By Ishaya N.U. Adamu, PhD
There is no greater sign of a nation’s decline than when it begins to reward violence and excuse evil. In Nigeria today, a disturbing reality has taken root and is being recognized globally: instead of firmly confronting those who terrorize communities, we have chosen, time and again, to negotiate with them.
When a nation negotiates with bandits instead of controlling them, the nation bleeds and suffers loss of credibility, not only from the physical wounds inflicted by bullets and machetes, but also from the deeper, invisible wounds of moral decay and institutional weakness.
The Tragedy of Compromise
Government exists for one ultimate purpose: the protection of life and property. This sacred duty forms the foundation of the social contract between the state and its citizens. Once that duty is compromised, the legitimacy of governance begins to erode.
When a government sits at the table with those who abduct children from schools, raid villages, and slaughter innocents, it signals to the entire nation and the world at large that crime is no longer punished; it is negotiated. What began as “temporary measures” or “strategic dialogue” becomes, over time, the normalization of lawlessness. If lawlessness is acceptable to Nigeria, it cannot be accepted elsewhere.
Each ransom paid strengthens the hands of the wicked. Each public amnesty without genuine repentance becomes an invitation for more bloodshed.
In the end, the line between authority and anarchy blurs, and a bleeding nation slowly drifts toward the unthinkable: moral bankruptcy, which is unacceptable in a global village.
How Nigeria Got Here
Over the past decade, insecurity in Nigeria has evolved from isolated cases of armed robbery and rural banditry into a full-blown national crisis. Entire regions now live under the shadow of fear.
In the Northwest, bandits attack highways, kidnap students, and raid communities. In the Northeast, remnants of Boko Haram and ISWAP continue their terror campaigns. In the North-Central, herders and farmers clash with deadly consequences. Meanwhile, in the South, cult-related killings, oil theft, and ritual crimes multiply.
Some state governments, perhaps overwhelmed, perhaps desperate, have turned to negotiation as a strategy. The federal government has granted protection contracts for our oil facilities to some known oil thieves. They hold meetings, promise incentives, and even grant “amnesty” to men whose hands are still wet with the blood of innocents.
But each time we trade justice for peace, the peace becomes shorter, and the injustice grows deeper.
The High Price of a Bleeding Nation
The human cost of insecurity in Nigeria defies statistics. Behind every number is a name, a face, a family torn apart. Farmers in Zamfara can no longer go to their fields. Parents in Kaduna sleep in fear that their children may be next. Students in the Northeast study under the shadow of abduction.
Insecurity is not only taking lives; it is taking livelihoods. Communities have been displaced, food production has declined, inflation has skyrocketed, and foreign investment continues to dwindle. A climate of fear has replaced the confidence that once fueled the Nigerian spirit.
When the people lose faith in the state’s ability to protect them, they begin to seek protection elsewhere, sometimes from the very bandits who terrorized them. This is how nations collapse, not in one dramatic fall, but through the slow erosion of trust. The collapse of nations today not only affects their citizens but also global citizens and interests. That is why the world cannot watch Nigeria collapse.
The Moral Bankruptcy of Negotiation
Let us be clear: there is a vast difference between peacebuilding and capitulation.
Peacebuilding seeks justice, accountability, and restoration. Capitulation seeks convenience at the cost of conscience.
Negotiating with those who have raped, abducted, and killed is not mercy; it is moral confusion. It tells victims that their pain does not matter, and it tells criminals that their violence is effective.
A nation cannot build peace on the graves of its citizens. True peace is the fruit of justice, not the absence of confrontation. Forgiveness, yes, but only after repentance and accountability.
As long as bandits are rewarded with money, positions, or “rehabilitation” without genuine change, the message remains the same: Crime pays in Nigeria.
Leadership and the Courage to Confront Evil
Nigeria does not lack brave soldiers or committed security officers. What it lacks is consistent political will and the courage to confront evil without fear or favoritism.
To control banditry, Nigeria must move beyond firefighting and adopt a comprehensive, long-term strategy built on four pillars:
Intelligence and Technology
Security must begin with intelligence, not reaction. Drones, surveillance systems, and community-based intelligence networks should replace the outdated “wait and respond” approach.
Accountability in Governance
Corruption within the security sector weakens the fight. Funds meant for defence must reach the battlefield, not private pockets. Transparency is as important as firepower.
Justice and Deterrence
A nation that fails to punish criminals encourages more crime. Courts must act swiftly and firmly, ensuring that every act of terror is met with the full weight of the law.
Rebuilding Communities
Security is not only about guns; it’s about governance. Restoring education, healthcare, and economic opportunity in rural areas reduces the breeding ground for violence.
When leadership is firm, consistent, and just, even the most hardened criminals think twice. But when leadership wavers, compromise becomes contagion.
The Role of Religious and Traditional Leaders
No discussion of Nigeria’s insecurity is complete without acknowledging the role of traditional and religious leaders. They command influence at the grassroots and must use it responsibly.
It is time for imams, pastors, and chiefs to speak with one voice: violence is not a path to respect or redemption. Those who shield or romanticize criminals in the name of ethnicity or religion share in their guilt. Let us remember that our humanity comes before religion because there was no religion before the creation of man.
Silence, in times of moral crisis, is complicity.
The Bleeding Must Stop
Nigeria is a resilient nation. Its people have endured war, dictatorship, economic hardship, and social upheaval, yet they remain hopeful. But even hope bleeds when justice is delayed and leadership appears absent.
The bleeding of a nation is not only in its insecurity; it is in the indifference of its leaders, the silence of its intellectuals, and the weariness of its citizens.
To stop the bleeding, Nigeria must reclaim its moral authority. It must make it clear, through consistent action, that violence will never be rewarded, and peace will never be negotiated on the terms of criminals.
A Call to National Conscience
When a nation negotiates with bandits, it negotiates away its dignity. It teaches the next generation that courage no longer resides in integrity, but in intimidation.
The time has come for a new moral awakening where justice is not for sale, where leadership is not afraid or eyeing electoral values, and where every Nigerian can once again believe that the state exists to protect, not to plead.
The blood of the innocent cries out from the soil of this land. It demands justice. It demands courage. It demands action.
If Nigeria is to rise again, it must first stop the bleeding, and that begins the moment it decides to stop bargaining with those who made it bleed in the first place.
Nigeria must choose: to stand firm as a nation of law and courage or to kneel perpetually before the very evil it should have crushed. It is a truism that the protection of an asset is the owner’s responsibility.
Ishaya N.U. Adamu, PhD, is a retired director of The Nigerian Television Authority and a public Affairs analyst
