Perhaps what makes Nigeria unique is its tendency to manage the most colossal tragedy around a political merry-go-round and ride it backward.
And the latest act is: under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration, this same leadership that spent years lambasting Goodluck Jonathan for failure to protect Nigerians presides over a nation drowning in an even deeper, more theatrical insecurity crisis.
Remember Jonathan, the president who was criticized, vilified, and lampooned for the Boko Haram rise, the infamous 2014 Chibok Girls abduction, and his “alleged indifference” to suffering in the Northeast? Tinubu and the APC didn’t just critique him; they capitalized on the nation’s heartbreak like hawkers on a carnival ride, making political currency out of fear.
Fast-forward to 2025, and the tale is almost the same: Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger-schools under siege, bandits conducting boardroom-style operations, and the citizenry paying the tab for incompetence.
If irony had a capital, Nigerians would be the wealthiest people on earth.
Chibok Girls: APC’s Political Goldmine
The abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok was not just a tragedy; it was a political jackpot for the APC. Hashtags, global outrage, celebrity endorsements, and international condemnation amplified the narrative. Jonathan looked weak, indecisive, and morally compromised-the perfect foil for Tinubu’s emerging savior narrative.
Tinubu said famously:
“If the commander cannot command, he must resign.”
Ah, the poetry of political morality. Chibok wasn’t just a national crisis; it was a stage upon which APC performed a masterclass in narrative manipulation, turning Jonathan’s delay into a theatre of incompetence.
Meanwhile, the structural rot-corrupt, underfunded military, intelligence lapses, political interference-was conveniently edited out of the script.
Jonathan’s failings were real, yes, but the magnifying glass applied by APC put a microscope over a grain of sand, making every minor misstep look like an existential collapse.
Kebbi Girls: Déjà Vu in Full Color
Fast forward to Tinubu’s tenure, and Nigeria is reliving that same horror story-but with all the sequels and spinoffs nobody asked for.
The Kebbi Girls abduction is the latest entry in a nation-wide series of high-stakes, real-life terror episodes.
Dozens of schoolgirls kidnapped in Kebbi.
Abandoned villages as families flee the wrath of bandits.
Highways not safe, making journeys a gamble with life and limb.
The families end up paying millions in ransom, in effect financing their own nightmares.
Security agencies respond slowly, if at all, like a snail in a marathon.
Where Jonathan faced a regional horror, Tinubu now presides over a national epidemic of fear.
And the irony? The same criticisms-incapable, indifferent, failed to protect citizens-are bouncing back with a vengeance, now aimed squarely at him.
One might call it poetic justice, though in Nigeria, it’s more tragicomedy than poetry.
The psychological toll is unmistakable. Under Jonathan, insecurity was painted as a tragic consequence of mismanagement.
Under Tinubu, it is an accepted, almost normalized calamity, a chronic state of emergency that political elites discuss politely in press releases while the country teeters on the brink.
The Brutal Truth: Who Really Runs Nigeria?
Tinubu once pontificated:
“A government that cannot protect its citizens has failed.”
Today, Nigerians quote him back, a bitter echo from a hall of mirrors. Bandits roam free. Terrorists occupy swathes of territory. Villages have become ghost towns. Whole communities live under siege.
The man who once mocked Jonathan for failing to secure Nigeria now finds himself scribbling the same tragic notes, only the stakes are higher, the horror more panoramic.
From Chibok to Kebbi, the message remains clear:
By design or accident, security agencies are ineffective and incapable of responding against modern threats.
Kidnapping is no longer sporadic but, rather, a flourishing criminal industry, almost institutionalized.
Governments continue to put political optics above citizen safety, painting press releases as villages burn.
The results are that Nigerians bear the consequences: having to pay ransoms, flee their homes, or worse.
Jonathan’s failures were amplified for political gain. Tinubu’s failures, however, are performing on a national stage, unfolding with the slow drama of a Greek tragedy, only this one has no catharsis, no heroes, and no applause.
Foreign Hands, Silent Watches
Another twist in this cruel comedy: during Jonathan’s administration, foreign governments were involved-offering intelligence, surveillance, and support. APC leaders lobbied abroad to pressure Jonathan further, leveraging international outrage as a political cudgel.
Today, under Tinubu, Nigeria confronts a world that has grown tired. The international community looks on in silence, instead issuing travel warnings.
Global allies have, all but abandoned Nigeria to her fate-as if they have left the nation to its devices, to sort out the crisis alone without the drama of international attention that once fired political gains.
The lesson is clear: in Jonathan’s era, insecurity was a political weapon. Under Tinubu, it is a national reality, and far more lethal than any campaign slogan.
Political Hypocrisy: A Masterclass
Lamai Fradi, Tinubu once ridiculed Jonathan for failing to secure the nation, an indictment Nigerians are painfully aware now applies to his administration, often more harshly.
Children abducted in Kebbi, Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger.
Bandits threaten highways and rural communities freely.
Factions of Boko Haram and ISWAP remain active in the Northeast.
Villagers live in terror as politicians speak in polished euphemisms.
What an irony of life! The same man who called for Jonathan’s resignation now finds himself the object of the same moral indictment, a living embodiment of political irony and national frustration.
Conclusion: Déjà Vu, Nigerian Edition
From Chibok to Kebbi, the story of insecurity in Nigeria has become a tragic rerun.
The APC rose to power on the failures of Jonathan. Today, with Tinubu, the country faces worse terror, mass kidnappings, and chronic fear.
Citizens are trapped in anxiety as political elites merely recycle slogans, moral lectures, and press statements that achieve little.
If Tinubu once ridiculed Jonathan for failing to protect Nigerians, the question is obvious:
Who truly runs this country-the president, or the bandits?
Today, Nigeria’s tragedy is no longer just that of insecurity but of political irony served with a bow to narrative sophistication, hypocrisy, and heartbreak.
The citizens bear the brunt while hoping someday, leadership will rise to prioritize protection over propaganda, action over self-congratulatory press releases.
