OPED: Nigeria spends billions on security annually, yet Boko Haram, banditry, and kidnapping still define daily life for millions. Why? At a recent Association of Nigerian Authors event for retired Rtd. Gen. Lucky Irabor’s new book, Scars, the answer from military experts, academics, and students was clear: Nigeria does not lack capable officers. It lacks money, political will, and a civil-military contract that matches them.

In this opinion, journalist and political analyst Armsfree Ajanaku reports from the Abuja book reading and uses it as a lens on Nigeria’s macro risk. He argues that insecurity is now an economic problem: abandoned farms drive food inflation, disrupted supply chains raise logistics costs, and kidnapping risk chokes FDI. Drawing on testimony from Gen. Irabor and senior professors, Ajanaku makes the case that until Nigeria treats security as core infrastructure — with credible budgets, transparent funding, and real use of military expertise in governance — growth targets will remain fiction.

Timely, policy-focused, and grounded in on-the-ground reporting, this piece speaks directly to LightRay!’s readers tracking Africa’s risk, commodities, and governance.