France-based forensic consultant Dr Yusuf Aliu has advised that Nigeria must move swiftly on President Bola Tinubu’s directive to establish a high-level team to engage the United States on new security cooperation, stating that any delay will worsen the country’s rapidly deteriorating security crisis.
President Tinubu had, last week, approved a Nigerian delegation, led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, with service chiefs and key security heads, to begin structured talks with the United States officials on intelligence sharing, surveillance technology, advanced training, and counterterrorism support.
Aliu, in a statement yesterday, said the move was timely but stressed that the government must act at the pace of the crisis.
“Setting up the team is commendable, but Nigeria cannot afford a bureaucratic slowdown. Violence is outpacing our capacity. This is no longer regional insecurity; it is a nationwide emergency,” he said.
He warned that insecurity has mutated into a multi-front conflict involving banditry, mass abductions, extremist attacks, expressway kidnappings, cult violence and maritime crime.
“From the Middle Belt to the North-West and the South-West highways, attacks now occur with frightening regularity,” he noted and identified intelligence failure as the core of the crisis.
“Suspicious movements precede most attacks we simply cannot track,” he said.
He explained that U.S. support, through satellite feeds, signals interception and real-time terrain monitoring, would enable security agencies to disrupt attacks before they occur.
Nigerian forces, he noted, lacked the tools required to operate effectively in forests and ungoverned spaces.
“We need long-endurance drones, thermal imaging and rapid-response mobility,” he said.
He added that U.S. training in intelligence fusion, hostage negotiation, cyber-tracking of criminal networks and ethical operations could significantly strengthen national security capacity.
Aliu warned that insecurity was crippling the economy, saying: “Farming belts have collapsed, schools are shutting down, investors are staying away, and businesses are budgeting for kidnapping risk.”
He added that Nigeria’s instability was already affecting West Africa through refugee flows and arms trafficking, and dismissed concerns that U.S. cooperation would undermine Nigeria’s autonomy.
“Sovereignty is not eroded by accepting support. It is eroded when violent groups control territory, and citizens lose trust in the state,” he said.
Aliu urged the Tinubu-approved team to negotiate clear command structures, human rights safeguards, and long-term capacity transfer.
“Nigeria is running out of time. Delay at this stage would be a tragic mistake. We must move with urgency, clarity and purpose,” he cautioned.
