Tinubu Has Dropped the Kid Gloves, and Nigeria Is Breathing Again
By Pastor Stanley Ajileye
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For years, Nigeria treated insecurity the way one treats a stubborn mosquito, waving hands in the air and hoping it would go away. Presidents spoke boldly by day and negotiated softly by night. Terrorists understood the language clearly, the state was afraid to offend them.
With the notable exception of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, successive democratic administrations handled security with kid gloves, silk lined, carefully perfumed kid gloves. Until now.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done something unusual in Nigerian governance, he removed the gloves.
During Obasanjo’s era, restiveness was confronted head on. The Odi operation, controversial as it remains, sent a loud and unmistakable message, the Nigerian state would not negotiate its sovereignty with violence merchants. That singular action discouraged sponsored violence for years. Nigeria, relatively speaking, slept with both eyes closed.
Then came the Jonathan era, a period that coincided with the tragic and mysterious twilight of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Nigerians were not even sure whether the President was alive, resting, or merely being preserved like a national artifact. Even in death, Yar’Adua was not allowed to rest. He was kept on life support long after life had clearly signed out, all to prevent a southerner from constitutionally succeeding him.
When Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan eventually assumed office, he inherited not just power but political blackmail. Determined to appease hostile northern power blocs, he governed cautiously. Unfortunately, terrorism does not respect caution.
Jonathan’s greatest “offence” was education, especially nomadic education, a constitutional and policy backed programme designed to bridge the educational gap between North and South. It was never an attack on culture, it was an attack on ignorance. But ignorance, as it turned out, was a carefully sponsored industry, a tool of feudal dominance.
Boko Haram emerged, loudly declaring “Western education is forbidden,” and Jonathan responded with hesitation. The kid gloves stayed on. The monster grew heads.
Then came eight long, bewildering years of Muhammadu Buhari, years that history may generously describe as a masterclass in missed opportunities. Terrorists were not just tolerated, they appeared rehabilitated into uniforms. Some allegedly found themselves enlisted into security agencies, decorated as officers, saluting the wrong direction, when they saluted at all. Borders became suggestion lines. Terror camps flourished like government projects.
Nigeria did not just battle insecurity, insecurity was institutionalized.
Today, the story is different.
President Tinubu has burst the kid gloves. He is not negotiating with terrorists through back channels, religious middlemen, or self appointed “elders.” No one is suddenly offering to “dialogue” on behalf of insurgents anymore, because the insurgents themselves are busy running.
In recent weeks, Nigeria feels safer, not because the terrorists have repented, but because the state has remembered its spine.
This is not about party loyalty. I am not a member of the APC. This is about courage. Not every leader is bold enough to confront monsters that previous administrations fed, clothed, and accommodated.
However, one more task remains.
For Nigeria’s security forces to operate at full capacity, Mr President must set up a powerful, independent screening committee comprising credible officers from the DSS, the Armed Forces, the Police, and civil society. All personnel enlisted during the eight unfortunate years of compromised recruitment must be reviewed. National security is too serious to be left to blind trust.
Let it be clear, peace is not partisan.
Any sincere Nigerian who truly loves peace should give President Tinubu the opportunity to finish what he has started. Nation building is not a one term experiment. Some leaders negotiate with terror, others confront it. Tinubu has chosen confrontation.
He has already won my vote, and the votes of many within my sphere of influence, not because of party, but because Nigeria deserves peace, not politeness toward terror.
The kid gloves are off. And Nigeria is better for it.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, JANUARY 15TH 2026)
