Guns Before Bread: Tinubu's Obsession with War Machines While Nigerians Starve

In a nation where over 63% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty and millions go to bed hungry each night, President Bola Tinubu’s administration is doubling down; not on food security, job creation, or education, but on helicopters, missiles, and surveillance drones. This government's unrelenting obsession with defense spending has reached alarming levels, as billions of dollars are poured into procuring foreign-made war machines, often financed through external loans, while social infrastructure continues to rot and the masses are told to “tighten their belts.”

 

Earlier this year, the Nigerian Air Force inducted the first batch of Turkish T-129 ATAK fighter helicopters, with great pomp at NAF Base Makurdi. Vice President Kashim Shettima stood proudly beside two attack helicopters and a Beechcraft King Air 360ER, declaring them “a major boost” to Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, kidnapping, and oil theft. But for millions of Nigerians grappling with joblessness, hunger, and failing public services, it was yet another slap in the face - a public spectacle that reeks of warped priorities.

 

Let’s call it what it is: a national disgrace. Since Tinubu took office in May 2023, the Nigerian Air Force alone has inducted five new aircraft, including the controversial Turkish helicopters, and plans to induct 46 more aircraft over the next 18 months. This includes 12 American-made AH-1Z Viper helicopters costing nearly $1 billion, 24 Leonardo M-346 aircraft from Italy, and Chinese Wing Loong II drones. In what reality does this make sense - borrowing billions from abroad to buy foreign war toys while failing to fund basic amenities for citizens?

 

What makes this tragedy even more grotesque is that these purchases are not even transparent. Nigerians are told the funds are for “security,” but we see no clear procurement accountability, no breakdown of unit costs, and no public debate. The National Assembly rubber-stamps these deals while public schools remain underfunded, clinics lack medicine, and inflation drives up the price of a loaf of bread beyond the reach of average citizens.

 

Moreover, defense experts and aviation insiders have raised serious concerns that the Nigerian military may not even be adequately trained to operate some of these sophisticated systems. There are credible reports suggesting that Nigerian pilots lack the requisite technical skills to fully utilize platforms like the T-129s. If true, this renders these billion-dollar acquisitions not only wasteful but also dangerous.

 

Meanwhile, the human cost of these policy choices is devastating. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, over 133 million Nigerians are living in poverty, a situation that has worsened under Tinubu’s “reform” regime, which includes fuel subsidy removals and a naira devaluation that has sent prices soaring. Young people have no jobs, farmers are abandoning fields due to insecurity, and healthcare workers are fleeing the country in droves. Yet the government finds the political will—and the loans—to arm itself to the teeth.

 

And for what? The security situation continues to deteriorate. Bandits still ravage communities in the North-West. Kidnappers rule the highways. Oil theft remains rampant in the Niger Delta. Despite billions poured into military hardware since 2015 - including drones, helicopters, and fighter jets - the Nigerian state remains frighteningly incapable of protecting its own people. What we are witnessing is not a strategy for national defense; it is a regime obsessed with militarized optics, addicted to foreign arms, and alarmingly indifferent to the suffering of its citizens. Tinubu’s government is using debt to buy guns, not dignity. It is investing in airstrikes, not agriculture. It is building arsenals while hospitals decay.

 

The implications are dire. Every naira spent on a foreign-made helicopter is a naira not spent on clean water, decent schools, rural electrification, or feeding children. Every foreign loan for defense procurement mortgages the future of Nigerian children who will have to repay these debts long after the weapons have become obsolete or unusable. It is time for Nigerians - civil society, lawmakers, religious leaders, and every conscientious citizen - to demand an urgent review of the nation’s spending priorities. Security is important, but human security - food, shelter, health, education - must come first. We cannot bomb our way to prosperity.

 

President Tinubu, Nigerians did not vote for you to be an arms dealer-in-chief. They voted for hope, for jobs, for peace, and for dignity. Guns will not feed us. Helicopters will not educate our children. Missiles will not cure disease. Bread before bullets. Always.