The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lere Olayinka, has sparked fresh debate over the root causes of insecurity in Northern Nigeria, linking the crisis to poverty, unregulated polygamy, and child neglect.
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In a post shared on X on Tuesday, Olayinka questioned the rationale behind low-income earners marrying multiple wives and having large numbers of children they are unable to properly care for, describing the trend as a major contributor to insecurity.
“There is no reason a man who cannot properly take care of one wife and two children should marry three wives and produce fifteen or seventeen children,” he wrote.
He warned that many individuals currently involved in terrorism and banditry were once vulnerable children left to fend for themselves without access to food, education, or proper upbringing.
“Many of today’s terrorists and bandits were once innocent children roaming the streets, hungry, uneducated, and forgotten,” Olayinka added.
The presidential aide also expressed concern over the increasing number of children seen begging on the streets, particularly in Abuja, noting that the situation poses a serious long-term security threat.
“Each time I see them on major roads in Abuja carrying a plastic bowl, my questions are always: How did they get here? Who are their parents? What will these unaccounted children become in future?” he queried.
Olayinka further argued that while the government is often blamed for insecurity, it cannot single-handedly address issues arising from irresponsible parenting and unchecked population growth.
“I am sure some people will still come here to blame the government. But what can the government do in the case of a gate-man earning N60,000 per month, but has four wives and 17 children?” he asked.
He warned that abandoned and neglected children could grow into angry and desperate individuals, thereby worsening the country’s security challenges.
“Abandoned children, like these ones, will certainly grow up angry, desperate and dangerous,” he said.
Similarly, concerns have previously been raised about the impact of the Almajiri system on insecurity in Northern Nigeria. A former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, had attributed the rise in banditry and terrorism to the failure of the system, which he said leaves many children without parental care or formal education.
Onaiyekan had warned that such neglected children are vulnerable to recruitment by criminal and extremist groups, further exacerbating insecurity in the region.
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