…Blames politicians for arming youths then abandoning them, creating banditry and kidnapping
…Urges immediate state policing and Amotekun-style community model to restore public safety
Retired Major General Ishola Williams, former Commandant of the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command, has declared that Nigeria is not battling terrorism or external aggression but a full-blown public safety crisis rooted in governance failure, systemic corruption and intelligence collapse.
The security expert made the assertion during a hard-hitting interview on the current affairs programme Frontline on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, on Tuesday.
Williams insisted that the persistent description of the nation’s violence as “terrorism” or “foreign invasion” has misled policymakers and distracted them from the real internal drivers: political manipulation, economic desperation, arms proliferation and institutional rot.
“There is a difference between defence, security, and public safety,” he said. “Nigeria today does not have a defence problem because no external force is attacking us. We also do not have a security problem because none of our neighbours has the capacity or intention to invade Nigeria. What we have is a public safety crisis caused by our own citizens due to governance failure and institutional collapse.”
He dismissed claims that fighters are flooding in from Mali, Niger or Chad, describing such assertions as unrealistic given the vast distances involved.
“Those coming into Nigeria are mostly illegal miners — Senegalese, Lebanese and others — not terrorists. The violence is being driven mainly by Nigerians, not foreigners,” he said.
Politics, poverty and broken promises
Tracing the origins of the crisis, Williams pointed accusing fingers at politicians, especially in the North, who armed youths as political thugs and vigilantes during elections only to dump them afterwards.
“That betrayal, combined with poverty and unemployment, created resentment. Religion then became a rallying point, not the cause. Bad governance started this crisis,” he stated.
He described Boko Haram and ISWAP as “domestic offshoots of socio-political breakdown,” noting that most fighters are local Kanuri youths from Borno who seek a caliphate within the state, not the conquest of Nigeria.
“Terrorism is a tactical method, not the strategic problem,” Williams added. “What we have in Nigeria today is banditry, kidnapping, illegal mining, cattle rustling and violent organised crime — all public safety threats, not war.”
Trillions wasted, no accountability
The retired general lambasted the military and security agencies for consuming trillions of naira in the name of defence and security without visible results.
“Where is the accountability? In serious countries, if 100 civilians are massacred, commanders are sacked immediately. In Nigeria, nothing happens — no resignation, no dismissal, no investigation. That culture of impunity is why insecurity persists,” he said.
He also criticised the National Assembly for turning oversight committees into contract-chasing platforms rather than instruments of accountability.
Military hardware alone cannot win
Citing the failures of the United States in Vietnam and Afghanistan and Russia in Ukraine, Williams argued that weapons do not win wars — intelligence, doctrine, discipline and motivation do.
“We keep buying weapons without developing operational doctrine. Soldiers are not trained adequately. Equipment is not properly maintained. This is waste, not strategy,” he declared.
State policing and Amotekun as way forward
Williams praised President Bola Tinubu for repeatedly pushing state policing and urged the National Assembly, particularly the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, to act swiftly in the national interest.
He proposed restructuring the Nigeria Police Force into two federal bodies — a Crime Intelligence and Criminal Investigation Agency and a Federal Paramilitary Force — while allowing states to handle day-to-day policing.
Citing the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun) as a shining example, Williams said the outfit has proved that community-driven policing works.
“Amotekun has set a standard for Nigeria. They understand the terrain, the people, the language, the culture and the community dynamics. That is the essence of intelligence-driven policing,” he said.
He urged the federal government to study, fund, standardise and replicate the Amotekun model nationwide rather than politicise or undermine it.
No to foreign troops
Williams rejected any idea of inviting foreign troops, saying the United States has never successfully defeated any insurgency it intervened in.
“If Chad and Cameroon can manage Boko Haram effectively, why can’t Nigeria? Boko Haram fears Chad more than Nigeria. That alone should tell us something is fundamentally wrong with our system,” he noted.
On reports to the US Congress alleging genocide against Christians in Nigeria, he described the narrative as politically motivated and damaging to the country’s image.
Accountability is the missing link
Williams concluded that Nigeria does not lack resources but political will and moral leadership.
“Until commanders are held accountable, until corruption is punished, until intelligence is rebuilt, and until community policing is implemented, nothing will change,” he said.
