“Nigeria cannot defeat terrorism without nation-building” – Former presidential candidate declares

In a post on social media, Moghalu said the breakdown of internal security and rising terror attacks across the country are symptoms of deeper structural challenges confronting the Nigerian state.

“The breakdown of internal security and the reign of terror in Nigeria is evidence of: (a) the absence of nationhood, where primordial vested interests combine with corrupt incentives to achieve power, dominance, and primitive wealth accumulation – loyalty to religion and tribe trumps loyalty to the Nigerian state,” he said.

Moghalu said Nigeria is also grappling with a governance deficit because public administration has become secondary to politics.

“(b) the absence of governance, which has been made subordinate to politics – the first condition for good governance is a secure environment,” he said.

The former presidential candidate added that the inability of government to guarantee security of lives and property points to declining state capacity.

“(c) a failing state – state capacity requires security of life and property as its first condition, i.e. full control by state authorities over the territorial state – no ungoverned spaces,” he stated.

Moghalu said terrorism in Nigeria is connected to a broader international extremist network that extends beyond the country’s borders.

His words: “All of this feeds into a major root cause of the terrorism besetting Nigeria – a global network of terror that spans far beyond Nigeria and is driving a ‘clash of civilizations’ and a struggle for dominance between jihadist ideology and secular governance models. Only strong, internally cohesive nations can withstand this onslaught. Mere countries will have a hard time.”

Moghalu said the country must confront fundamental questions about national identity and cohesion if it hopes to overcome its security challenges.

“If we do not address the question of whether Nigeria is in fact a nation rather than a country, and if not, how to achieve nationhood including with a constitutional redesign, we won’t solve the security challenge. Root causes, not shadow-chasing,” he concluded.