In a revealing interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, former senator and 2023 Labor Party vice-presidential candidate Datti Baba Ahmed delivered scathing remarks on the current state of Nigeria’s security and governance. Responding to allegations made by former Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai that the Nigerian government, specifically under the APC administration, has been paying and negotiating with armed bandits, Baba Ahmed underscored a grim reality that challenges the very idea of a functional government in Nigeria today.
Nasir el-Rufai’s outspoken view, aired earlier on the same program, claimed that a “national policy” led by the Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA) involves compensating bandits and armed groups in an effort to dissuade them from killing citizens. He urged a military approach instead: kill bandits and dismantle their capacity, warning against offering allowances or food that empower them to acquire better weapons. This perspective starkly opposes any negotiation strategy.
The NSA’s office dismissed these allegations as falsehoods, but the conversation sparked intense reactions.
Senator Baba Ahmed did not mince words, framing the issue as a constitutional and moral crisis. If a senior government official claims the country is compensating terrorists and bandits, he argued, Nigerians must ask: “Do we have a government?” He questioned the legitimacy of leadership and the very existence of Nigeria as a nation under such conditions.
Datti highlighted bitter irony in the fact that Nasir el-Rufai, once a high-ranking APC figure and architect of the current administration, now makes these claims, suggesting these problematic policies have been ongoing within the ruling party.
Datti went further, asserting that insecurity has been deliberately exploited by the APC not only as a means of gaining power but also as a method of retaining it. He presented this as a well-documented tactic, linking electoral fraud, corruption, ethnic and religious divisions, and insecurity as intertwined elements undermining Nigeria’s stability.
He cited past events such as the unprecedented terrorist attack on a former Nigerian president, the manipulation of armed groups, and shadowy alliances reaching as far as North Africa and Libya.
Beyond politics, the senator painted a grim picture of the human suffering caused by these policies, villages sacked, people killed or enslaved, and families devastated. He stressed that true security and peace can only arise when the country’s leaders are legitimately elected without fraud or manipulation.
He lamented the current leadership’s perceived aloofness, pointing to the stark contrast between government responses to violence and societal tragedies like weddings or funerals attended by the vice president while thousands suffer in zones of conflict.
The interview concludes with a chilling reality check: as long as insecurity remains entrenched and intertwined with political power struggles, Nigeria edges closer to a state of societal collapse. Datti’s candid comments serve as a powerful indictment of the current administration and a call to Nigerians and global observers to deeply question the governance and security policies of the nation.