• Deploys security, diplomacy into action
• President’s actions in few weeks, signs of panic – Analysts
Following the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria and the re-designation of the nation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the United States, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has come under intense pressure at home and abroad, result ing in him fighting back to regain control of the ship of state.
Apparently scared of the dire consequences of losing grip of power, Tinubu had in the last five weeks suddenly become super-active, making various pronouncements and ordering changes in a government that had been largely laid back in the past two years.
Basically, these actions and changes have revolved around security and diplomacy as the President grapples with the daily reports of attacks by terrorists and bandits on schools, churches and communities, leaving in their trail tears, blood and sorrow.
These attacks not only affected Tinubu’s approval rating at home but also saw the credibility and image of the government crashing to an all-time low in the eyes of the international community. President Donald Trump of the United States had latched onto the seeming helplessness of Tinubu to issue a warning that the US security forces will storm Nigeria “gun-ablazing,” to wipe out the terrorists, bandits, radical Islamist groups and the Fulani militias perpetrating violence against Christians in Nigeria.
Although the Tinubu administration has continued to deny the alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria, the threat of a possible US invasion has become a key motivator for the rather sleepy government to reinvent itself.
A day before Nigeria was formally declared a ‘Country of Particular Concern,’ President Tinubu charged his newly appointed service chiefs to intensify efforts to defeating terrorism, banditry, and other criminal activities across the country, emphasising that Nigerians expect results, not excuses.
Delivering this charge at the Presidential Villa, following the decoration of the service chiefs with their new ranks, Tinubu declared: “We cannot allow the crisis that began in 2009 to persist any longer. I charge you, as the heads of our nation’s armed forces, to carry out your duties with patriotic zeal.
“Nigerians expect results, not excuses. I also urge you to be innovative, pre-emptive, and courageous. Let’s stay ahead of those who seek to threaten our peace. Let us deploy technology where necessary.” Sunday Telegraph gathered that at the time the charge was made, President Tinubu and his henchmen were already aware of the moves in Washington to declare Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern.
The administration in Aso Rock spent about two weeks denouncing the US action and denying that the insecurity in Nigeria had any ethnoreligious colouration. However, by Monday, November 17, the administration was jolted to its feet when some armed men launched an early morning attack on the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, killing a teacher and abducting at least, 25 pupils from the school’s hostel.
The attack on the school was reminiscent of the April 2014 attack, which occurred at the Government Science Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. In that attack, about 267 school girls were abducted by terrorists, triggering global outrage and painting the then-President Goodluck Jonathan administration as incompetent and clueless in the task of securing the lives and property of citizens.
Sunday Telegraph recalls that President Tinubu, who was a prominent opposition leader as of 2014, was at the forefront of condemning the Jonathan government over the mass abduction of the Chibok girls. The All Progressives Congress (APC) made political capital out of that incident, and it formed one of the major planks of their campaign to sack the Jonathan administration in 2015.
Some political analysts have therefore interpreted the Kebbi school abduction as a political Karma on the APC and the Tinubu administration. In a bid to avoid falling into the same pit as Jonathan, the Tinubu regime has been doing all it can to act differently.
Barely 48 hours after the Kebbi incident, President Tinubu dispatched Vice President Kashim Shettima to Kebbi State to sympathise with the state government and assure parents and guardians of the kidnapped schoolgirls that the government will ensure their quick release.
Tinubu also sent his condolences to the military over the death of the gallant soldiers and Brigadier General Musa Uba, who paid the ultimate price while on active duty fighting insurgents in Borno State. As if the abduction of school girls in Kebbi State was not enough, armed bandits launched another deadly attack on a church in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.
In that raid, three were killed, while 38 worshippers at the Christ Apostolic Church were abducted. Amid these attacks, Tinubu, who was billed to travel to Johannesburg, South Africa and Luanda, Angola, was forced to shelve these trips.
In response to the security reports, Tinubu ordered the deployment of more security men to Eruku and the entire Ekiti Local Government Area of the state, and directed the police to go after the bandits who attacked the worshippers.
He also directed the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State over the abduction of the 25 schoolgirls in that state. On November 21, 2025, President Tinubu received briefings from the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, on the security situation in the country.
On the heels of that briefing, the President ordered the withdrawal of police officers providing security for Very Important Persons (VIPs) in the country. He said that henceforth, the police authorities should deploy them to concentrate on their core police duties.
