By Charles Pemu 
Retired Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma warns that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is a direct consequence of systemic leadership failures dating back decades. A former Director of Military Operations who led operations against Boko Haram in Sambisa Forest, Gen. Ijioma, now questions why insurgents, though ,not as powerful as Nigeria’s military continue to terrorize communities.
He asserts that decades of poor leadership, from presidents to community heads have fractured national unity and fueled ethnic and religious divides, contributing to widespread violence, hunger, and fear.
Gen. Ijioma stresses that underpaid troops and police, ill-equipped and disillusioned, lack motivation to confront insurgents. He points to a stark disparity: while politicians enjoy generous salaries, security personnel subsist on meager pay, undermining morale and effectiveness.
He further criticizes high-level complicity in violence, suggesting that insecurity thrives when political appointees protect or tolerate criminal networks. According to him, even when courts rule in favor of justice as in his own case against wrongful military retirement, the government often disregards the rulings, emboldening impunity.
“We have no choice but to demand true leadership that serves all Nigerians equally,” he demands, urging leaders to reject sectional interests in favor of nation-building. Only then, he contends, will security forces be empowered and protected and Nigeria begin healing from its current crisis.