They came to Nigerians with a simple message:
“Change!”
Change from insecurity.
Change from corruption.
Change from poverty.
Change from bad governance.
Change from everything they said the previous government was doing wrong.
They campaigned as if they had all the answers.
They told Nigerians that once the APC took over, security would improve, terrorism would be defeated, corruption would be tackled and the country would finally begin to move in the right direction.
Well, here we are.
And Nigerians are entitled to ask a very inconvenient question:
CHANGE TO WHAT?
Because according to the latest figures from SBM Intelligence, between July 2025 and June 2026, 7,825 Nigerians were abducted in 1,713 kidnapping-related incidents, while at least 1,142 people were killed.
And approximately N7.8 billion or $5.81 million USD was paid in ransom.
Seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five human beings.
One thousand, one hundred and forty-two lives lost.
N7.8 billion handed over in ransom.
But of course, perhaps Nigerians are simply not appreciating the “Renewed Hope” properly.
Maybe somebody needs to explain to the families of kidnapped Nigerians that this is what change looks like.
Maybe the parents terrified that their children could be abducted should be told that they simply need to be more patient.
Maybe farmers who are afraid to enter their farms should be reminded that the government is “doing everything possible.”
And perhaps the families forced to raise millions of naira to secure the release of loved ones should send a thank-you card to the kidnappers—and another one to the government.
Sarcasm aside, this is a national disgrace.
Kidnapping has increasingly become a business model.
Human beings are being abducted, ransom is negotiated, money changes hands, and criminal groups acquire the resources to continue operating.
That is the frightening part.
The criminals are learning. They are adapting. They are becoming financially empowered.
And what are we doing?
Holding press conferences.
Making promises.
Announcing operations.
Issuing statements.
Celebrating isolated arrests.
Then waiting for the next mass abduction.
Rinse. Repeat.
Meanwhile, the ordinary Nigerian is expected to carry on as if everything is normal.
Go to work.
Go to school.
Travel.
Farm.
Trade.
Sleep.
And pray that nobody decides to turn you or your family into the next source of ransom revenue.
THIS IS WHAT YEARS IN POWER HAVE PRODUCED?
Let us be fair: insecurity did not begin with the APC.
Nobody serious should pretend otherwise.
Nigeria had terrorism, banditry, communal violence, kidnapping and other security problems before the APC came to power.
But here is the political reality the APC cannot escape:
You asked Nigerians for power because you claimed you could do better.
You cannot campaign on your opponent’s failures and then demand immunity from accountability when your own government is confronted with failure.
That is not how democracy works.
If the APC wanted the credit for solving Nigeria’s problems, it must also accept responsibility for the problems that remain unresolved under its watch.
Power comes with responsibility.
You cannot spend years telling Nigerians that you inherited insecurity and then behave as though the problem becomes permanently inherited.
At some point, the question changes from:
“Who caused this?”
to:
“What have you done about it?”
And Nigerians are entitled to demand an answer.
WHERE IS THE SECURITY DIVIDEND?
Where is the security that ordinary Nigerians were promised?
Where is the intelligence capability that should detect mass abductions before they happen?
Where is the protection for vulnerable communities?
Where is the comprehensive strategy for dismantling kidnapping networks?
Where are the financial investigations tracking ransom flows?
Where are the people financing, facilitating and profiting from these criminal networks?
Where is the deterrence?
Where is the accountability?
And why does the Nigerian citizen seem to be the person expected to take the greatest risk?
Politicians have security escorts.
Government officials have security details.
The wealthy can hire private security.
But the ordinary Nigerian?
Good luck.
You are largely on your own.
If you are travelling, pray.
If you are farming, pray.
If your child is going to school, pray.
If a family member is travelling through a dangerous route, pray.
If someone is kidnapped, raise money.
And if the ransom is paid and the victim is still harmed, well… another condolence message will be issued.
Is this the Nigeria we were promised?
THE MOST DISTURBING PART: RANSOM IS BECOMING AN ECONOMIC ENGINE
According to the SBM report, actual ransom payments rose sharply despite a decline in the total amount demanded.
That should frighten every Nigerian.
Because kidnapping becomes more attractive when criminals discover that there is money to be made.
And when ransom money enables criminal groups to acquire weapons, logistics and recruits, the cycle becomes self-sustaining.
Kidnap Nigerians → collect ransom → acquire resources → strengthen criminal networks → kidnap more Nigerians.
That is not merely insecurity.
That is an economy.
And the government’s job should be to destroy that economy.
Not manage it.
Not explain it.
Not tell Nigerians to endure it.
Destroy it.
AND THEN THERE ARE OUR SCHOOLS
Nothing exposes the failure of a security system more brutally than children becoming targets.
When parents have to ask themselves whether sending their children to school could put their lives at risk, something has gone terribly wrong.
Education cannot flourish in an atmosphere of fear.
Agriculture cannot flourish when farmers fear abduction.
Businesses cannot thrive when movement is dangerous.
Investment cannot flourish when security is uncertain.
And a country cannot develop when its citizens spend their energy calculating how to survive instead of how to prosper.
Yet we keep hearing the language of “transformation,” “renewed hope,” “economic recovery” and other beautiful political vocabulary.
Beautiful words. Terrible reality.
You cannot build a prosperous economy on top of an insecure society.
THE APC MUST ANSWER FOR ITS RECORD
This is not about saying every APC politician is responsible for every kidnapping.
That would be intellectually dishonest.
It is about something much simpler:
The APC controls the federal government.
The federal government controls the major national security institutions.
Therefore, the APC government must answer for the overall direction of national security under its administration.
That is accountability.
Not hatred.
Not propaganda.
Not opposition for opposition’s sake.
Accountability.
And Nigerians should not be intimidated into silence simply because asking questions makes some supporters uncomfortable.
Political parties are not football clubs.
You do not owe a political party blind loyalty.
If your party is in government and government is failing, you have a democratic responsibility to ask questions.
SO HERE IS THE QUESTION FOR APC SUPPORTERS
Please don’t tell Nigerians that insecurity existed before 2015.
We know.
Don’t tell us that terrorists are responsible for terrorism.
We know.
Don’t tell us that security forces are working.
We know they are sacrificing their lives.
Don’t give us another press statement.
Don’t give us another slogan.
Don’t give us another political blame game.
Instead, answer one simple question:
After all these years in power, why is kidnapping still capable of generating billions of naira in ransom from Nigerian citizens?
And if the answer is that the government is doing everything possible, then Nigerians are entitled to ask:
Why aren’t the results matching the promises?
Because at the end of the day, Nigerians don’t eat press releases.
They eat security.
They don’t sleep on government assurances.
They sleep safely when criminals know there will be consequences.
They don’t send their children to school because a minister says everything is under control.
They send them because the environment is actually safe.
That is the difference between propaganda and governance.
THE APC ASKED FOR THE JOB. NOW OWN THE JOB.
You cannot campaign as the party of change and then become allergic to accountability.
You cannot spend years in power and continue behaving like an opposition party.
You cannot demand praise when things improve and blame somebody else when they deteriorate.
You wanted the steering wheel.
You have the steering wheel.
Drive.
And if the vehicle is heading in the wrong direction, Nigerians have every right to ask the driver:
“Where exactly are you taking us?”
The statistics are not opposition propaganda.
The abducted Nigerians are not opposition propaganda.
The dead are not opposition propaganda.
The ransom payments are not opposition propaganda.
The frightened parents are not opposition propaganda.
The farmers who cannot safely access their farms are not opposition propaganda.
The communities living under the shadow of criminal gangs are not opposition propaganda.
These are Nigerians.
And they deserve more than slogans.
They deserve protection.
They deserve competent leadership.
They deserve accountability.
They deserve a government that understands that its first responsibility is not to win the next election.
It is to protect the people.
The APC promised CHANGE.
After years in power, Nigerians are entitled to ask:
Where is it?
Because if kidnapping is booming, ransom is flowing, criminals are becoming better financed, and thousands of Nigerians are being abducted and killed—
then perhaps the biggest political question of all is not whether Nigerians should praise the government.
Perhaps the question is whether the government has delivered the change it promised.
Nigerians should decide in 2027.
By EEA, Editor-in-chief