As Nigeria gradually moves towards the 2027 general elections, a troubling pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Across various parts of the country, there has been a noticeable resurgence of insecurity, renewed terrorist activity, coordinated attacks on communities, and a steady attempt to amplify fear and uncertainty within the public space.
To dismiss these developments as mere coincidence would be to ignore both history and common sense.
Nigeria has witnessed this script before. At critical political junctures, when electoral contests begin to take shape and political interests become heightened, forces that thrive on instability often emerge from the shadows.
They exploit existing fault lines, sponsor narratives of despair, fuel public anxiety, and seek to create the impression of a nation under siege.
No responsible observer can overlook the timing of the recent escalation in insecurity.
While security agencies continue to record significant successes against criminal and terrorist elements, there appears to be a determined effort by certain interests to ensure that every isolated incident is magnified into evidence of national collapse.
The objective is clear: create fear, erode public confidence, weaken institutions, and convert national security challenges into political capital.
The Nigerian people must ask themselves a fundamental question: Who benefits from a climate of fear and instability?
Certainly not the farmer whose crops are abandoned because of insecurity. Certainly not the trader whose business suffers. Certainly not the young graduate searching for opportunities. Certainly not the families who simply desire peace and stability.
The beneficiaries are often those who view every national challenge through the narrow prism of political advantage. They see insecurity not as a tragedy to be defeated but as a tool to be exploited.
They see terrorism not merely as a security threat but as an opportunity to score partisan points and advance political ambitions.
Increasingly, it appears that what the opposition has lost in cohesion, direction and confidence in its electoral prospects, it seeks to regain through a politics of fear and national pessimism. Unable to offer a compelling alternative vision capable of inspiring Nigerians, some have resorted to celebrating every setback, amplifying every tragedy, and portraying every security challenge as evidence of state failure.
One cannot help but observe that there are political actors who seem to derive satisfaction from every disturbing headline, every security breach and every moment of national anxiety. Rather than rallying the nation towards solutions, they appear content to weaponise public fear for partisan advantage.
In their desperate quest for political relevance, they risk creating an atmosphere in which instability becomes a political asset and national distress becomes campaign material.
No patriotic Nigerian should ever find comfort in circumstances that bring the nation to its knees. No responsible leader should seek political mileage from the needless shedding of innocent blood.
The loss of even a single Nigerian life should unite us in grief and determination, not divide us into camps seeking electoral advantage.
This is a dangerous path.
Terrorism is not a partisan issue. Banditry is not a partisan issue. Kidnapping is not a partisan issue.
The blood of innocent Nigerians does not carry party membership cards. Every attack on a Nigerian community is an attack on the Nigerian state itself, regardless of who occupies political office at any given time.
That is why recent developments call for unity of purpose rather than opportunistic politics.
At moments such as this, patriotic leaders should be rallying behind security agencies, supporting intelligence-gathering efforts, encouraging community vigilance and strengthening national cohesion.
What Nigeria requires is a united front against those who seek to destabilise the country, not a competition to extract political profit from the suffering of citizens.
The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited deeply entrenched security challenges that developed over many years. No serious person imagined that such challenges would disappear overnight.
Yet there is ample evidence of sustained efforts to strengthen the military, improve intelligence capabilities, modernise security operations and confront criminal networks across the country.
While challenges remain, it would be both dishonest and irresponsible to pretend that progress has not been made.
Equally irresponsible is the attempt by some political actors to weaponise every setback while remaining conspicuously silent about every success.
The unfortunate reality is that some individuals appear more interested in the political consequences of insecurity than in its resolution. They calculate electoral advantages where patriots should see national emergencies. They exploit public fears where responsible leaders should inspire confidence and collective action.
Nigeria must reject this cynical politics.
The nation stands at a critical crossroads. As 2027 approaches, citizens must be vigilant against those who seek to transform insecurity into a campaign platform and terrorism into a political strategy.
National security must never become collateral damage in the pursuit of power.
This is not the time for divisive rhetoric. This is not the time for political profiteering. This is not the time for those who hope to harvest electoral gains from national pain.
This is the time for unity.
This is the time for all Nigerians, regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion or region, to stand together against forces of violence and terror.
History will judge harshly those who choose political expediency over national stability.
Future generations will ask whether leaders rose above partisan interests when the nation needed them most.
The answer must be yes.
Nigeria’s challenges are real, but so too is the resilience of its people. Terrorism must never be allowed to dictate the nation’s future, and political actors must never be permitted to exploit insecurity for pecuniary or electoral gain.
The struggle against terrorism is a national cause. It demands collective sacrifice, unwavering vigilance and a unity of purpose that transcends politics.
For, in the final analysis, a secure Nigeria is in the interest of every Nigerian, while an unstable Nigeria serves only the ambitions of those who place power above country.
Seye Oladejo, former Lagos APC spokesman, writes from Lagos.
