The Federal Government’s rapid intervention in Benin Republic following a reported coup attempt is drawing sharp criticism at home, with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) accusing the administration of displaying decisiveness abroad while tolerating insecurity within Nigeria’s borders.
In a statement on Monday, ADC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi praised the speed with which Abuja moved to defend constitutional order in Benin. But he said the very same action exposes a troubling double standard: Nigeria clearly possesses the capability to respond swiftly and forcefully to security threats—yet banditry, terrorism and violent crime continue to flourish at home.
According to the ADC, the government’s prompt foreign intervention “throws into sharp relief its slow and haphazard response to the banditry and violent crime devastating communities across Nigeria.” The party said the contrast is too glaring to ignore and raises questions about the government’s priorities.
While acknowledging the need to halt unconstitutional power grabs in West Africa, the ADC insisted that the President’s unilateral action must still be ratified by the National Assembly as required by law. But beyond the legal issues, the party said Nigerians are now asking what determines when their government acts decisively—and when it delays.
The ADC pointed to Nigeria’s hesitation during instability in Guinea-Bissau, even when a former Nigerian President was reportedly trapped there, asking why urgency appeared only in the Benin episode. The party warned that such inconsistency fuels suspicion that Nigeria’s latest intervention may have been influenced by “another, more powerful country.”
More damning was the ADC’s central charge: that the government’s quick action in Benin highlights its inexplicable sluggishness in confronting violence at home.
“If Nigeria could respond decisively to threats across our borders,” the party asked, “why has the government demonstrated such outrageous incompetence in dealing with domestic insecurity? Why has it failed to respond with similar urgency while bandits and terrorists still hold communities hostage, displace families, abduct children and operate openly?”
The ADC lamented that a government capable of mobilizing swiftly for democracy abroad appears unwilling to deploy the same resolve to protect its own citizens. “The defence of democracy does not begin in neighbouring countries,” the party said. “It begins in the protection of Nigerian lives.”
The statement concluded by stressing that the strongest barrier against coups is not military action but good governance, improved living conditions and genuine space for opposition voices—conditions that remain fragile at home even as Nigeria projects strength beyond its borders.
