As a columnist who has watched this nation bleed for too long, I am tired.
Tired of the endless cycle of blood, ransom demands, and empty promises.
Tired of reading about schoolchildren snatched from classrooms, farmers slaughtered on their farmlands, and entire communities turned into ghost towns by bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists who treat our dense forests like sovereign territories.
Nigeria is under siege from within, and the people we elected to govern the states seem content to watch from the safety of their government houses.
Why can’t state governors invest seriously in drones for constant aerial surveillance of these forests? The technology exists. Affordable, effective drone systems—capable of real-time monitoring, thermal imaging, and coordination with ground forces—are being used successfully in other parts of the world to combat similar insurgencies.
A fleet of drones, properly maintained and integrated with intelligence from local vigilantes and security agencies, could map out bandit camps, track movement, and provide the actionable intelligence our overstretched military and police so desperately need.
Yet most governors treat this as someone else’s problem.
Is it a lack of funds? Hardly.
State budgets run into hundreds of billions of naira annually. Security votes—those opaque allocations—are often larger than education or health budgets in many states. If a fraction of that money went into acquiring and operating surveillance drones, training operators, and establishing command centres, we could begin to reclaim the narrative from these criminals.
Instead, we hear excuses: “federal responsibility,” “limited jurisdiction,” or the classic “we are working with the centre.” Meanwhile, the forests remain ungoverned spaces where evil thrives.
One cannot help but ask the uncomfortable question: Are some of these governors complicit, or at the very least, indifferent? How else do we explain the glaring inaction when their people are being slaughtered daily?
Bandits operate with near-impunity in states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, and parts of the North-East and South-East. Governors campaign vigorously, win elections, and then retreat into political calculations.
Their primary focus appears to be loyalty to the president, positioning for higher office, or securing a second term—while mothers bury their children and fathers pay ransoms that bankrupt families.
This selective attention is nauseating.
The same governors who commission billboards boasting of “achievements” cannot guarantee the basic right to life. They cut ribbons on new roads, airports, and coastal projects, yet fail to protect the citizens who would use them.
What is the value of a shiny coastal road in Lagos or Calabar if commuters live in fear of ambush? What use is an upgraded airport when families avoid travel because of kidnapping risks on the way?
Infrastructural development without human security is a cruel illusion. Dead people do not drive on expressways. Widows do not enjoy new terminals. Orphans do not celebrate expanded airports.
The constitution is clear: Governors have a duty to ensure the security and welfare of the people within their states. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) declares the security and welfare of the people as the primary purpose of government. Yet many have outsourced this sacred responsibility entirely to Abuja, as if bandits respect state boundaries or federal bureaucracy.
The result? A nation where citizens feel abandoned by the very leaders who swore oaths to protect them.
Enough of the politics of reelection at the expense of lives. Governors must rise above party lines and federal patronage. Pool resources if necessary—create regional drone surveillance consortia in the North-West, North-Central, and South-East. Partner with private sector tech firms, local universities, and even friendly nations for training and maintenance.
Prioritise this as an emergency, the way some states aggressively pursue “smart city” projects or urban beautification. Security is not glamourous for photo-ops, but it is foundational.
To the governors reading this: Your people are dying. The forests are calling for accountability. Stop treating insecurity as a campaign talking point and start treating it as the existential threat it is.
Invest in drones, intelligence, and decisive action today, or history will record you as leaders who chose power over people. Nigerians deserve to live, not merely to survive until the next election cycle.
The infrastructure you build will mean nothing if there is no one left alive to enjoy it.
The time for excuses is over. Act now!.
Pamela O.
Political strategist and columnist.
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