By Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu (rtd)
Former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Lucky Irabor on Channels Television with Seun Okinbaloye Page has made a striking observation: Nigeria has never officially declared that it is at war. This is true. That single fact, he (General Irabor) argued, helps explain why insurgency and widespread insecurity continue to drag on.
But what does it actually mean for a country to declare war or declare a state of emergency — and why could that change everything in Nigeria’s long fight against violent extremism?
DECLARATION OF WAR IS MORE THAN A SLOGAN
In both international and domestic law, a declaration of war is a formal legal and political act by which a state publicly acknowledges that it is engaged in armed conflict. It triggers new legal frameworks, powers, and obligations under international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the state’s own constitution.
For Nigeria, such a declaration would:
1. Formalize the conflict – shifting insurgency from a “security challenge” to a declared armed conflict, with all the operational and legal consequences that follow.
2. Activate emergency powers – empowering the President and National Assembly to invoke constitutional emergency provisions (Sections 305–307) for faster decisions, special appropriations, and extraordinary security measures.
3. Clarify legal frameworks – redefining how insurgents are treated under law, how rules of engagement are crafted, and how accountability is enforced under international humanitarian law.
4. Enable broader coalitions – allowing Nigeria to seek regional and global support under clearer legal bases, including mutual defence treaties and multilateral operations.
5. Prioritize national resources – compelling a wartime budget posture where defence, intelligence, civil protection, and reconstruction receive extraordinary funding and attention.
DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY: Domestic War Footing
Separately – or alongside a war declaration – the Nigerian Constitution allows the President to declare a state of emergency when public safety or the sovereignty of the state is under grave threat. We must recall that President Goodluck Jonathan declared states of emergency three times — in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States — starting in May 2013 under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.
However this is not, should not be just symbolism:
1. It expands executive powers to bypass bureaucratic bottlenecks and mobilize resources quickly.
2. It enables the temporary suspension of certain civil processes (while upholding fundamental rights) to focus on national survival.
3. It mandates a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach – aligning federal, state, military, civilian, and humanitarian actors under a unified emergency framework.
WHAT WOULD/SHOULD DECLARATION OF WAR CHANGE?
Declaring war or a national emergency on insecurity would/should signal a decisive shift from “managing” the problem to “defeating” it. It would:
1. Align Nigeria’s laws, budgets, diplomacy, and strategy with the true scale of the threat.
2. Create a national “war footing” that removes ambiguity and excuses.
3. Bring greater transparency and accountability under clear wartime legal frameworks.
4. Send a strong message – at home and abroad – that the Nigerian state is mobilized for total national defence.
CRUCIAL CAVEAT: War Budgets Without Oversight Are an Invitation to Waste, Abuse and Fraud
However, such a declaration must come with a strong note of caution. A wartime posture will inevitably unlock significantly larger security budgets and emergency allocations. If these funds are not accompanied by knowledge-driven, non-partisan, and rigorous oversight from both the executive and the legislature – an area where Nigeria is currently weak – the results could be catastrophic.
Without institutionalized accountability, the new influx of funds risks being frittered away on frivolous projects, misapplied to irrelevant priorities, or outrightly stolen. A declaration of war must therefore go hand-in-hand with reforms that strengthen procurement systems, empower legislative committees to demand results, and embed civilian oversight over security expenditures.
WHY IT MATTERS
For over a decade, Nigeria has fought Boko Haram, ISWAP, bandits, and other violent actors while still calling them security challenges – never enemies in a declared war. Gen. Irabor’s point is that this legal and political ambiguity breeds strategic complacency. Without a clear declaration, Nigeria risks fighting with half-measures, unclear rules, and disjointed political will.
Let me caution that formal declaration won’t end insecurity overnight. But it would reshape the fight – legally, politically, financially, diplomatically, and psychologically – into what it truly is: A war for Nigeria’s sovereignty, stability, and future. And if matched with uncompromising oversight and accountability, it could finally tip the balance in this protracted ding dong affair.
Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu (rtd) is a Security Sector Reform Consultant
