Nigeria’s insecurity is rooted in long-standing generational grievances dating back to 1914 and not the creation of President Bola Tinubu, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Interparliamentary Affairs said during a parliamentary hearing at the United Nations.
Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim, who represents Ondo South Senatorial District, told the ongoing Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) session that the country’s security challenges predate the current administration.
“The security challenges confronting Nigeria today did not start with President Tinubu. They are products of generational grievances that date back to 1914 and were not properly addressed over time,” Ibrahim said.
He argued that colonial authorities failed to resolve deep-seated structural and political tensions before and after Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
“Even at independence, the foundations were shaky. The grievances were not comprehensively addressed. If adequate measures had been taken earlier, many of these issues may have been avoided,” he said.
Ibrahim cited the civil war that followed the attempted secession of the Republic of Biafra and recurring civil unrest since 1960 as consequences of unresolved tensions.
He said several British constitutional frameworks — including the Clifford Constitution of 1922, the Richards Constitution of 1946, the Macpherson Constitution of 1951 and the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 — did not substantially resolve security concerns before independence.
“None of these constitutional arrangements effectively addressed the security question. They were largely administrative transitions without resolving the core grievances,” he said.
Ibrahim also said the leadership of the Nigerian Armed Forces was not fully indigenized until 1965, noting that British officers continued to occupy top military positions after independence. He said the Nigerian Navy remained under British command until 1964.
“Full military indigenization came late, and these structural gaps had consequences,” he said.
Between 1966 and 1993, Nigeria experienced nine military coups, which he said achieved limited success in addressing the root causes of insecurity.
On contemporary threats such as the Boko Haram insurgency, Ibrahim called for stronger international cooperation to bolster counterinsurgency efforts.
“Terrorism today is driven by ideology, misinformation, surprise tactics and access to advanced technology. No nation can confront it alone,” he said.
He welcomed support from countries including the United States, Turkey and China, and warned of the global risk of terrorist groups acquiring nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
“The most alarming scenario is the acquisition of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons by terrorists. That is why global collaboration is no longer optional,” he said.
Ibrahim said President Tinubu’s foreign policy emphasizes international cooperation, similar to the approach adopted by the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“Our foreign policy under President Tinubu is anchored on cooperation, democratic peace and constructive global engagement. Nigeria is friendly to all and enemy to none,” he said.
He added that the Nigerian Senate is convening a National Security Summit aimed at addressing what he described as generational grievances. Increased budget allocations and stronger diplomatic engagement, he said, are helping Nigeria gain greater legitimacy in tackling insecurity at home and abroad.
Ibrahim also said the deployment of about 70 ambassadors to strategic countries signals renewed openness to global investment and security partnerships under the Tinubu administration.
