Minister of State for Defence Bello Muhammad Matawalle has said that addressing Nigeria’s security challenges required not only the combined efforts of security agencies and citizens but ultimately divine intervention, speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa in which he also accused opposition politicians of exploiting insecurity for political capital while offering nothing constructive to the national response.
Matawalle said insecurity was a challenge that did not discriminate by political affiliation, religion, or social status and that anyone attempting to weaponize it for electoral advantage was placing personal ambition above the welfare of Nigerians who were suffering. He said the opposition’s apparent satisfaction with security failures was evidence that their interest was not in helping solve the problem but in ensuring the government was seen to have failed.
He accused certain actors of circulating old and fabricated videos on social media, including footage from incidents that occurred during previous administrations and even from other countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali, presenting them as current evidence of failure under the Tinubu administration. He said security operatives were working continuously across the country and had been directed to deal decisively with terrorists, but warned that insecurity of the scale Nigeria faced was not a problem that could be resolved overnight, citing the experience of major world powers that had confronted similar challenges for extended periods.
He called on Nigerians to continue supporting security agencies through cooperation and prayer, and urged politicians to resist the temptation to use the suffering of communities as a political instrument.
