The Presidency says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains fully committed to securing every inch of Nigeria by confronting terrorists with strength, unity, and an integrated national security approach.
In a detailed statement shared via his X handle, Chief Sunday Dare (@SundayDareSD), Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, dismissed recent remarks by a former president and a few individuals who claimed that the Tinubu administration is “unable to protect Nigerians”.
He reaffirmed that under President Tinubu, Nigeria will overcome terrorism via a united national front, insisting the administration will not be distracted.
The presidential spokesperson described the comments as hypocritical, misleading, and dangerous.
Dare said those making such comments ignore the hard truth that Nigeria is currently battling a multilayered terrorist ecosystem involving internationally recognised terror groups, ISIS-linked and al-Qaeda-linked networks across the Sahel, violent extremist cells posing as bandits, cross-border terror gangs exploiting porous borders, and ideological insurgents operating in ungoverned spaces.
According to him, these groups collaborate, share resources, and share intelligence with one aim: to break the Nigerian state.
Urging all patriots to join hands with the government rather than raising alarm, Chief Dare insisted that Nigerians must call the enemies of the state by the name they are, which is terrorists.
The presidential aide noted that terrorism in Nigeria did not emerge suddenly, stressing that the ideological foundations and early operational cells of Boko Haram took root during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian administration due to what he described as weak or indecisive action at the time.
What started as a preventable sect, Dare said, later mutated into a violent insurgency and a regional terror franchise aligned with global jihadist movements.
“Terrorism took root on his watch and grew because it was not stopped. It is a historical fact that the ideological foundations and early cells of Boko Haram were incubated during Obasanjo’s civilian presidency. While they recruited, indoctrinated, built camps, and flaunted authority, the state failed to act decisively.
“For the leader under whom the first seeds of terrorism were allowed to germinate to now issue public lectures is not just ironic, it is reckless.” He added.
He explained that President Tinubu is not confronting an ordinary security challenge but a full-spectrum terrorist threat – internal, external, and transnational.
The President’s strategy, he said, “combines kinetic pressure through modernised military capability and intelligence-driven operations with non-kinetic measures such as restoring governance in underserved communities, counter-radicalisation programmes, economic stabilisation initiatives, and building trust with local populations to deny terrorists the human terrain they exploit.”
Dare added that the administration’s security philosophy is anchored on unity and national coordination, emphasising that Nigeria will continue to cooperate with allies like the United States but will never outsource its internal security or “raise a white flag because someone who once had the chance lost his nerve.
Under Tinubu, Nigeria will defeat terrorism. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains committed to securing every inch of Nigeria by confronting terrorists with strength, unity, and a whole-of-government strategy. Let all patriots join hands now and refrain from raising alarms.
“This administration will not be distracted by selective amnesia wrapped in elder-statesmanship, nor will it allow those who midwifed Nigeria’s early security failures to rewrite history,” Chief Dare added.
The former minister warned that when past leaders publicly undermine Nigeria’s capacity, they hand psychological victories to terrorists who continue to attack citizens. “A real statesman offers support, not soundbites,” he said.
Dare urged former President Obasanjo to acknowledge the failures that allowed terrorism to germinate under his watch and to deploy his influence in support of ongoing efforts instead of attempting to discredit an administration working across economic, security, and infrastructural fronts.