Nigeria shocked the world this week. For months, Abuja had been warning powerful nations, especially the United States, to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Yet, overnight, the same Nigeria ordered its Air Force jets across the border into Benin Republic to defend democracy from collapsing.

This single event, swift, bold, unquestioned, has exposed a truth we can no longer run away from: a country that can project power beyond its borders has no excuse for failing to secure its own people at home. If Nigeria can prevent a coup in a sovereign neighbour, then what explanation remains for the unending banditry, insurgency, kidnapping and carnage tearing across the North? Why does the state become strong in Cotonou but weak in Katsina? Why is it fearless in another man’s territory but hesitant in its own? Unless, God forbid, there is an “unseen hand” strong enough to mobilize our army abroad yet restrain it from crushing the terror industry festering inside our borders. We watched the Nigerian government move with lightning speed to protect democracy in Benin Republic. Lightning speed. No delays. No committees. No excuses. So the natural question is: why doesn’t this same urgency apply when the lives at stake are Nigerian lives?

Nigeria the Global Peacekeeper, But a Fragile Homeland.

For decades, Nigeria has been a frontline actor in African peacekeeping, from Liberia to Sierra Leone, from Gambia to Darfur. Our soldiers bled to defend the sovereignty of countries far away. Our budget financed stability in nations that now enjoy peace. But what remains unanswered is this: How does a country capable of restoring order abroad fail repeatedly to restore order within its own borders?

Something is not adding up. Either Nigerian leaders are not telling citizens the full story, or there are forces, internal or external, shaping decisions we are not allowed to understand.

Let us be blunt:

What difference exists between Gambia in 2017 and Northern Nigeria today? Between the crisis in Sierra Leone then and what communities in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna endure today? Between the civil war in Liberia and the slow-burning war that has turned large parts of the North East into ungoverned spaces? Nigeria acted decisively abroad. Nigeria hesitates at home. Why? If the principle used is “what is good for country A is good for country B,” then the same moral duty Nigeria owes to Benin Republic, it owes ten times more to its own citizens.

Foreign Policy Is About Interests, but Whose Interests?

International relations is a theatre of contradictions. Morality bends. Promises shift. Every nation pursues interest, nothing more, nothing less. And every actor justifies its actions, even when it apologizes later. So we must ask: Whose interest is Nigeria serving when it becomes a lion outside and a lamb inside?

Because interest, when properly understood, begins at home. A nation that cannot secure itself has no business spending resources to secure others.

Now the Alarm Bell Rings: Nigeria Can Do It, So Why Not Here?

The Benin intervention has removed every excuse. It exposed something fundamental: Nigeria does not lack capacity. Nigeria lacks will. Not military will, political will. This is why this moment must not pass quietly. Opinion leaders must speak. Policy makers must wake up. The business community must understand that insecurity is bleeding the economy. Northern elites must stop whispering and start demanding accountability. Youth must refuse to normalize fear as a way of life.

If Nigeria can deploy jets in one night to protect a neighbour, then Nigeria can deploy the same assets to reclaim its villages.If Nigeria can fight for democracy across borders, then Nigeria can fight for peace inside Kebbi, Borno, Niger, Plateau, and Kaduna. If Nigeria can defend Benin, then, by every moral, constitutional and political standard, Nigeria must defend Nigerians.

The time for silence is over. The message is clear: our leaders can act. The world has seen it. We have seen it. Now Nigeria must act for Nigeria.

This is no longer a debate.

It is a national call to wake up.