Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s administration over what he called its failure to keep up with Nigeria’s changing security threats.
In a Thursday statement titled ‘Atiku Lectures Tinubu: Terrorists Are Learning. Why Isn’t Your Government?’, signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said terrorism, banditry and kidnapping have spread beyond northern Nigeria because the country’s counterterrorism strategy has failed to evolve.
“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study their successes and failures. They refine their tactics. They identify vulnerabilities. They adapt and strike again,” Atiku said.
“The question Nigerians must ask is simple: Why isn’t the government doing the same?
“From Chibok to Oyo, from countless villages in the North-West to communities across the Middle Belt and beyond, the pattern has become tragically familiar. An attack occurs. The nation mourns. Promises are made. Committees are announced. Then another attack follows.”
He argued that Nigeria must urgently review its National Counterterrorism Policy and build solutions around local realities rather than relying heavily on foreign models.
Recalling the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, Atiku said lessons from past tragedies have not been properly applied.
“We went through the harrowing tragedy of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction… Yet years later, schoolchildren and teachers are still being abducted in different parts of the country.”
He proposed a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism, stronger intelligence gathering, better surveillance, regional Counterterrorism Fusion Centres and tougher action against terror financing.
Atiku also blamed insecurity on poverty, unemployment and neglect, while criticizing security spending.
“This is not merely a failure of resources; it is a failure of strategy, coordination, accountability, and leadership.”
