An Inconsolable Country -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

At a time when Nigerians, Christians, and Muslims, are embracing one form of religious observation or the other, fierce attacks in Borno State remind every Nigerian that theirs is a country very much at war—a devastating war.

On March 16, 2026, fierce explosions rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, leaving about 23 persons dead and more than a hundred persons injured.

If the explosions were the culmination of the unrest recorded in what has been a largely chaotic month, tragic events elsewhere in Borno State generated a lot of background noise.
In the space of two weeks, multiple attacks by ISWAP terrorists have been launched against some communities, cutting down civilians and soldiers alike, as Nigeria’s insecurity has taken a particularly deadly turn.

The father who lost four of his sons, who went to buy eyeglasses for Sallah but were instead caught up in the explosion, should be inconsolable. So should be the families of the soldiers and vigilantes killed in Borno State and in Plateau State. So should Nigeria as a country.

The question that should engage the mind of every Nigerian, working their lips in equal measure, should be when will the killings stop? When will the government do something definitive and decisive about the killings? How many more Nigerians have to die before the unbridled bloodlust of the marauding terrorists is checked?

After every attack, what usually greets Nigerians reeling with pain and shock is usually either silence or rehearsed assurances, which have since run out of comfort.

Since Boko Haram cut loose in Maiduguri in 2009, Nigerians never could have imagined that what started as a largely inconsequential insurrection would have such grave consequences for their security.

For more than ten years now, the country has not been able to find any solution. Instead, it has been from one casualty to the other.

Borno State has disproportionately suffered the deleterious effects of terrorism. Its long-suffering people deserve a long-overdue break.Unfortunately, no break appears in sight.

As long as the government remains reluctant to tackle the sponsors of terrorism head-on, it will remain such a massive problem here. As long as the government refuses to bite the bullet and take comprehensive action against those who sponsor terrorism in Nigeria and their foot soldiers, the monster will remain.

As for Nigerians, many of whom can no longer feel safe in their country, the time for self-delusion is up. They must have no doubt that the insecurity ravaging their country is a consequence of leadership failure and nothing else.

It is only under an incompetent government that citizens and security personnel are slaughtered from year to year with no solution or respite in sight.

Nigeria must now change course and tack in confronting what is clearly proving to be an existential threat. The kid gloves with which the country has been confronting terrorists must now be ripped off. Whatever the country has been doing in the past decade has simply not worked. Instead, the threat has become more sinister and sophisticated.

The Nigerian government must summon enough political will to destroy all the structures and systems of terror in the country. This means that individuals who sponsor terrorism and their networks must be put down without delay.

If the government cannot do this,
Nigerians must then act decisively to form a government that can.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com