If there is anything Nigerians have learnt from the over ten-year reign of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it is that talk is cheap. The party’s actions have consistently reminded Nigerians of the time-tested saying that things are easier said than done.
In the build-up to the 2015 general elections, the then opposition APC, a coalition that emerged from the merger of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and a splinter group from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) known as n-PDP, used the prevailing insecurity as its central campaign point to eventually wangle its way to power.
The APC castigated Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for failing to frontally combat the raging insecurity and other threats posed by Boko Haram terrorists, who were inundating Borno and other parts of northern Nigeria with bombs almost daily. To them, everything the Jonathan administration did was too little, too late, and reflected the cluelessness of a president who was either overwhelmed, ill-prepared, or completely unwilling to address the pressing governance challenges that dogged the nation.
Given the speed with which the APC maligned and demarketed the Jonathan presidency, one would have assumed that once in power, the party would bring a timely end to the challenges of insecurity. The APC went to the extent of visiting the White House, where it raised spurious allegations of Christian genocide against the administration. About ten years on, however, Nigerians appear to have fared better under Jonathan than they do today.
In recollecting the intensity with which the then opposition APC lambasted the PDP and Jonathan, who could have imagined that over 10,000 Nigerians would be killed in just two years under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the same man who, as opposition leader, used every opportunity to criticise the ruling party’s handling of national security?
President Tinubu promised to end insecurity and make the country safe for all Nigerians. Unfortunately, he now presides over a nation witnessing a resurgence of an endemic security crisis, exacerbated by a steep rise in killings, abductions for ransom, and the displacement of farming communities by bandits. This is coupled with renewed Boko Haram attacks, the emergence of the Lakurawa terror group in Sokoto and Kebbi States, and the rise of the Mamuda group in Kwara State.
Power game
The statistics of Nigerians killed or abducted in the last ten years of APC rule, owing to its inept handling of the country’s security challenges, serve as proof that the forces that converged to form the party were merely interested in power for its own sake, nothing more, nothing less. They do not even pretend to be anything else.
Otherwise, how can one explain that in a subtle attempt to dodge his and his colleagues’ responsibilities as chief security officers, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State recently asked traditional rulers to appeal to the gods to end insecurity?
Governor Uzodimma claimed that President Tinubu and the subnational governments were committed and “showing what good governance is all about” and therefore called on traditional rulers “to conjure the gods of the land to protect the nation.”
Curiously, Uzodimma made this statement while leading other APC governors on a sympathy visit to Governor Umar Bago of Niger State, whose state has come under heavy security threats and attacks by terrorists who have killed many and rendered several families homeless.
Its laughable
There is only one fitting way to describe Governor Uzodimma’s talk order to the royal fathers: ludicrous! In fact, ludicrous is an understatement but coming from Uzodimma, it cannot be dismissed as a mere joke. Here is why.
First, Governor Uzodimma, whose baptismal name is Hope, but who appears otherwise, is not just any governor. He is also the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and may well be speaking on behalf of his 24-member group. He knows full well that the task of securing lives and property lies squarely on their shoulders as chief security officers, who receive security votes running into billions of naira annually.
Secondly, Uzodimma had previously served as a member of the National Assembly, representing Imo West Senatorial District in the Red Chamber from 2011 to 2019. As a lawmaker, he was well aware that traditional rulers have no clearly defined constitutional responsibilities. So, why is he attempting to shift this onerous duty of protecting citizens onto them?
Uzodimma and his colleagues know very well that the task of protecting residents lies squarely on the government’s shoulders. That is precisely why governors at the subnational level receive monthly security votes.
However, Governor Uzodimma’s call on traditional rulers to appeal to the gods to end insecurity seems as if he is telling Nigerians, “Do not count on us to end insecurity. We are helpless and need the help of the gods through traditional rulers.”
It is safe to assume that Uzodimma was speaking on behalf of his colleagues in the Progressive Governors’ Forum, especially the governors of Delta, Kogi, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Jigawa, Kebbi, and Sokoto, who were either present or represented by their deputies. If this was the case, and I find nothing to suggest otherwise, then we are in trouble!
No surprises
But this should surprise no one. Why should Nigerians be shocked when it comes from Governor Uzodimma, who once promised foreign jobs to about 4,000 Imo youths but failed to deliver, and, more than a year later, lacked the modesty to apologise? Just as he found nothing wrong in that failure, Uzodimma finds nothing wrong in asking traditional rulers to invoke the gods to end insecurity.
It is baffling that a governor who receives hundreds of millions monthly as security votes, funds often spent opaquely, is brazenly attempting to sublet our security to the gods. Uzodimma knows that Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution places the security and welfare of citizens as the primary purpose of government.
According to an analysis of the second quarter 2025 budget performance published by The Punch on September 20, 2025, 21 state governments earmarked ₦132.73 billion for security votes. These funds meant for intelligence gathering, crisis response, and emergencies have been the subject of controversy, with widespread allegations of abuse by governors. The fact that insecurity persists despite these huge disbursements lends credence to such allegations.
The reality is that profound governance failure is responsible for the persistent and seemingly intractable security challenges. A nation that sacrifices critical decision-making in the security sector on the altar of political sentiment by recruiting persons not worthy to be in the security agencies, and consistently underfunds the security agencies or watches when security votes are brazenly mismanaged should not be surprised that it has to contend with insecurity.
Governor Uzodimma cannot feign ignorance of this. In attempting to sublet the sacred task of protecting lives and property to the gods through traditional rulers, he is being clever by half. Why not ask Traditional rulers to invoke the wrath of the gods on those responsible for the poor governance that has led us to our current state?
Rather than ask the traditional rulers to appeal to the gods to end insecurity, the governor should seek the invocation of the gods on leaders whose actions exacerbate insecurity. It is essential to remind him that the gods do not end insecurity; leaders do, through conscientious effort. After all is said and done, Governor Uzodimma must be reminded that invoking the gods has consequences.
