By Charles Pemu 
In a rare moment of candour, a sitting Northern Governor, speaking off the record, admitted a dreadful truth many Nigerians fear: the war against insurgency and banditry, which has ravaged the North for over a decade, “may not end soon.”
The governor, whose identity is being withheld, confessed in a private conversation that despite generous funding and commitment from the Presidency, the nation’s security forces are “overstretched, stressed, and tired,” while the insurgents continue to replenish their ranks.
The Military’s Heavy Burden
While acknowledging that President Bola Tinubu has been highly supportive, approving every military request for funding, and praising the commitment of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, the Governor laid bare the practical reasons why kidnappings and attacks rage on in states like Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, and now creep towards Kwara.
“The troops are trying, but they are overstretched. Many have been in the battlefront for too long. They are exhausted,” the Governor lamented.
He dropped a bombshell about the enemy’s resilience, stating: “They are killing them, yes! But more are joining them.”
A deep source of frustration, the governor revealed, is the mismatch in firepower. He noted that the non-state actors often wield “heavy weapons” while local vigilantes and forest guards tasked with complementary duties are left with inferior “pump-action rifles.”
War as a ‘Money-Making Venture’
The Governor then offered a startling analysis of the war’s complexity, suggesting that for some, the conflict has become an unintended source of income.
“Every security agent deployed to battle insurgency state gets some money, daily in some states. Some states pay N5,000 a day to each officer,” he revealed.
He warned that this system creates a perverse incentive: “When people start earning from conflict, it changes incentives. Some would not want it to end, because of what they are getting daily.”
Known Hideouts, Delayed Action
The Governor confirmed what many affected locals suspect: the bandits are not ghosts. He concurred with the open declaration by Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal that the bandits’ hideouts, leaders, and even family backgrounds are well-known to the authorities.
The dilemma, he stressed, is not a lack of intelligence but a lack of manpower and superior equipment to launch the necessary full-scale confrontation.
To turn the tide, the Governor called for aggressive, massive recruitment into the Military and Police forces to match the sheer number of criminals roaming the forests. However, he cautioned that new recruits would take at least one year and six months to be fully ready for deployment, suggesting the war will inevitably drag on.
In a concluding sigh of frustration, the Governor spoke of critical operations that are sometimes “postponed without clear reasons,” while villagers flee, kidnappers collect ransoms, and bandits regroup—a reality that, for him, makes the argument for State Police increasingly compelling.
“This thing may not end soon,” the Governor reiterated, leaving a stark warning that Nigeria’s fight against insecurity is a grueling, complex struggle against fatigue, inadequate numbers, and corrosive systemic flaws.