Nigeria’s insecurity crisis — fueled by insurgency, ruthless banditry, mass kidnappings, and emergent extremist networks — has escalated to a scale that now threatens the nation’s very stability. The numbers are harrowing: in the first half of 2025 alone, over 2,266 people were killed by non-state armed groups, nearly double the 1,083 fatalities recorded in the same period in 2024. Families are displaced, communities traumatized, and entire livelihoods destroyed.
While debates about troop deployments, emergency powers, and military modernization dominate headlines, a far more insidious aspect of the crisis often goes unaddressed: the financial networks that sustain terror and criminal enterprises. Lawmakers and civil society groups increasingly demand that financiers — those who bankroll kidnappers, bandits, and insurgents — be identified and prosecuted. Both chambers of the National Assembly have emphasized the need for transparency on these networks, which reportedly include powerful actors within political and corporate circles.
Amid this, Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has remained strikingly silent on the matter of naming and confronting these financiers. This is not because he ignores insecurity; Shettima has routinely spoken on general security concerns, reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to tackling violence and pledging support for victims. Yet he has consistently avoided addressing the specific, politically sensitive question of who funds terror, even as lawmakers, intelligence agencies, and international observers place this at the heart of national security reform.
Insecurity Is an Economic, Not Just Kinetic, Problem
Recent intelligence and financial investigations confirm that Nigeria’s crisis is sustained not only by armed actors but also by complex financial ecosystems. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has traced hundreds of individuals, companies, and bureau-de-change operations allegedly linked to terror financing. Even government sanctions committees have publicly designated certain individuals as financiers, freezing their assets to disrupt funding streams.
This demonstrates that frontline military action alone is insufficient. If the money behind terror continues to flow unimpeded, every operation, patrol, or raid becomes merely a stopgap measure. The Vice President, constitutionally second in command and often the voice of the executive on national issues, has an essential role to play in signaling public accountability and political will. His continued silence leaves a critical void in the discourse on tackling insecurity at its roots.
Silence Feeds Cynicism and Protects Elites
Nigeria’s insecurity is widely understood as a product of governance failures, weak institutions, and corruption. Public discourse increasingly links elite complicity and patronage networks to the crisis. In this context, the executive’s reticence to confront sponsors of violence is interpreted as protection of vested interests — a perception that undermines public trust in security policies.
By failing to take a clear stance, Shettima risks reinforcing the narrative that the political class is either unwilling or unable to confront the political economy of terror, where money flows quietly to criminal actors while civilians bear the human cost.
The Cost of Generalities
While Shettima has addressed insecurity in broad terms — emphasizing troop modernization, economic stability, and institutional reform — he has sidestepped the core question that drives the debate: who funds these attacks, and what mechanisms exist to stop them?
Civil society, lawmakers, and even international partners have called for transparency and concrete action. Leadership that avoids this difficult, politically sensitive engagement risks leaving the public with the impression that the government is more comfortable addressing symptoms than causes, allowing the lifeblood of terror — its funding — to continue unabated.
Confronting the Financiers Is the Only Way Forward
Nigeria’s insecurity is multidimensional. It is rooted not only in weak law enforcement and institutional gaps but also in financial enablement. The rise in violence in 2025, coupled with legislative pressure to expose financiers, underscores the urgent need for clear, sustained executive engagement.
Vice President Shettima’s general statements demonstrate concern, but a public, unequivocal stance on the financing of terror is critical. Without confronting the money behind violence, policy interventions remain incomplete, and the public’s confidence in governance continues to erode.
The war against insecurity will not end on the battlefield alone. It will only end when the money runs dry. And that requires leadership that is willing to name the financiers, expose the networks, and hold the sponsors accountable. Until that moment, every silence from the corridors of power — no matter how strategic — risks being interpreted as a tacit shield for the very actors perpetuating Nigeria’s tragedy.
Sub Zero ✔
Godwin Okafor is the Publisher & CEO of Naija247news Media Group LLC, an independent investigative news platform delivering accurate, data-driven reporting on Nigerian and global politics, economy, finance, and business. Founded in October 2010, Naija247news specializes in developmental journalism, providing timely insights and analysis to readers across Nigeria and the diaspora.
View Archive →
