Think Naija: The Reform Notebook.

The rescue of the schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi has generated intense debate across Nigeria. Some argue that government must never negotiate with kidnappers, while others insist that any hint of ransom payment emboldens criminal networks. These are valid concerns. But Nigeria is not facing a normal security crisis. We are facing a security emergency unfolding in the middle of an international political storm in which every failure is magnified and every death is weaponized against the state. This is why it is necessary to examine the Kebbi rescue not only through a domestic security lens but through the broader geopolitical environment Nigeria is now operating in. First, the Kebbi girls were Muslims, so their ordeal did not automatically feed into the “Christian genocide” narrative currently circulating in Washington. But at this stage, the religion of the victims is not the decisive factor. What matters is the global perception of Nigeria’s ability to protect its children. In the inte...

Northern Nigeria is facing a complicated mix of problems that no single ceremony can solve. Communities are exhausted by insecurity, families are weighed down by poverty, youth are trapped in unemployment and idleness, children roam the streets without schooling, and women struggle daily with limited opportunities and heavy burdens. These are serious issues that require thoughtful leadership, long term planning and real investments in human capital. Yet in the middle of this storm, some northern state governments continue to present state sponsored mass weddings as a kind of social cure-all. The most recent case in Zamfara State, widely reported this week, is only the latest example. The stated aim is to reduce poverty, discourage street begging, prevent immorality and help vulnerable people “start stable homes”. None of these intentions are wrong in themselves. But the method is deeply inadequate and in some ways counterproductive. Marriage is a sacred institution and an important pil...

A New Phase of Pressure on Nigeria. Nigeria now finds itself in the middle of a geopolitical storm that did not begin in Abuja and will not end in Washington. The heightened rhetoric in the United States Congress, the aggressive committee hearings, the calls for Nigeria to be designated as a country of particular concern, and the open discussion of military or covert options are not sudden reactions. They are the result of forces that have been building for years. The real question is not why the United States has adopted this posture. The question is why Nigeria did not anticipate it. What the Early Warning Brief Was Trying to Tell Nigerian Leaders. The Early Warning Brief prepared for the Nigerian government spoke clearly behind its diplomatic tone. It warned that Nigeria has lost control of the international narrative. It explained that foreign Evangelical groups, diaspora lobbyists, NGOs and political actors in Washington now dominate the story of Nigerian insecurity more effective...

For twenty five years, the Arewa Consultative Forum has presented itself as the conscience and rallying point of Northern Nigeria. It emerged in 2000 at a delicate moment in our national journey, when the North was struggling with post military political fragmentation, loss of cohesion, and the need for a common civic platform in the new democracy. The ACF was meant to unify the region, articulate its concerns, protect its interests, and serve as a moral compass in difficult times. Today, in 2025, the question confronting us is simple but fundamental: has the ACF fulfilled its purpose, or has the North outgrown an institution that has remained static while our crises have accelerated? This is not an emotional question. It is an existential one. The North is in the grip of insecurity, poverty, educational collapse, youth alienation, extremist manipulation, and deepening religious tension. A region with enormous population, land, history and influence has become the epicentre of the coun...

Foreign intervention never begins with airplanes, sanctions or soldiers. It begins with stories. It begins with how a country is described, framed, understood and judged by powerful nations. Iraq did not begin with missiles. It began with a narrative about weapons of mass destruction. Libya did not begin with bombs. It began with a narrative about protecting civilians. Syria did not begin with airstrikes. It began with a narrative about humanitarian responsibility. The same pattern is now forming around Nigeria, and the speed is alarming. The life sentence delivered to Nnamdi Kanu on November 20, 2025 is a perfect example. A Nigerian court, after years of legal proceedings, found him guilty on seven terrorism related charges, including directing violence, issuing sit at home orders, caused hundreds of deaths, and guiding bomb making. The court described him as an international terrorist and chose life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. Within hours, a US lawmaker declared that ...

For years, Lagos has lived with a paradox. It is not an agricultural state, yet it is Nigeria’s single largest food market, a megacity that consumes more food every day than most African countries. Feeding 20 to 25 million people demands not only supply, but structure, discipline, and vision, qualities that have been dangerously absent from Nigeria’s national food system. Under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos has decided to confront this challenge head-on. What has emerged is one of the most ambitious subnational food-security reforms in Africa: the Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Programme, supported by the Ounjè Èkò Discounted Food Markets. This development is beyond routine governance. It is a quiet revolution. 1) Lagos Has Understood the Problem Clearly. For decades, Lagos relied almost entirely on northern farmers and transporters for its fruits, vegetables, grains, livestock, and staples. But that reliance came with a price: • chaotic supply chains, • five to s...