Terrorists Evolving Faster Than Government, Says Atiku

By: Abudu Olalekan

Atiku Abubakar – once second-in-command – spoke up again on Nigeria’s slipping safety. Terror outfits now shift quicker, change tactics smarter, move faster, while state forces lag behind. Though officials scramble, the gap grows wider. Because threats evolve by the day, responses feel stuck in place. So far, little has closed that distance. When danger adapts overnight, slow reactions cost more.

Thursday brought words from Atiku, shared by his aide Phrank Shaibu, who handles public messages. His doubt surfaced over how well Nigeria fights terrorism now. Fresh incidents suggest offenders move faster than those trying to stop them.

What worries him isn’t complicated. Every time terror groups shift how they operate, officials lag behind. While attackers adapt fast, state responses barely move. He sees a pattern where new threats meet outdated reactions.

“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study what worked. They study what failed. Then they come back stronger and more organised,” Atiku said.

“The real question Nigerians should be asking is this: Why isn’t the government learning at the same pace?”

Nowhere feels safe anymore, says the ex-vice president, as violence creeps into areas once untouched by chaos. What started in northern pockets has fanned out, reaching far beyond earlier borders. Bandits move freely. People vanish overnight. Bombs explode without warning. Each promise of safety rings hollow when fear still shapes daily life.

Familiar now, that pattern – he called it painful to watch unfold again.

A cry breaks the silence. Grief spreads across neighborhoods. Leaders speak of change soon after. A new group forms to investigate. Yet again, sorrow returns too fast.

“A country that refuses to learn from its painful experiences will keep repeating them,” he added.

What Atiku points out is a gap in how Nigeria handles its security history – there’s little effort put into recording what past attacks taught. Learning from old patterns doesn’t happen nearly enough. From his view, that lack of follow-through leaves the country open again and again. Details get ignored when they should be guiding new steps. Without written records shaping decisions, mistakes repeat themselves. He sees memory gaps as dangerous. Each incident ends without clear notes on what went wrong. That absence weakens planning later on. Reflection isn’t built into the process after crises pass. The result? Similar threats find similar openings.

That moment when the Chibok girls were taken – still haunts the nation’s memory. Years have passed, yet classrooms remain targets, children snatched from schools across Nigeria.

He sees it as proof some key warnings got overlooked – or maybe never taken seriously at all.

“We should have developed stronger warning systems from what happened in Chibok and other similar attacks,” he said. “Those experiences should have helped prevent some of the incidents we’ve seen in recent years.”

Not sticking so well to foreign blueprints anymore – that’s what the ADC’s presidential hopeful said about Nigeria’s longtime pick of security setups. Brought in from outside, sure, but rarely bent to fit how things actually work at home.

It starts with a demand – review the national counterterrorism plan now, he said. Built not on foreign ideas but shaped by what Nigeria has lived through. Update it fast, he added. Solutions should grow from local struggles, not distant theories. The federal government must act without delay, he stressed. Let experience guide the way forward.

He mentioned one piece of the process might involve setting up something he called a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism.

The idea is straightforward.

When communities endure violence, their insights could shape how nations prepare. Not just listen – learn from what they’ve seen. Warning signals often appear long before harm strikes. Those who live through it might point them out faster than any report. Leaders from towns, officers on duty, elders holding wisdom, people touched by loss – all voices matter equally. Decisions once made behind closed doors now include those who bear the consequences.

Atiku says this setup might boost local intel collection while also building better ties between communities and law enforcement.

From the start, efforts widened beyond narrow tactics. Intelligence took center stage, yet tools like data systems played key roles too. Community involvement grew, not forced but invited into the process. Instead of isolation, connections between people and agencies deepened. Strategy shifted, not just in tools but mindset – focusing less on force, more on awareness. Each part linked, not stacked. Progress came quietly, through steady steps rather than big moves.

He pointed out that military efforts still matter. Still, overcoming terror takes far beyond soldiers in combat.

Money trails keeping gangs alive need cutting off, so officials should go after those flows too.

“We must identify those funding them, moving weapons, providing logistics, and offering safe havens,” he said.

He went on to push for more funding toward watch networks, drone-based observation tools, info collection efforts – while also stressing the need for better signal monitoring alongside analytics shaped by evidence. A shift in how details move could change outcomes. Still, clarity matters most when responses depend on what machines spot and humans interpret together.

Starting fresh, one idea at a time – he suggested setting up dedicated hubs for counterterrorism spread through Nigeria’s six regions. These spots would pull data from soldiers, officers, state security agents, border staff, customs workers, local defense units, watch groups, even village elders. Instead of sitting on reports, teams inside would study them fast. Action follows close behind insight. Information moves quicker when it flows into one place. Each zone gets its own nerve center. Decisions happen without long waits. Real-time response becomes possible. Not later. Now.

Fences mattered a lot to some people back then.

Borders in Nigeria let people through too easily, he said. Terrorists slip across them now without much trouble. Weapons dealers find these gaps useful, they move freely because of weak control. Criminal groups cross often, using the same paths again and again.

“A country that cannot effectively monitor who enters and leaves its territory will continue to face serious security risks,” he warned.

Frustration grows when jobs are scarce, schools fail, and leaders look away – that reality fuels more than just unrest. Where poverty bites hard, terror finds footing. Atiku pointed at broken systems, not just armed groups. Neglect opens doors. Empty classrooms plus empty promises equal danger. Young minds left behind often turn elsewhere. Security alone cannot fix roots of violence.

Because of this, officials were pushed to put greater resources into schooling, work opportunities, growth in country areas, along with recovery efforts aimed at those most at risk.

Battling an uprising costs more, he said, once it’s already begun rather than stopping its start.

Besides his earlier plans, he introduced a nationwide support system meant for those affected by terror attacks – offering mental health services alongside help with schooling, rebuilding lives, then getting back into work. That framework aims to steady their path forward after crisis strikes.

He pointed out that when the spotlight moves on, those touched by tragedy fade from view just as quickly.

“A nation that abandons victims after the headlines fade away only strengthens the goals of terrorists,” he said.

Faults in the Tinubu government didn’t escape Atiku’s remarks.

What keeps making things less safe, even though huge amounts of money have gone into military and protection efforts year after year? Yet safety seems harder to find.

He says it’s not just money anymore that matters.

“It’s a failure of strategy, accountability, coordination, and leadership,” he argued.

Out of nowhere, he pushed for clearer records on how much is spent in security. A shift came with more emphasis on using solid intel to guide police work. Surveillance tools needed upgrades – everyone saw that coming. Then again, something had to be done about the rot spreading through the ranks.

Besides that, he mentioned how those guarding places every day face danger – yet still lack proper gear, care, or backup.

Besides facing ongoing threats like terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings, Atiku stressed that Nigeria must stop seeing each assault as isolated. Though attacks pile up across regions, handling them one by one won’t fix deeper issues. Since patterns keep repeating, viewing events separately only weakens response efforts. While some push back on systemic change, the cost of ignoring links between crises grows higher.

Every disaster holds a point worth learning from.

Each lesson should strengthen future preparedness.

Each red flag demands attention without exception.

Besides pushing for faster decisions, he called on the Federal Government to set up a top-tier technical group right away. This team should examine the National Counterterrorism Policy closely. Implementation of changes needs to start immediately, one step after another.

“Nigerians deserve a security framework that is proactive, transparent, evidence-based, and rooted in our own realities,” he said.

Still, Atiku insisted on safeguarding citizens and their belongings as government’s core duty. Yet he pointed out how swift changes must happen – only then might trust in Nigeria’s safety forces return.