The Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle, made several statements betraying a shocking lack of intellectual depth for someone charged with national security. He was clearly pandering to religious extremists, bandits, and insurgents who have plagued our bewildered nation.
To say that only God can bring an end to insecurity is to retreat into fatalism at the precise moment when human responsibility is most required. It also assures these vagabonds that the state is incapable of withstanding their “might.”When leaders tell a traumatised public that an end to killings and abductions rests mainly with divine will, they shift the locus of control entirely outward.
That creates what psychologists call learned helplessness. That is dangerous in a crisis where collective action is the only thing that has ever reduced violence in any society.It also corrodes trust. When parents in Oriire and Askira-Uba hear that their children’s abduction is part of a problem only God can solve, what they actually hear is that the state has no credible plan to prevent the next abduction.
The argument confuses categories. To say God is sovereign over history is one thing; to use that as a reason to downplay the state’s duty is another. Classical philosophy, from Aristotle to the Islamic tradition of “siyasa shar‘iyya,” has always held that government exists to secure life, property, and dignity.
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The further claim that old videos are being recycled and that even powerful nations face insecurity for years is a rhetorical diversion. Yes, every state faces threats, and yes, misinformation exists. But the existence of fake footage does not erase real bodies, and the fact that other countries have struggled does not excuse a lack of measurable progress at home.
That is a fallacy of relative privation: “others suffer too, so our suffering is less urgent.” Leaders must answer for the concrete lives entrusted to them.People are not reassured by being told to wait on providence; they are reassured by competence, by visible arrests, by transparent investigations, by schools that are protected, and by officials who admit mistakes and correct them.
That is not a denial of faith. It is the practical meaning of the principle that “trust in God, but tie your camel.” In short, the narrative mistakes resignation for realism, and it mistakes accountability for partisanship.
Abdullahi Hamza
