Tinubu’s Greatest Failure: Insecurity Has Made Nigeria a Killing Field
Published
3 weeks agoon

Tinubu’s Greatest Failure: Insecurity Has Made Nigeria a Killing Field.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
In a nation where blood flows more freely than clean water and the average citizen sleeps with one eye open, the conversation about Nigeria’s survival has shifted from economic growth and job creation to the fundamental right to life. Security is not just a policy issue; it is the very foundation of governance. Sadly, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has utterly failed in this most sacred duty.
There is no peace in the Northeast. There is no safety in the Northwest. Blood flows in the North-Central. The South-South is bleeding from oil theft and continous violence. The Southeast is under siege from unknown gunmen and militarization. The Southwest (Tinubu’s own region) isn’t exempt either with kidnapping and violent crimes now part of daily life. Who exactly is safe in Nigeria today?
Let’s be clear: nothing is more important than the protection of lives and properties. Even the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) is clear in Section 14(2)(b): “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” If the government cannot protect its people, then that government has failed. And President Tinubu, despite his flowing agbada and grand political image as “Jagaban,” has failed woefully.
“Na Who Dey Alive Dey Chop”
A popular Nigerian phrase that captures this sentiment is: “Na who dey alive dey chop.” You can’t talk about inflation, minimum wage, education or infrastructure when you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering if you’ll be the next victim of kidnapping or mass murder. Insecurity has destroyed markets, closed schools and emptied farmlands. Farmers in Zamfara, Borno, Plateau and Benue can no longer go to their farms. The roads between Kaduna and Abuja are death traps. The forests from Ondo to Enugu are controlled by bandits. Nowhere is safe.
How can a government that cannot protect lives talk about attracting foreign investment? What investor would risk their capital in a country where entire communities are wiped out overnight? And yet, this administration keeps spinning illusions about economic recovery while citizens are slaughtered like animals.
Defenders of the Indefensible
Some political loyalists and sycophants continue to defend Tinubu using logic that insults common sense. They tell us to be patient. They say insecurity didn’t start with Tinubu, but did he not campaign with the promise to restore security? Did he not swear to protect every Nigerian? If you inherit a house on fire, you don’t fan the flames, you put it out! Two years into his presidency, we’re still hearing excuses while mass graves multiply across the country.
Defending Tinubu’s inaction using history or regional politics is dangerous and dishonest. If the Taliban were to attack Nigeria tomorrow and the Tinubu government allows them to slaughter Nigerians without resistance, will we again blame religion or foreign influence or will we hold the Commander-in-Chief accountable?
This is not a religious issue. It is not an ethnic problem. It is a question of leadership. And in this critical area, Tinubu has failed to lead, failed to inspire and most importantly, failed to protect.
Grim Facts Don’t Lie
Let’s look at the numbers. According to SBM Intelligence, over 4,556 Nigerians were killed and more than 3,000 abducted in 2023 alone; Tinubu’s first year in office. Amnesty International reported that in Kaduna, Plateau and Benue states, coordinated attacks on villages continue with little or no military intervention. In March 2024, over 300 people were killed in Plateau within a week. And yet, no national day of mourning was declared. No military heads were sacked. Life went on as if Nigerian lives meant nothing.
Security spending under Tinubu has skyrocketed with over ₦3.25 trillion allocated to defense and security in the 2024 budget, yet the insecurity situation has only worsened. Where is the money going? Why are our soldiers underpaid, under-equipped and overstretched? Why are bandits better armed than the police? Why are communities forming vigilante groups to do the job the government is paid to do?
“It is better to have no government than to have one that kills its own people through negligence.” ~ Femi Falana, SAN
No Excuses, Just Accountability
Leadership is not about sharing palliatives or jetting around the world for photo ops. It is about responsibility. Nigeria is not a playground for political experiments. It is a nation of over 200 million human lives. Tinubu should not be spending more time in Paris and London than in Borno, Zamfara or Benue.
In April 2025, President Tinubu boasted during a foreign investment summit that “Nigeria is open for business.” But the truth on the ground is grim. Foreign companies are shutting down due to insecurity. Telecom masts are being destroyed. Railway lines are vandalized. Schools in the North are closing en masse. Between 2020 and 2024, over 1,500 schoolchildren were abducted by terrorists and under Tinubu, not much has changed.
In the words of former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd): “The country is gradually being taken over by non-state actors while the state folds its arms.”
Citizens Are Losing Hope
Youths are tired. Families are broken. Dreams are buried alongside loved ones in shallow graves. The idea of Nigeria has become a nightmare for too many. From the herdsmen killings in Benue to the communal clashes in Taraba, the terrorist ambushes in Borno to the kidnapping rings in Ekiti, the story is the same: death, destruction and despair.
Even the National Assembly is grumbling. In May 2025, several lawmakers demanded the sack of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Service Chiefs, citing failure to tackle escalating insecurity. Yet Tinubu continues to operate in denial, unwilling to admit the rot, unable to inspire confidence.
What Should Tinubu Do?
Enough is enough. President Tinubu must:
Declare a state of emergency on national security; with clear military, intelligence and community policing strategies.
Restructure the Nigerian Police Force to function more autonomously, with proper funding, training and accountability.
Replace non-performing security chiefs, this is not a retirement home.
Engage local communities through civil-military cooperation, dialogue and intelligence sharing.
Publicly address Nigerians every month with real updates on security and not empty rhetoric.
Final Word
To those still defending Tinubu blindly: you are part of the problem. Patriotism does not mean defending failure. It means holding leaders accountable. Nigeria cannot move forward when her citizens are being buried in mass graves while politicians exchange blames and play ethnic cards.
Security is not an optional promise. It is a constitutional obligation. And President Tinubu, so far, has failed to meet that obligation. If nothing changes, history will remember him not as the reformer he claimed to be, but as the man who fiddled while Nigeria burned.
“A nation that cannot protect its citizens has signed its own death warrant.” ~ Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, human rights activist
Nigeria DESERVES better. Nigerians DEMAND better… And we must not rest until we get it.
Written by George Omagbemi Sylvester
Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
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Apostle Suleman To Singles: Investigate Before Going Into Relationship To Avoid ‘It Is Well’
Published
6 hours agoon
July 18, 2025
Apostle Suleman To Singles:
Investigate Before Going Into Relationship To Avoid ‘It Is Well’
For a single lady seeking a relationship, the key is to investigate before fully committing to it. This involves understanding oneself, the other person, and the potential dynamics of the relationship to ensure a healthy and compatible match, counsels servant of God and General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman.
The revered Christian leader says it is crucial to assess the compatibility before making a serious commitment.
“Be careful of uninvestigated relationships,” Suleman warns. “Be careful of red flags. Somebody says I like you and both of you just started dating. Before you know it, it develops; you rush in and rush out. Investigate. There are some questions you need to ask.”
Apostle Suleman counsels that singles seeking life partnership must focus on self-love, personal growth, and building strong foundations in advance. This, he suggests, includes understanding self needs, values, and desires. “Embrace your individuality, spend time getting to know yourself, and exploring your passions. Anybody you try to impress you lose. Be yourself. Be yourself and be happy. A man has been married, he has got kids and the woman passed away and he wishes to remarry. Under the Scripture, you are very free to marry him if you like him. He’s a widower. But investigate what killed his wife, not what he told you about her fate. Go behind him and investigate.”
Referencing the relationships of olden days, Apostle Suleman posits that marriages in the past often lasted longer due to factors like strong family values and a greater emphasis on commitment. Divorce was less common, he says, because potential couples sought to know each other’s families’ stories before committing themselves.
“Are you aware that our parents’ marriages lasted longer? Do you know why the marriages lasted? It is because in those days, once you brought a lady home to your parents, they would go and investigate her family. But many of you are in a relationship, planning for marriage but you do not know the parents. All you do is just say this is my mother, this is my father. Whether they rented them you’re not aware. And you take it like that. You don’t understand how many of them are married, how many of them still have their marriages standing. You don’t investigate what rules in the family, what reigns in the family, what is common in the family. You have to investigate.”
Speaking from the Scripture, Judges 14; from Verse 5, the cleric says when Samson was ready to get married, his parents went to the family of the spouse. Also, in Genesis 24; 13, 14, 15; he says “when Abraham’s servant met Rebecca, he asked her ‘whose daughter are you?’ They said bring him home. And when he got to their house, she began to ask questions from everyone; she said ‘this person who is he? Please tell me about their family’. So investigate because once you’ve entered, it is for life. When there’s a crisis in your marriage they will never tell you to leave, they will only tell you to pray. Whether he breaks your leg, pray. He’s not giving you food, pray. He has another lady that he’s going out with, pray. He’s not taking care of the children, pray. To avoid ‘pray’, this is the time to make a decision.”
Concluding, Apostle Suleman stated that, “as a man, to avoid the complications of your woman, investigate in order to avoid ‘hmm it is well’. “There are two types of ‘it is well’. There’s ‘it is well’ and there’s ‘hmm it is well’. Citing an encounter, the seasoned preacher spoke of a young man who approached him and said that his wife told him that ‘it is well’ and he didn’t understand and he was scared. The man of God said he asked the man which of the ‘it is well’ did the wife say to him and he said it was ‘hmm it is well’. “I told him instantly that there was a problem! So, if it is just ‘it is well’, there’s no problem. But if it’s ‘hmm it is well’, just start begging, don’t say any other thing.
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Give Peter Obi and the Igbos a Chance to Rebuild Nigeria
Published
17 hours agoon
July 18, 2025Give Peter Obi and the Igbos a Chance to Rebuild Nigeria
By Frank Anagu | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
In today’s Nigeria, one man stands out for his integrity, vision and track record; Mr. Peter Obi. Among all the political leaders in Africa today, Obi is seen as one of the most credible, honest and disciplined. Sadly, he continues to face tribal attacks and political opposition not because of what he has done wrong, but simply because he is an Igbo man.
Many of those fighting him are not attacking his ideas or his character; they are fighting his tribe. This tribal mindset is holding Nigeria back and dividing the people, even when the country is crying for real leadership, economic direction and national unity.
Let us forget the lies and tribal gang-ups and focus on the truth. Nigeria needs healing, and it needs a man like Peter Obi to start that healing process.
The Ghost of 1966 and the Burden Placed on the Igbo People. To understand this tribal hate, we need to go back in history (to January 15, 1966) the day of Nigeria’s first military coup. Till today, many Nigerians wrongly believe the coup was an Igbo agenda. The truth, as now confirmed by General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), is that it was not an Igbo coup.
IBB himself made it clear in his official book and interviews that no single tribe was responsible for that military action. Unfortunately, the media and politicians of that time blamed it all on the Igbo people, placing a heavy burden on them that has lasted for decades.
This false belief led to hatred, marginalization, and violence against the Igbos. It has continued even now in 2025, as we see in how Peter Obi is being treated in the political space, not based on his performance or vision, but simply because of his tribe.
It is time to bury that lie once and for all. The Igbo people are not the enemy of Nigeria. In fact, they are some of the most industrious, peaceful and development-focused citizens of this country.
Labour Party Crisis: A Shameful Show of Selfishness. Look at what is happening inside the Labour Party, the political party that gave Peter Obi a platform in the 2023 elections. Instead of supporting the party to grow stronger and challenge the old ways of Nigerian politics, people like Julius Abure, Lamidi Apapa and Arabambi are fighting each other publicly.
They are acting like children in front of the whole country; dragging the name of the party in the mud. These are men who should be building a strong opposition party for the sake of Nigeria’s poor, but instead they are fighting over money, power and positions. What will they be remembered for?
Do they not realise that this selfishness is exactly what Nigerians are tired of?
Their actions show clearly that many of Nigeria’s so-called leaders put personal interest above national interest. This is not about Peter Obi alone. This is about the future of our country. Nigerians are watching and history will not forget those who betrayed the people’s hope for personal gain.
Northern Nigeria: Time to Return to the Spirit of 1960. To our brothers and sisters in Northern Nigeria, we say this with love and respect; it is time to go back to the drawing board where Nigeria began. It is time to remember the spirit of unity, mutual respect and national cooperation that our founding fathers had.
Do you remember the great alliance of 1937? That was when Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and leader of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), joined hands with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the secretary of the National Council for Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC), which later became the National Council of Nigerian Citizens.
That partnership formed the very foundation of Nigeria. It was built on unity, love and the dream of a better Nigeria and that dream led us to independence on October 1st, 1960.
Where is that spirit today? Instead of working together like our fathers did, many politicians now promote division, hate and tribalism. This must stop. It is time for the North to reject those using tribalism for personal gain and embrace true nation builders like Peter Obi.
Peter Obi Is Not an Igbo Project, He Is a Nigerian Project. Let us make something very clear: Peter Obi is not an Igbo project. He is not running for office to promote one tribe over the other. He is a Nigerian project. He is a symbol of competence, accountability and transparency.
When he was Governor of Anambra State, he did his best in the state without borrowing money. Atleast, He paid salaries, renovated schools, upgraded hospitals and saved money for the next government. He proved that good governance is possible in Nigeria.
Today, the same old politicians want to stop him not because he failed, but because they fear change. They fear someone who cannot be bribed or controlled. They fear a man who speaks the truth and lives by it.
We the people must not be afraid. We must stand up and demand a new Nigeria. We must stand behind Peter Obi (not because he is Igbo) but because he is credible, focused and capable.
We Must Break the Cycle of Lies and Hate. The lies against the Igbo people have been exposed. Even before IBB published his book, many Nigerians (including Femi Fani kayode) continued to falsely blame the Igbos for Nigeria’s problems. These are outdated tactics that no longer work.
The truth is out. Let us not allow old lies to divide a new generation. We are wiser now. Nigeria’s future must not be built on bitterness, but on justice, fairness and truth.
A Call for Unity and Support in 2027. As we look forward to the 2027 general elections, this is a call to all well-meaning Nigerians especially our Northern brothers and sisters to support a leader who has the vision, the record and the clean hands to rebuild Nigeria.
Support Peter Obi and let us build the Nigeria our fathers dreamt of a Nigeria where:
Tribe doesn’t matter.
Religion doesn’t divide us.
Corruption is punished.
Youths have jobs.
Schools work.
Roads are safe.
And leadership means service not stealing.
This is what Peter Obi stands for.
Final Words: History Is Watching. Everyone fighting against progress today should know one thing, history is watching. What will you be remembered for? Did you build or did you destroy? Did you unite or did you divide? Did you stand for the truth or sell out for money?
Peter Obi is standing for the truth. He is standing for a new Nigeria. He is standing for all of us North, South, East and West.
Let us give him the chance. Let us break the chains of tribalism. Let us rebuild Nigeria together.
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We Are Not the Enemy: A Letter to South Africa from One African to Another. By George Omagbemi Sylvester
Published
20 hours agoon
July 18, 2025
We Are Not the Enemy: A Letter to South Africa from One African to Another.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
There is a storm brewing on the southern tip of our beloved continent; one not caused by nature, but by man. In township corners, across social media reels and in political podiums draped in national flags, an uncomfortable message continues to echo: “Operation Dudula, Foreigners must go.”
Let’s ask the question the cowards will not: who really are the enemies of South Africa? Is it the foreign national who sells tomatoes on the street, or the political elite sipping imported wine while corruption ruins the soul of the nation?
In a recent viral Instagram reel, yet another South African citizen laments the presence of foreign nationals, blaming them for unemployment, rising crime and economic stagnation. The message is emotionally charged and undoubtedly reflects the frustration of the average citizen who feels abandoned, beneath this fiery rhetoric lies a dangerous illusion: that foreign nationals (especially African migrants) are the root cause of South Africa’s problems.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Real Source of the Pain. Let’s be honest: the pain South Africans feel is real. Youth unemployment is above 60%. Basic services often fail. Corruption, crime, and poverty are rampant. But who created these problems? Foreigners?
No.
It was the politicians who promised “a better life for all” and then built palaces for themselves. It was the corporate barons who loot pension funds. It was the system that failed to reform after apartheid ended—a system that now feeds on division to hide its incompetence.
Instead of holding the powerful accountable, the people are being told to look sideways; to blame Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Congolese, Somalis and Mozambicans. This is not just sad; it is intellectually dishonest and morally dangerous.
Divide and Rule: The Old Colonial Tactic. Repackaged, Let us not forget: the first Europeans to colonize Africa didn’t do so with armies alone, they did so by dividing us. Zulu vs Xhosa. Igbo vs Yoruba. South African vs Nigerian. They turned brothers into rivals.
Now in 2025, that same method is being repackaged. South African politicians (especially populists like Gayton McKenzie and others like him) use foreign nationals as scapegoats. They say “they take our jobs”, “they commit crimes”, “they’re illegal.”
Ask any honest economist and they’ll tell you that most foreign nationals in South Africa CREATE their own jobs. They run salons, spaza shops, taxi services, catering businesses, tailoring shops. They hustle, just like the average South African. They are not stealing jobs. They are surviving.
The Cost of Xenophobia. Xenophobia does not just hurt the foreigner, it stains South Africa’s soul.
In 2008, 2015, 2019 and again in recent years, we saw the brutal scenes: machetes drawn, businesses looted, people burned alive. These are not just headlines. They are human tragedies.
What did South Africa gain from these attacks? Did the economy improve? Did unemployment drop? Were the hospitals suddenly functional?
No.
All that happened was blood in the streets and shame on the continent.
According to a 2023 UNHCR report, more than 140,000 African migrants in South Africa live in fear of physical attacks. Children don’t go to school. Families sleep with one eye open. And for what?
To distract the people from the true cause of their suffering: failed governance.
The Pan-African Dream Is Dying. Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and Thomas Sankara all dreamed of a united Africa; an Africa without borders, without hatred, without tribal or national division. Today, that dream is being poisoned.
When South Africans attack Nigerians, Zimbabweans or Somalians, they are not protecting their country; they are burning down the very bridges we need to build the Africa we deserve.
Africa will never rise if we continue to fight ourselves. No nation can isolate itself into prosperity. We either grow together, or we collapse together.
Who Are the Real Criminals?
Let us talk about crime.
Yes, there are criminals among foreign nationals; just as there are criminals among South Africans, but every society has both SAINTS and SINNERS. You don’t condemn an entire nationality because of a few bad actors. That’s not justice; that’s prejudice.
Let’s talk facts.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), more than 85% of all arrests and convictions are South African nationals. Foreign nationals make up a very small percentage of actual criminals and even smaller when you factor in economic contribution.
Now let’s talk about white-collar crime. The biggest scandals in South Africa’s history ( Eskom looting, Gupta state capture, Steinhoff fraud, VBS bank collapse) were all masterminded by South Africans. Not a single foreigner was needed to pull off those billion-rand crimes.
So, again, who are the real criminals?
The Contribution of Foreign Nationals
Foreign nationals bring more than just their sweat and skills; they bring their cultures, their flavors, their music, their resilience. Nigerian doctors in Limpopo save lives every day. Zimbabwean teachers educate children in Eastern Cape. Somali traders bring goods to rural areas where no one else wants to go.
According to a 2022 report by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), foreign-owned businesses in South Africa contribute nearly R20 billion annually to the informal economy. That is not THEFT. That is VALUE.
Yet, many of them live under threat; discriminated against, demonized and harassed by both citizens and police.
A Message to South Africans. Brothers and sisters, I say this not with bitterness, but with love: WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMIES.
We come here not to conquer but to contribute. We run from war, hunger and collapsed governments to places like South Africa because we believe in its promise. We believe in ubuntu; that African spirit that says “I AM BECAUSE WE ARE.”
Let us not allow fear and propaganda to destroy that spirit.
The solution to your suffering lies in BETTER GOVERNANCE, FAIRER ECONOMIC POLICY and YOUTH EMPOWERMENT; not in burning down a Somali-owned shop or blaming a Nigerian Uber driver.
A Message to African Leaders. We foreign nationals are not just victims; we are also failed by our own governments. Why do so many Africans risk their lives to flee to South Africa? Home has failed us.
So this is also a call to our own leaders; Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Congolese, Ethiopian: fix your countries. Stop looting. Stop silencing opposition. Stop selling out to foreign powers. Your failure forces your citizens to flee. And that exodus becomes fuel for xenophobia abroad.
Finally: Africa is bleeding from within. The hate we show each other only deepens the wounds left by colonialism and corruption.
South Africa, you are a giant (but even giants can fall) especially when they forget their brothers.
We must reject the politics of DIVISION and embrace the vision of UNITY. The future of Africa does not lie in border posts or deportation vans. It lies in the hands of young Africans, working together, respecting one another and rebuilding this continent from the ground up.
Let us rise; not as South Africans or Nigerians or Zimbabweans; but as Africans, together.
Written by George Omagbemi Sylvester
Pan-African writer, political commentator, and human rights advocate
Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
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