France-based forensic consultant Dr Yusuf Aliu has warned that Nigeria risks deepening its nationwide security crisis if it fails to act quickly on President Bola Tinubu’s directive to establish a high-level team for new security cooperation with the United States (US).
Last week, President Tinubu approved a delegation led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, alongside service chiefs and other security heads, to commence structured discussions with US officials on intelligence sharing, surveillance technology, advanced training and counterterrorism support.
In a statement issued yesterday, Aliu described the move as “timely,” but insisted that the government must respond with the urgency the situation demands.
“Setting up the team is commendable, but Nigeria cannot afford a bureaucratic slowdown. Violence is outpacing our capacity. This is no longer regional insecurity; it is a nationwide emergency,” he said.
Aliu cautioned that insecurity had evolved into a multifaceted conflict, involving banditry, mass abductions, extremist attacks, highway kidnappings, cult clashes and maritime crime.
“From the Middle Belt to the North-West and the South-West highways, attacks now occur with frightening regularity. Suspicious movements precede most attacks we simply cannot track,” he said, identifying intelligence failure as the central weakness.
He said US support, through satellite imagery, signals interception and real-time terrain monitoring, could help Nigerian security agencies disrupt attacks before they happen. Local forces, he added, lacked the tools to operate effectively in forests and ungoverned areas.
“We need long-endurance drones, thermal imaging and rapid-response mobility,” he said.
Aliu also pointed out the importance of US training in intelligence fusion, hostage negotiation, cyber-tracking of criminal networks and ethical operations, arguing that such programmes could significantly boost national security capacity.
He warned that the ongoing conflict was inflicting severe economic damage.
“Farming belts have collapsed, schools are shutting down, investors are staying away, and businesses are budgeting for kidnapping risk,” he said.
Aliu added that Nigeria’s instability was spilling over into West Africa through refugee flows and rising arms trafficking.
He, however, dismissed fears that greater US cooperation would threaten national sovereignty.
“Sovereignty is not eroded by accepting support. It is eroded when violent groups control territory, and citizens lose trust in the state,” he said.
He urged the Tinubu-approved delegation to negotiate clear command structures, human rights safeguards and long-term capacity transfer.
“Nigeria is running out of time. Delay at this stage would be a tragic mistake. We must move with urgency, clarity and purpose,” he said.
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