African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has vowed to take decisive action against insecurity in Nigeria if elected as president in 2027, declaring that the situation has reached a point where urgent and forceful measures were required.
Obi made this known during an interview on Arise News Channel on Monday night, where he stressed that addressing insecurity in Northern Nigeria was critical to stabilising the entire country.
"When you talk about securing the North, it's just like securing all of Nigeria. When it comes to the issue of security, we've reached a stage where we have to be very, very precise. No longer an issue of negotiation or anything," he said.
Recounting his experience as governor of Anambra State, Obi said he confronted similar security challenges and took firm steps to address them.
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"I had what I can call disturbing insecurity when I became the governor of Anambra State. It got to the stage that I had to come here and tell President Obasanjo, Mr. President, this is what I want to do, and you must allow me to do it."
He added, "You can go ask retired General Eneche. He was commander of the army unit there in Anambra State. Late John Haruna and late Commissioner Bello. I can call names. Go ask them what happened."
According to him, security agencies at the time recorded significant improvements.
"Then Inspector General of Police, Abubakar, came and said for five years, we've not had issue of major robbery or kidnapping in Anambra State. I'm not saying you will all go away. No. But you can decisively deal with it, and there's so many ways to deal with it."
Obi argued that Nigeria's current insecurity was rooted in years of poor governance and systemic neglect.
"Because the insecurity we are suffering today was not just something that started with gun. It started with the erosion of governance, erosion of values, erosion of, you know, abandoning the youth, no education, trust, social trust, everything."
He continued, "These are the things that over the years, what you're seeing now, cumulative effect of leadership failure over the years that brought us to this."
The former governor emphasised the need for both immediate and long-term strategies, including justice, accountability, and rebuilding public trust.
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"So what you need to do is to be decisive and then start long-term process of ensuring that you build trust, you bring governance, justice, people are punished if they do the wrong thing."
Warning about the scale of the crisis, Obi said the loss of security personnel should trigger a national response.
"No nation will lose ten, about ten of its senior officers and will not declare war. I will declare war."
He concluded by stressing the urgency of leadership presence in Northern Nigeria.
"I'm going to be in the north. If there's anywhere any leader should return today, it is the north," Obi stated.
