Just days before the gruesome Christmas eve terrorist attack on 25 communities in three local government areas in Plateau State where more than 200 people were killed, it is instructive that the Federal Government promised to end terrorism, including insurgency, and other criminalities this year. Very sadly, the Plateau killings did not indicate that the government would walk its talk, or was even seriously planning to end the national plague of insecurity. It took the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun five days after the attack to visit the affected state.

By that time, over 200 residents in 25 communities had been confirmed massacred by suspected herdsmen on Christmas Eve. The Plateau State Police Command said that no fewer than 221 houses were completely burnt down during the attack by the gunmen. The attacks were carried out by the assailants in the communities of Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Mangus Local Government Areas of the state.

The Federal Government must do everything possible this year as promised to rescue Nigeria and Nigerians from the grip of terrorists, kidnappers and other criminals who have continued to litter the land with the blood of innocent people, destroy their property, and impede the development of the country, as well as reduce the country to the state of Thomas Hobbes where life was nasty, brutish and short; and survival depends on who is more fit, more armed and more deadly.

For about two decades now, the country has spent a huge amount of money on counter-terrorism fights by the security agencies. Resources that ought to be deployed to build the economy in many fronts, provide employment for the jobless citizens, build infrastructure that will attract foreign investors into the country and provide other social services are being wasted on crusade to tame terrorists who suddenly sprang up, particularly in the northern part of the country and started killing, maiming citizens and holding many to ransom for no justifiable reason.

Development occurs in an atmosphere of peace, security of life and property. With the high level of insecurity in the country today, where people are being killed in hundreds, millions of farmers displaced from their farms and places of abode, traders cannot move their products to places or points of sale, terrorists taking control of some areas and imposing levies on the residents, and investors are scared, it will be difficult to make progress. The administration of President Bola Tinubu must realise that not much can be achieved in terms of development. The activities of the criminals and what is being spent to tackle them are draining this country of the vitality and stability it requires to progressively move ahead. If the Tinubu administration must have something to show as achievement at the end of its tenure, insecurity must be effectively and sincerely checked.

The Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Matawalle, in an interview with BBC Hausa towards the close of 2023, said the Tinubu administration understood the severity of the security challenges facing the country and had resolved to effectively tackle the menace before the end of 2024. Bello, a former governor of Zamfara State, said the current administration had initiated what he described as a proactive approach to combat the terrorists before they strike, particularly in the terrorism-ravaged northern part of the country. He expressed confidence that the measures and strategies being taken would end activities of the terrorists, explaining that the approaches included pre-empting the gunmen in their homes before they strike and crush them. “God willing, from now till November 2024, all security challenges will be overcome,” Matawalle assured Nigerians.

This is not the first time the government will make this type of promise, raising the hope of Nigerians and dashing it at the end in disappointment. Before Buhari became president, particularly during the electioneering campaigns, he vowed to end the killings and kidnapping in the country if voted into office.

And as a top military officer and former head of state, Nigerians believed he would be able to effectively check criminalities in the country. The promise continued at many forums after becoming democratic president in 2015.   Specifically, Buhari, at the National Security Council meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in May 2020, vowed to end the sorrows Nigerians were passing through as a result of the heightened insecurity in the country.

The then National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), disclosed Buhari’s declaration while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, which was presided over by Buhari.  At the celebration of Olojo festival in Ile Ife, Osun State, Buhari, who was represented by the then Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, also vowed to end wanton killing of innocent citizens. The then president also promised to end the insecurity scourge, especially kidnappings and killings, before the end of his administration in 2023.

While presenting the 2023 Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly, Abuja, Buhari said: “I assure you, insecurity, especially banditry and kidnapping, will be significantly curtailed before the end of this administration. We will redouble our efforts to ensure we leave a legacy of a peaceful, prosperous and secured nation.”

Unfortunately, by the time Buhari left office, it was obvious that the government had become seemingly overwhelmed by the activities of all manner of killers and kidnappers across the country. Buhari, who assured Nigerians that he would expose sponsors of the killers, ended up making excuses before leaving office.

Since he came to power in May 2023, Tinubu has made a similar pledge. At the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin El-Kanemi, during a visit, President Tinubu declared that despite what he described as the ratio of victory over defeat sliding in favour of the Federal Government in the fight against terrorism, the country would not rest until it sees the end of insecurity. He said that while security would top his priority, it would not be limited to battlefield concerns only.

“This is my most sacred responsibility and the trajectory of the larger effort shown by the ratio of victory over defeat has been sliding well in our favour since the new administration has resumed office. We are not satisfied yet. We are not satisfied until we reach the end of insecurity in Nigeria,” the President declared.

The government must walk its talk. The need for new strategies and measures to combat the insurgency is already very visible. It was barely five days after Matawalle disclosed the Federal Government’s plan to end insecurity in 2024 that terrorists carried out gruesome attacks in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State on Christmas Eve and killed over150 innocent people during the 48 hours that the invasion lasted.

The criminals also razed many houses, with over 10,000 people, including small children, displaced.