As Insurgents Outgun Military, Tinubu Deploys Youth to Secure the Nation’s Forests 

A motion of urgent public importance moved by Ahmed Satomi on the 7th of May 2025 concerning the fire at the armoury at Giwa Barracks and the escalating attacks on military formations in Borno and Yobe states respectively, sparked heavy debate in the House of Representatives. 

The increasing insecurity in the Northern and Middle-Belt states have been a cause for alarm for months. Insurgency and killings by alleged herdsmen have led to many fearing the return of the days when Boko Haram militants had a stronghold on the areas. Lawmakers from areas ravaged by insurgency who led the debate on the issue at plenary on the 7th of May, also accused the Presidency of not doing enough to resolve the insecurity problem in the country, despite the over N19.7 trillion spent on security.

Amongst these lawmakers is  Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno), whose constituency includes Chibok. Presenting a chilling account of Boko Haram’s exploits in his area, he reported that his constituency had lost 24 individuals, between Pulka, Chibok, Izge, Kampu and Wajiboko to Boko Haram attacks. These numbers included military officers, with the insurgents employing the use of weaponised drones. 

“The Nigerian Army is outgunned and undermanned. I have seen it, nobody told me, I was there. This will be on record. They (Boko Haram) are using armed drones, weaponised drones, which the Nigerian Army is not using. In other words, they are more sophisticated and advanced than the Nigerian Army.” he concluded, warning the House not to be complacent in performing actual oversight on this worrying matter. 

Zainab Gimba (APC, Borno) verified the use of drones and foreign fighters in recent attacks, stating that 20 soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram ambush on a multinational force base in her constituency. “The commander told me that among the insurgents were several white men; there is foreign influence here.’’ 

These reports of sophisticated arms and foreign influence were repeated by Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio later in May 2025. Speaking in Abuja during a discussion on a motion regarding the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in areas of Adamawa State, he revealed that some insurgents involved in the recent resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in parts of Nigeria are not Nigerian nationals, explaining that these militants carry out attacks in Nigeria and then retreat to neighboring countries to regroup before launching further assaults, taking advantage of Nigeria’s porous borders. 

In a bid to combat the resurgence of terrorism, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the deployment of armed forces to reclaim Nigeria’s 1,129 forests. The initiative, announced on the 14th of May by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, aims to drive out terrorists and criminal gangs who have used Nigeria’s forests as safe havens, while creating employment opportunities for the country’s youth population. The initiative, approved during Monday’s expanded Federal Executive Council meeting, mandates each state to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 forest guards based on their capacity. A rough projection of 3,500 recruits per state translates to over 130,000 new forest guards, including those for the Federal Capital Territory.

Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be employed for the initiative; the recruitment drive will be carried out through a coordinated effort between the federal and state governments, with oversight provided by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Ministry of Environment.

Although the President’s move is a response to the call for action which has been sounded by several lawmakers for quite some time, the scheme is not particularly commendable, and we cannot imagine that it will have the desired effect. 

It has been emphasized that the terrorists and criminal gangs in question are making use of highly sophisticated equipment, including military drones as pointed out by senators at the House of Representatives plenary. If even the Nigerian Army is outgunned by the grade of weaponry being employed by the insurgents, how are Nigerian youth expected to combat these insurgents? What possible level of training could they be given to make them better equipped than the literal Armed Forces to drive out Boko Haram militants? How ethical is the mandatory recruitment of Nigerian youth to carry out an exercise that will easily put their lives in danger? 

Security experts have repeatedly recommended counterterrorism relationships and improved diplomatic relations between the AES alliance (made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) and their Southern neighbors, the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) of which Nigeria is a member, as this is the best way to contain the spread of terrorist activity across the continent, especially considering the infamously porous borders of ECOWAS states. 

Retired military generals have also repeatedly urged the Federal Government to urgently equip the Nigerian Armed Forces with more effective arms. In 2023, the Federal Government earmarked N2.98 trillion for defence and security. This rose to N3.25 trillion in the 2024 budget, and for 2025, President Bola Tinubu proposed a record N4.91tn out of the N49.7tn national budget, aimed at enhancing the operational effectiveness of security agencies. Yet, this cannot be determined from reports stating that insurgents are better equipped with arms than the Armed Forces. 

The Federal Government would do well to take these recommendations seriously and act on them with urgency as opposed to carrying out measures which are akin to putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.