By Our Correspondents
Khalid Mahmud
For years, Nigeria’s secu-rity architecture was like an orchestra without a conductor—each agency playing its own tune, each refus-ing to follow a shared path. The military, police, DSS, and para-military outfits operated in silos, hoarding intelligence and guard-ing jurisdiction like jealous gate-keepers. It was a house with too many doors and no master key. The result was confusion, ineffi-ciency, and too often, bloodshed. Terrorists thrived in this vacu-um, kidnappers exploited the disjointed response mechanisms, and communities bore the brunt of institutional dysfunction.
The turning point came in 2023. The appointment of Mal-lam Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser marked the be-ginning of a subtle yet seismic shift in how Nigeria approached internal security. While others predicted political aspirations and conjured hypotheticals about 2027, Ribadu got to work. His style was not flamboyant; he didn’t dominate headlines.
Ribadu’s history as former EFCC head gave him more than anti-corruption credentials—it earned him moral authority. This proved essential in restoring trust between rival agencies. His leadership was rooted in respect, not fear; in unity, not hierarchy. And the effect was immediate.
Agencies that once refused to share intelligence began to collaborate. Military and police commands operated with mutu-al purpose. The DSS moved from the shadows into alignment with broader national efforts. Nige-ria’s fragmented security archi-tecture was being stitched back together—deliberately, strategi-cally, and without ego.
This shift wasn’t cosmetic. It translated into real-world victo-ries that began to change the na-tional narrative. Within the first 18 months of President Tinubu’s administration and Ribadu’s stewardship, over 13,500 terror-ists and criminals were neu-tralized, while more than 17,000 suspects were arrested across various theaters.
In the Northeast, particular-ly Borno State, the heartland of Boko Haram, 102,000 insurgents and their families surrendered. This mass capitulation wasn’t accidental—it was the result of combined pressure, both mili-tary and psychological, backed by soft-power interventions. Over 11,000 weapons were recovered, significantly weakening insur-gent capability and sending a clear message that the tide was turning.
In the North-West—Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina—states once gripped by kidnapping and ban-ditry, more than 11,000 kidnapped victims were rescued through joint operations. These missions were no longer hampered by poor coordination. They were surgi-cal, timely, and built on real-time intelligence sharing. Notably, the elimination of notorious bandit kingpin Ali Kachalla marked a psychological and tactical victory that had eluded security forces for years.
The Niger Delta, long plagued by oil theft and environmental degradation, saw one of the most aggressive anti-crude theft cam-paigns in decades. In just over a year, 1,978 illegal refineries were dismantled, along with 3,849 dug-out pits and more than 3,700 cook-ing ovens. This crackdown didn’t just secure infrastructure—it re-vived the economy.
Nigeria’s daily crude oil pro-duction, which had plummeted to under one million barrels in 2022, surged to 1.8 million barrels by mid-2025. Oil operations in Ogo-niland also resumed under this new, secure atmosphere.
In the Southeast, where sep-aratist agitators had declared disruptive “sit-at-home” orders. More than 50 police stations abandoned due to threats have been reopened. The population, long skeptical of state authority, is regaining faith in the institu-tions meant to protect them.
All of this progress stems from one core change: unity. For the first time in over a decade, Nigeria’s security agencies are operating not only together, but as one. The previous era of turf wars and information hoarding is giving way to a culture of syn-ergy. The NSA’s office has trans-formed from a passive observer into a dynamic coordination hub.
This transformation did not happen by accident. It is the prod-uct of Ribadu’s strategic vision. He recognized early that Nige-ria’s greatest security threat was not just the armed gunman in the bush but the bureaucratic silence between agencies. He understood that technology without trust would fail, and firepower with-out coordination would falter. His eight-pillar strategy, though not shouted from rooftops, touches all aspects of modern security— from intelligence sharing and joint operations to cyber foren-sics and institutional reform.
Under Ribadu’s guidance, Nigeria has frozen dozens of cryptocurrency accounts linked to terror financing and begun developing one of the country’s most advanced cyber-forensics labs in Abuja. These moves sig-nify a decisive leap from reactive counterterrorism to anticipatory governance.
Yet, amid these gains, dis-tractions persist. Rumors about Ribadu’s potential 2027 ambitions—gubernatorial or vice-presidential—have surfaced. These speculations, pushed by political actors and amplified by opportunistic commentators, are not only baseless but dangerous. They risk derailing momentum at a time when Nigeria can least afford it. Who benefits from a weakened NSA? Not the rural farmer in Zamfara or the school-girl in Borno. The real beneficia-ries are the same elements that profited during the era of confu-sion—the enemies of a coherent security strategy.
It is important, therefore, to separate noise from necessity. Ribadu is not running a polit-ical campaign. He is running a national security campaign. His mission is to dismantle silos, build bridges, and bring coher-ence to a system long teetering on dysfunction. While others specu-late, he strategizes. While critics draft op-eds, he’s rebuilding trust between institutions that once re-fused to speak.
To understand the magnitude of this achievement, one must remember how broken the sys-tem once was. Senior officers used to bypass one another, field commanders acted without clear mandates, and multiple agencies responded to the same incident without coordination. The result was not just inefficiency—it was carnage. Attacks that could have been averted with timely intel-ligence became mass tragedies. Communities became cemeteries of unlearned lessons.
But that is changing. Slowly, yes. Imperfectly, of course. But undeniably. Today, there is com-munication across commands. Strategic alignment between the DSS and military. Police opera-tions are no longer undermined by other agencies acting in paral-lel. The symphony is still tuning itself, but it is no longer noise—it is beginning to sound like music.
In a country as complex as Nigeria, no security solution is perfect. Threats are evolving, and the road ahead is long. But for the first time in a long time, Nigeria is facing these challenges not with fragmentation, but with focus. Not with bravado, but with strategy.
Ultimately, the true measure of Ribadu’s impact is not in me-dia mentions or political fore-casts. It is in the confidence of field officers who now know their intelligence will be acted on. It is in the relief of communities that can sleep without fear. It is in the quiet dignity of a government putting national interest above institutional ego.
Critics will come. So will spec-ulation. But Nigeria’s security architecture is finally learning to stand upright. Let us not tear it down just as it begins to hold.
Mahmud writes from Jabi, Abuja.