By Abdulhamid Abdullahi Aliyu
To many Nigerians, the security allocations in national budgets often appear inflated. Year after year, billions are allocated to the military, defence procurement, intelligence operations, and internal security initiatives.
Yet, the level of insecurity across the country continues to raise eyebrows. The common question remains: “Where is all this money going?” It is a valid concern.
However, beyond the budget lines and official pronouncements lies a more complex reality—one that is often overlooked by the average citizen. The actual cost of warfare and intelligence operations is not just steep—it is staggering.
Take air operations as an example. Military insiders have long noted that flying an Alpha Jet for a single mission can gulp up to a million naira in aviation fuel alone.
This figure excludes routine maintenance, spare parts, logistics, or crew allowances. Multiply these flights across days and theatres of operation, and it becomes easier to understand why security efforts are financially demanding.
On the ground, the story is similar. Armoured vehicles, patrol vans, and tanks require constant fuelling, often idling for hours during missions. Soldiers deployed to remote areas require food, clothing, and equipment.
Medical support must be on standby, and when fatalities occur, families of the fallen deserve compensation. These are not occasional expenses—they are daily operational necessities.
Yet, beyond the financial weight of military engagement lies an even more fragile dimension: intelligence gathering. In parts of the country, particularly the North East, North Central, and North West, attacks by insurgents and bandits continue with frightening regularity.
People often ask: Why aren’t these attacks being preempted? Where is the intelligence? These questions are justified. Comparisons are frequently drawn to agencies like the FBI or Israel’s Mossad, known for preemptive actions.
But intelligence is no miracle tool. It relies on actionable information—gathered, processed, and relayed with accuracy. In many of Nigeria’s conflict zones, such information is scarce.
Locals often fear reprisals and refuse to share what they know. Rural and forested areas remain difficult to monitor due to the absence of surveillance infrastructure.
Moreover, intelligence work is not the sole burden of the military. It requires seamless coordination among the police, DSS, NSCDC, and even vigilante groups. Where this collaboration falters, intelligence fails.
That is not to absolve our agencies of their failings. Reports of negligence, delayed responses, and poor communication abound. However, these shortcomings, while real, are not insurmountable.
Nigeria urgently needs to rethink its approach to intelligence. There must be fresh investment in surveillance tools, inter-agency communication systems, and the training of personnel in modern techniques.
Citizens, too, must become active partners by volunteering timely and truthful information. This war cannot be won solely by the military. It requires collaboration, from the government to the grassroots.
Technology, including drone surveillance and satellite imagery, must be embraced. But more than anything else, there must be political will to treat intelligence not as a side note, but as the beating heart of our national security strategy.
Balanced expectations are also important. While it is tempting to measure Nigeria’s intelligence systems against those of global powers, such comparisons can be misleading.
Nations like the US and Israel have built theirs over decades with enormous financial commitment. Nigeria, by contrast, is still building its base. Still, quiet victories exist—many of them deliberately kept from the public domain for strategic reasons.
Terror plots have been foiled, camps dismantled, and lives saved through intelligence-led operations. These successes rarely make headlines. What are the failures, the losses, and the anguish they leave behind?
That is why we must keep asking questions—but with an understanding of the context. Accountability, yes. But also support, reform, and renewed trust. National security is not a spectator sport. It is a shared duty.
And if Nigeria is to triumph over its many threats, it must first accept that intelligence, not just guns, is its most potent weapon.
Abdulhamid Abdullahi Aliyu writes from the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) in Abuja.
