A Senior Fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development, Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, has said Bola Tinubu, who criticised former President Goodluck Jonathan over the abduction of schoolchildren in 2014, is now performing worse on insecurity than Jonathan did.
Prof Ibrahim made the remarks on Friday during an interview on Prime Time, a programme aired on Arise Television.
He also recalled that many Nigerians had believed insecurity would significantly reduce when the late President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, given his background as a former Army General.
“Buhari came and proved totally incapable of ending insecurity. Tinubu criticised Jonathan for school abductions and has now found himself in power, performing even worse than Jonathan,” he said.
According to Ibrahim, while the past year has been particularly difficult for Nigerians, insecurity has been a persistent challenge over several administrations.
“I think what marks this year out is the glaring inability, or what some may describe as unwillingness, of the Nigerian state to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of ensuring the security and welfare of citizens,” he stated.
He questioned why insecurity has continued to escalate since 2009, noting that armed civilians now routinely attack communities, road users, and even security personnel.
“The growing number of civilians bearing arms and using them with impunity points to a sustained failure of the Nigerian state to discharge its constitutional duties,” he said.
Ibrahim added that successive governments have raised public hope without delivering results.
“We have had many moments when we believed the tide would turn. When Buhari came, many of us thought, ‘This is a tough Army General; he will deal with them.’ He did nothing of the sort. He proved totally incapable,” he said.
Describing the situation as “a very sad tale”, Ibrahim lamented that Nigerians are yet to witness a government with the will, determination, and capacity to effectively tackle the country’s worsening insecurity.
“The narrative is deeply disturbing, and the major challenge before us is that we are still waiting for a government that truly knows how—and is willing—to confront this problem,” he added.
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