Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, recently proposed building a massive fence along Nigeria’s borders with Niger, Cameroon, Chad, and Benin. This plan, meant to tighten border security and combat insecurity in Nigeria, is raising questions among citizens.
According to him, people walk in and out freely, and it is high time we did something about our porous borders. The plan? Fence it all, lock the gates, and throw away the keys. Read full news here
But many Nigerians are shaking their heads and asking, a wall against who exactly? When it comes to insecurity, we’re not being attacked by ghost armies from across the border. The chaos is homegrown, bred right here on our soil.
So the question stands: who are we really trying to keep out when the real enemies are already chilling inside, sipping zobo and causing wahala?
Where the Real Insecurity Lies: Threats Within Our Borders
Let’s take a look at Kaduna, Zamfara, Plateau, and even Abuja’s supposed-safe suburbs. These aren’t border towns, yet they’ve become hotspots for attacks, kidnappings, and violent crimes.
In 2024 alone, over 3,000 people were kidnapped. And no, not by foreigners sneaking in through the bushes. These are local gangs, armed to the teeth, operating right in the middle of our neighbourhoods. View the stats
Rural communities are suffering too. Farmers are being pushed off their land, not by foreign militias, but by fellow Nigerians — bandits, herdsmen, and local warlords who seem to be above the law.
Children are being taken from schools in broad daylight. Entire villages are burnt down overnight.
If Nigeria is bleeding, it is not because of what’s coming in from outside. It’s because of what we’ve allowed to grow and fester within.
Fencing Borders Won’t Fix What’s Broken Inside
So when we hear talk of fencing the borders, many of us can’t help but laugh. Small laugh before we cry.
This sounds more like a PR move than a serious strategy. Let’s not deceive ourselves. Our borders are the least of our problems.
The real cracks are in the system. Our police force is underpaid, undertrained, and often unconcerned. Our soldiers are working with rusty rifles and worn-out boots.View the stats here
Intelligence gathering is disjointed. Too many agencies, not enough coordination.
Corruption worsens things. Billions allocated for national security disappear like pure water on a hot day, and somehow nobody is ever held responsible.
So again, what good is a fence when our security agencies are gasping for breath? When people are still collecting salaries without doing the job? When checkpoints are more concerned with collecting “something for the boys” than actually checking anything?
Billions for a Fence, But What About the People?
And let’s talk money. Because this proposed fence won’t come cheap. It’ll cost billions. Yes, billions of naira. Meanwhile, we have IDPs living like refugees in their own country, drinking dirty water and sleeping on the streets.
Our prisons are overcrowded to the point of bursting, and jailbreaks are starting to feel like monthly rituals. Rural schools are wide open targets for kidnappers, yet we want to build a wall?
Imagine if we took that fence money and actually used it wisely. We could train and properly equip our security forces. We could build intelligence networks that actually work.
We could invest in community policing. Because who better to protect a community than the people who live there? We could support the thousands of Nigerians who’ve been displaced, traumatized, or widowed by violence. But no. Wall first.
What Nigerians Are Saying About the Fence Plan
Online, Nigerians have not been silent. “You don’t need a fence if you fix the system,” one person tweeted. Another said, “We can’t even build roads, but we want to build walls?” And a security expert nailed it when he said, “The insecurity we fear is already in the streets, in the forest, and on our ballot boxes.”
The Real Wall Nigeria Needs
Here’s the hard truth. Fencing our borders might look like action, but it’s really just motion without movement. It’s treating a bullet wound with a plaster.
The real solution can’t be built with concrete and barbed wire. What we need isn’t a physical wall. It’s a moral one — strong enough to block out greed, incompetence, and the rot that’s eating away at the country from the inside out.
But here’s the good news. Nigeria has what it takes to build that moral wall. We have communities full of courageous, resilient people who want change. We have young innovators, bold voices, and everyday citizens who refuse to give up on this country. If we choose to hold leaders accountable, invest in the safety and dignity of every Nigerian, and demand better from ourselves and those in power, we can build a nation where no fence is needed to feel secure.
Because at the end of the day, real security doesn’t come from locking out the world. It comes from unlocking our potential, standing together, and creating a Nigeria where the thief no longer feels welcome in the first place.
👉 Enjoyed this piece? Don’t keep it to yourself, share it with your friends and let’s spark the conversation!
💬 For more bold takes and fresh insights, subscribe to InsideSuccessNigeria today. Let’s make sense of the issues that matter, together.
Leave a Reply