President Tinubu
Presidency rejects Obasanjo’s call for foreign security help, vows to confront terrorists
The Presidency has reaffirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to securing Nigeria through a united, whole-of-government approach.
It strongly criticized former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent suggestion to involve foreign governments in handling the country’s internal security, labeling the idea as “capitulation.”
Obasanjo made his remarks at an event in Plateau State, lamenting the government’s apparent inability to protect citizens from widespread killings.
“If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do for us,” he stated.
In a sharp rebuttal on social media, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, argued that the moment requires national unity rather than alarm.
He accused Obasanjo of failing to confront terrorism when it first emerged during his own administration.
“The suggestion that Nigeria should effectively subcontract its internal security to foreign governments is not statesmanship; it is capitulation,” Dare wrote.
He urged the former president to reflect on his own past security lapses before recommending what he termed a surrender.
The Presidency asserted it would not be distracted by what it called “selective amnesia wrapped in elder-statesmanship,” nor allow the history of early security failures to be rewritten.
Dare contended that when former leaders publicly question the nation’s capabilities, it hands a psychological victory to terrorists.
“A real statesman offers support, not soundbites,” Dare said.
He called on Obasanjo to acknowledge past failures that allowed terrorism to gain ground and to support current efforts instead of undermining them.
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