Nigeria Is At War, Tinubu Has No Strategy To End It – Hashim

The Presidential Candidate of the Accord Party, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that Nigeria is at war but is being led without a coherent strategy to defeat terrorism and restore national security.

Olawepo-Hashim, in a statement issued on Tuesday, condemned the latest wave of killings in Kaduna, Zamfara and Plateau states, as well as the abduction of innocent citizens in Kebbi State, including a High Court judge.

He called on the Federal Government to urgently overhaul the nation’s security architecture, reclaim the strategic initiative from terrorists and adopt a proactive doctrine capable of preventing attacks rather than merely responding to them.

“Every day, terrorists retain the initiative while innocent Nigerians pay with their lives. The time has come to stop managing insecurity and start a real offensive aimed at winning the war,” Hashim said.

He said the relentless attacks across the country demonstrated that terrorists and armed criminal groups continued to dictate the pace of the conflict by choosing when, where and how to strike.

“Nigeria is under attack. This is war, yet the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has no strategy to end it. As long as terrorists determine the time, place and intensity of attacks, they, and not the government, retain the strategic initiative,” he said.

Hashim claimed that more than 30,000 people had been killed in the first three years of the administration, while over 3.7 million displaced persons remained unable to return home, arguing that the scale of the crisis qualified as a war.

He described the persistent bloodshed as a national emergency that was eroding national unity, worsening poverty, threatening food security, discouraging investment and damaging Nigeria’s international reputation.

“The first responsibility of any government is the protection of lives and property. No nation can prosper while its citizens live in fear and entire communities remain at the mercy of terrorists and criminal gangs,” he said.

The Accord Party presidential candidate argued that Nigeria’s security response had become largely reactive, insisting that the country urgently needed a comprehensive national security strategy.

According to him, such a strategy should be built around intelligence superiority, a motivated security force capable of taking the offensive against terrorist groups, precision military operations, effective border security, community-based policing, modern surveillance technology, disruption of terrorist financing and a swift and credible criminal justice system.

He also called for integrated defence and security cooperation with neighbouring countries to strengthen efforts against cross-border terrorism and organised crime.

“Wars are not won by reacting to attacks after they happen. They are won by denying the enemy the capability, freedom and confidence to launch them in the first place,” Hashim said.

He maintained that Nigerians deserved leadership with the vision, competence and determination to defeat terrorism, stressing that strategy and bold implementation of plans, rather than condolences after every massacre, were required to restore peace and security.

While condoling with the communities and families of victims of the latest attacks, 

Hashim said the government must go beyond expressions of sympathy and provide meaningful support to displaced and distressed Nigerians.

“Condolence is becoming a ritual, proving too inadequate to stop the killings. Proper care for the displaced and distressed is what is immediately needed,” he said.