By Headlinenews.news Editorial Desk.
Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is no longer a routine socio-economic challenge; it is an existential threat to the state itself.
This was the stark warning issued by Major General Rogers Nicholas (retd.), a former Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and ex-Chief of Civil-Military Affairs at Army Headquarters, who argues that no security strategy can succeed without decisive border control.
Speaking during an end-of-year review of Nigeria’s political, security, and economic landscape, Nicholas stressed that the country already possesses the intellectual and policy tools to confront insecurity — but has failed to implement them.
“The key solution to this problem of insecurity is already in the President’s office,” Nicholas said, referring to the comprehensive communiqué produced after a national security retreat held during the tenure of President Bola Tinubu’s current Chief of Staff as Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Everything needed to address insecurity is in that document, yet it has largely remained unimplemented.”
Porous Borders, Persistent Violence.
Nigeria has over 4,000 kilometres of land borders and an extensive maritime frontier, much of it poorly governed. For decades, these porous borders have enabled the unchecked movement of terrorists, arms traffickers, bandits, and foreign fighters.
Security agencies have repeatedly confirmed that groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP exploit routes linking Nigeria to Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, fueling terrorism in the North-East and banditry and kidnapping across the North-West and North-Central regions.
According to security estimates, a significant proportion of small arms circulating in Nigeria enter the country illegally through unmonitored border corridors — a factor that has intensified communal violence and criminality nationwide.
Nicholas and Musa: A Converging Security Consensus.
General Nicholas’ position aligns closely with the long-standing views of the current Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, who as Chief of Defence Staff repeatedly warned that national security is impossible without border security.
Musa had publicly argued that defence planning and budgetary allocations must prioritise border surveillance, intelligence integration, and inter-agency coordination.
Despite those warnings, Nicholas notes that border security has remained underfunded and structurally marginal in Nigeria’s security architecture.
“If we do not secure our borders, there can be no security,” Nicholas said bluntly, dismissing economic-only approaches to insecurity as insufficient.
Beyond ‘Bread and Butter’ Security.
Nicholas rejected the argument that insecurity can be solved primarily through poverty alleviation or economic incentives.
“What we are facing today is an existential threat. It does not respond to bread-and-butter solutions.”
While economic reforms are necessary, he argued, they cannot neutralise armed groups that operate across borders, exploit ungoverned spaces, and challenge state authority with military-grade weapons.
The Legal and Constitutional Imperative.
Nigeria’s legal framework leaves no ambiguity on this matter. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution states unequivocally:
“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
Border control is therefore not optional policy — it is a constitutional obligation.
President Tinubu and the Burden of Implementation.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has repeatedly affirmed that security remains a top priority of his administration and has acknowledged that national stability is foundational to economic recovery and investor confidence.
However, analysts argue that translating policy consensus into operational execution, particularly at Nigeria’s borders, remains the defining challenge.
The National Patriots.
A Call from the National Patriots.
In a statement reacting to the renewed focus on border security, the National Patriots declared:
“No nation survives when its borders are open to terror and crime. Securing Nigeria’s borders is not about politics; it is about survival. The time for partial solutions is over.”
Conclusion: Securing the State Itself.
Nigeria’s insecurity is not accidental. It is the cumulative result of decades of neglected borders, weak enforcement, and delayed execution of known solutions. As voices like Nicholas and Musa converge, the message is unmistakable: without border control, there can be no internal security.
The question is no longer what must be done — but how urgently Nigeria chooses to act.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser MFR.
The National Patriots
