Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, has accused the Bola Tinubu administration of failing to learn from past security failures, warning that terrorists and bandits are adapting faster than the government’s counterterrorism response.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Mr Atiku said the steady spread of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping beyond their traditional northern strongholds into other parts of the country proves that Nigeria’s security framework is failing to keep pace with evolving threats.
“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,” he said.
“The question Nigerians must ask is simple: Why isn’t the government doing the same?”
The ADC chieftain warned that a “business-as-usual” approach to terrorism is no longer affordable, insisting that the country’s security architecture requires urgent restructuring to address increasingly sophisticated and geographically dispersed threats.
Recurring pattern of unlearned lessons
Mr Atiku noted a recurring pattern across the country: attacks followed by public outrage, official promises and investigative committees – only for fresh attacks to occur without meaningful lessons being applied.
“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.
“A nation that refuses to learn from its tragedies is condemned to relive them.”
He argued that successive governments have relied too heavily on centrally designed, often foreign-inspired counterterrorism models, while paying insufficient attention to the experiences of directly affected communities.
He urged the Federal Government to undertake an immediate, comprehensive review of Nigeria’s National Counterterrorism Policy, insisting that future security responses must be rooted in lessons drawn from local realities.
“We went through the harrowing tragedy of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. The pain of that national trauma remains etched permanently in our collective memory. Yet years later, schoolchildren and teachers are still being abducted.
“We ought to have drawn critical lessons and early warning indicators from Chibok to ensure that what recently happened in Oyo State – and elsewhere – never happened again.”
Proposed solutions
As part of his proposals, Mr Atiku called for the establishment of a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism, bringing together affected communities, local leaders, security personnel and other stakeholders to systematically document lessons from past attacks and integrate them into national security planning.
He said such a framework would strengthen grassroots intelligence gathering, improve early warning systems, and enhance collaboration between communities and security agencies.
The former vice president also advocated the creation of specialised Counterterrorism Fusion Centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, to facilitate real-time intelligence sharing among the military, police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, immigration authorities, customs officials and local vigilante groups.
Beyond military operations, he stressed the need for intelligence-led counterterrorism efforts, stronger border security, and aggressive disruption of terrorist financing networks.
“The battle against terrorism cannot be won solely through military deployments,” he said. “Every successful counterterrorism campaign around the world has relied heavily on intelligence superiority.”
Governance and security intertwined
Mr Atiku further argued that insecurity cannot be separated from governance challenges, noting that poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and state neglect create fertile ground for recruitment by extremist groups.
“We must recognise that terrorism is not merely a security challenge; it is also a governance challenge.”
He also proposed a National Victims and Survivors Support Framework to provide psychosocial support, educational assistance and economic recovery programmes for communities devastated by terrorist attacks.
Trillions spent, less secure
The former vice president questioned the effectiveness of government security spending, expressing concern that despite trillions of naira allocated to defence over the years, Nigerians continue to face worsening insecurity.
“What is particularly troubling is that despite trillions of naira budgeted for defence and security, Nigerians are less secure today than they were a decade ago. This is not merely a failure of resources; it is a failure of strategy, coordination, accountability, and leadership.”
Call for urgent reforms
Mr Atiku’s remarks come amid growing public debate over persistent attacks by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers across several states. While the Federal Government has repeatedly maintained that security agencies have recorded significant successes, recent abductions and the expansion of violent crime into new areas have continued to fuel criticism.
The Wazirin Adamawa urged President Tinubu’s administration to move beyond rhetoric and urgently implement reforms capable of restoring public confidence in the government’s ability to protect lives and property.
“Nigerians deserve nothing less than a counterterrorism framework that is proactive, evidence-based, transparent, and firmly rooted in our domestic realities,” he said.