By Niyi Fagbuaro
Sovereignty is more than the emblem of a nation, it is the living proof of its capacity to govern, protect, and preserve the dignity of its people. Yet, when sovereignty becomes detached from internal stability, it begins to lose its moral weight.
The Nigerian experience with insurgency offers one of the most troubling portraits of this erosion in modern Africa.
Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency and its splinter factions have waged an unrelenting war against the Nigerian state, dismantling communities and displacing destinies. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), over 35,000 people have lost their lives, while more than two million Nigerians remain displaced.
The World Bank estimates economic losses exceeding US$100 billion, covering destroyed infrastructure, diminished agricultural output, and lost investment confidence.
These are not just statistics, they are the scattered pieces of a sovereignty under siege.
When internal weakness becomes an international burden, the very definition of sovereignty must be re-examined.
Nigeria’s prolonged conflict has spilled across borders, threatening regional peace and drawing the involvement of foreign powers. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and neighbouring states like Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, have all participated in military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and humanitarian intervention.
But every external rescue, however noble, chips away at the nation’s self-reliance.
A country cannot infringe on others’ peace and still claim absolute sovereignty.
To reclaim authority over its territory and destiny, Nigeria must move beyond rhetoric to strategic immediacy.
The federal government must strengthen military intelligence, invest in modern surveillance, digital coordination, and community-level informant networks rather than reactive combat.
We must engage in reforming security architecture, establish a single, well-funded anti-insurgency command under clear civilian oversight to eliminate inter-agency rivalry.
Nigeria must as a matter of urgency, address root causes such as poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and corruption that fertilize extremist recruitment.
The reintegration of repentant insurgents through structured deradicalisation must be clinically reviewed, it must no longer be mere amnesty, but reorientation, mental rehabilitation, then, skill-building, and civic education.
We must redefine the terms of foreign partnership, Nigeria must invite assistance without surrendering control, ensuring collaboration aligns with national interest.
Nigerians and the Nigerian government must understand that sovereignty is not static, it breathes, expands, or contracts with the strength of internal governance.
To checkmate insurgency immediately, there must be the political will to act decisively, the courage to reform broken systems, and the humility to rebuild trust between the state and its citizens.
True sovereignty is not simply the right to exist, it is the power to endure without compromise. When a nation secures its people, governs its territory, and commands the respect of its neighbours, it stands tall not merely as a country but as a covenant.
The day Nigeria reclaims that stature, Africa will not only regain a giant but also a guardian of continental peace.
We cannot have our cake and eat it.
The world has become a global village and every ill is under international surveillance.
Sovereignty does not translate into international negligence of responsibilities and impunity.
If we want to keep our sovereign status healthy as a nation, we must assiduously work to earn respect.
Presently, the country is compromised security-wise and there is no gainsaying this.
© Niyi Fagbuaro writes as a patriot.
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