A STEADY HAND IN A STORM: President Tinubu’s Dual Strategy for Reclaiming Nigeria’s Peace

By Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji.

Nigeria today is having one of its most urgent national conversations around insecurity. From banditry in the Northwest, to kidnapping along our highways, to communal clashes and insurgent remnants, the challenge touches every region and every family.  

It is important to state plainly that this menace did not begin yesterday. The roots of insecurity in Nigeria predate the current administration, built over years of porous borders, governance gaps, and socio-economic strain.  

What has changed since May 2023 is the method and the will with which the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has confronted it. From day one, the government opted not for slogans, but for a deliberate combination of kinetic and non-kinetic responses.  

The kinetic approach is the hard edge of state power. It means deployment of the Armed Forces, police, intelligence agencies, and supporting security architecture to directly confront, degrade, and dismantle criminal networks.  

Its advantages are immediate and visible. Kinetic action restores state presence in ungoverned spaces, disrupts the operational capacity of bandits and kidnappers, deters copycat attacks, and reassures citizens that the government can and will protect lives and property. It also creates the breathing room for civil life to return.  

The non-kinetic approach is the soft power of governance. It addresses the soil in which insecurity grows through dialogue, community engagement, deradicalization, economic empowerment, education, and better policing rooted in trust.  

Its advantages are durable. Non-kinetic measures tackle recruitment drivers like poverty and idleness, build local intelligence networks, reconcile communities, and prevent the cycle of violence from restarting once the guns go quiet. Peace held by soldiers alone is fragile. Peace owned by communities lasts.  

President Tinubu’s insight has been to refuse the false choice between the two. Security management, he recognized, requires both suppression and prevention working in concert. One clears the ground, the other plants something better in its place.  

In the first months of his tenure, that philosophy translated into clear directives: empower service chiefs, improve inter-agency coordination, and prioritize funding and morale for frontline troops without political interference.  

The kinetic results have followed. There has been sustained pressure on terrorist enclaves in the Northeast, renewed operations against bandit camps across Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger, and targeted raids that have led to the rescue of kidnapped Nigerians and the neutralization of key kingpins.  

Equally important has been the upgrade in intelligence fusion. By strengthening collaboration between the DSS, NIA, police intelligence, and military operations, the administration has moved from reaction to anticipation, intercepting plots before they mature.  

On the non-kinetic side, the government has leaned into community-based solutions. Traditional rulers, religious leaders, and civil society have been brought into state-level security councils, because lasting peace cannot be decreed from Abuja alone.  

Economic stabilization is another pillar. Through agricultural support, access to credit for small farmers, and renewed focus on rural infrastructure, the administration is addressing the desperation that makes young people vulnerable to recruitment by criminal gangs.  

The deradicalization and rehabilitation tracks for repentant fighters and for victims of violent extremism have also been expanded. This is not weakness. It is strategy. It reduces the pool of foot soldiers available to violent groups and gives communities a path back to normalcy.  

The impact on kidnapping is already being felt in several corridors. With better highway policing, aerial surveillance, and rapid response units, the risk calculus for abductors has changed. Families are reporting more rescues and fewer long captivity cases in areas where the dual approach is fully deployed.  

In the Northwest, where banditry once dictated the farming calendar, kinetic sweeps have reopened markets and grazing routes, while non-kinetic dialogue with herder and farmer associations is reducing reprisal attacks and building early warning systems.  

Communal conflicts have also received attention. Rather than treating every clash as purely a law-and-order issue, the administration has pushed mediation, land-use dialogue, and livelihood alternatives that address grievance before it turns violent.  

There is an economic dividend to this steadiness. Investors, both domestic and foreign, watch the security environment closely. As kinetic operations degrade threats and non-kinetic programs stabilize communities, confidence returns to agriculture, mining, and logistics. Jobs follow confidence.  

What distinguishes this approach is patience. Nigeria has tried quick fixes before. President Tinubu has chosen a steady hand, one that accepts that security gains are cumulative, not theatrical. That steadiness prevents policy whiplash and allows institutions to learn and adapt.  

Legally and constitutionally, the government has also backed operations with necessary frameworks, from better equipment procurement to support for state policing conversations, recognizing that a federation as large as Nigeria needs layered security.  

Regionally, the kinetic-non-kinetic blend extends beyond our borders. Through ECOWAS and bilateral partnerships, Nigeria is coordinating intelligence and joint patrols, because bandits and traffickers do not respect maps. A secure neighborhood helps secure Nigeria.  

Data is now driving decisions in a way it could not before. Hotspot mapping, drone surveillance, and community reporting apps mean resources go where threats are emerging, not just where they have already struck.  

Crucially, the Tinubu administration has insisted that citizens are not spectators. Neighborhood watches, tip lines, and town hall engagements turn ordinary Nigerians into partners, not just beneficiaries, of security.  

No honest assessment will claim the job is finished. Insecurity is hydra-headed and will test any government. But the direction is clear and the method is sound.  

What Nigeria needs now is continuity of this dual approach. Sustain the pressure on criminals through kinetic action, and deepen the investments in people through non-kinetic action.  

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set a template: firmness without recklessness, and compassion without naivety. In a nation as complex as ours, that balance is leadership.  

For the sake of our children who deserve to go to farm, to school, and to market without fear, Nigerians should rally behind this steady approach. The goal is not just to reduce insecurity. It is to outgrow it, and build a Nigeria where peace is the default, not the exception.

Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji writes from Amaokwe Ugba, Umuahia Ibeku and the All Progressives Congress Candidate for Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency.