A Federation That Stands Idle While Its Soldiers Die Has No Right To Exist

[Abraham Madu]

Nigeria: A Federation That Stands Idle While Its Soldiers Die Has No Right To Exist

The news from Borno State should not just sadden Nigerians; it should shake the country to its core.

Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah and 17 soldiers have been killed in coordinated attacks by ISWAP fighters in Benisheikh, Ngamdu, and Pulka.

This is not just another tragic headline.

This is a national indictment.

Another day, another massacre.

Another headline, another burial.

And, as always, another deafening silence from those who claim to govern.

Let Nigerians stop living in self deceit, pretending things will get better. This is not normal.

It is not. It is a disgrace.

For years, Nigeria has worn the garment of a country at war with itself, yet behaves like a spectator in its own destruction.

Military formations are overrun, soldiers are ambushed, and terrorists strike with frightening precision, yet the response from the government remains painfully predictable: silence, statements, and forgetfulness.

Silence when action is needed.

Statements when accountability is demanded.

Forgetfulness when justice is required.

A Brigadier General, an officer of high command, falls in battle, and the system barely shakes. Seventeen soldiers are wiped out, and the nation moves on as though they were statistics, not sons, fathers, and protectors.

What kind of country normalizes the slaughter of its own defenders?

This is no longer just a security failure; it is a moral collapse.

It becomes even more embarrassing when placed side by side with how other nations treat their own.

Reports have shown that just days ago, U.S. President Donald Trump mobilized enormous military resources; billions of dollars, and over a hundred highly trained personnel equipped with advanced technology to rescue a single citizen in danger.

One life was enough to command urgency, precision, and overwhelming force.

But here in Nigeria, dozens die, and the state clears its throat and carries on.

This contrast is not just embarrassing; it is damning.

It tells every Nigerian soldier one brutal truth: you are expendable. It tells every citizen another: your life does not command urgency. It tells the enemy the most dangerous message of all: strike again, as nothing decisive will happen. And so they do.

The attackers, cynically described by some as “prodigal sons,” are not wandering home; they are organized, emboldened, and increasingly confident killers who understand the weakness of the system they are fighting. They strike, they kill, and they withdraw, knowing that outrage will fade and consequences will be minimal.

Meanwhile, the government watches.

Always watching. Rarely acting.

One begins to wonder whether this silence is born out of incompetence, indifference, or something even more troubling

Because when a government consistently fails to respond with urgency to repeated bloodshed, it stops looking like inability and starts looking like acceptance.

That is the most dangerous point a country can reach; when death becomes routine and leadership becomes ceremonial.

The truth is harsh, but it must be said: a government that can not defend its soldiers has no right to exist. A government that does not react decisively to such losses sends a clear signal that it neither fears consequences nor respects sacrifice.

Brigadier General Braimah and those 17 soldiers did not just die at the hands of insurgents; they died in the shadow of a system that has grown too quiet, too slow, and too comfortable with tragedy.

Until that silence is broken; not with words, but with action, Nigeria will continue to bury its bravest while pretending everything is under control.

But because it is lives we are talking about, because this is not a part anyone sensible should advise we continue any longer, disintegration is the only solution. People should be allowed to go their separate ways and employ every possible means to defend their regions without the interference of a terrorism infiltrated centre.

A Federation That Stands Idle While Its Soldiers Die Has No Right To Exist

Family Writer’s Press International

Ntị ọdị kwa?

Ya kpọtụba!

Ya gazie.

Ụmụ nne Abrahamụọgụ Aṇụsịobi Madụ.