Stakeholders Advocate Moral Reawakening to Address Insecurity

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja 

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) (Sahara Deck) has called for a “moral uprising” against Nigeria’s deepening security crisis, declaring that the real enemy is not just bandits or terrorists but a culture of silence, impunity and ethical collapse.

The call was made in Abuja Tuesday at the 2026 Feast of Barracuda, with the theme, ‘Moral Rebellion As the Missing Link in Addressing Nigeria’s Security Challenges.’

The organisation challenged Nigerians to confront what it described as the “moral impunity” enabling violence to flourish across every geopolitical zone.

In his keynote address, the Aare of Egbaland, Prof. Lai Labode, explained that the “real challenge is not insufficient firepower; it is also the lack of economic inclusion among Nigeria’s youthful population”.

“Nigeria’s security architecture must not only be built on surveillance but on economic inclusion. A great deal of the violence we witness today is perpetrated by young people who feel abandoned by the system,” Labode said.

During the panel session, the speakers noted that insecurity was not a “military problem alone; it is a moral problem. And moral problems demand moral solutions”.

They advocated curriculum reforms that restore moral philosophy and civic education in schools and urged the citizens to demand accountability from leaders regardless of political or ethnic affiliation.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Capoon of Sahara Deck, NAS, Chike Onyia, said the Feast of Barracuda symbolises the social, political, and economic ills that prevent the emergence of a just society, and feasting on it represents identifying and symbolically defeating these evils.

The event also coincided with the 92nd birthday celebration of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, one of the founders of NAS, where a book titled, ‘Ideas Do Not Die’ was launched in his honour by Prof. Adesoji Adesugba.

The Feast of Barracuda, an annual NAS tradition symbolising the confrontation of societal evils, took on particular urgency this year as Nigeria grapples with escalating banditry, kidnapping, farmers-herders’ conflicts, separatist agitations and communal bloodshed.

Also speaking Chair, Advisory Committee Nigerian Endowments through Asset Transformation (NEAT) Initiative Nigeria, Comrade Ene Obi, urged the Federal Government to allocate more cabinet positions to women, lamenting what she described as the overwhelming dominance of men in political appointments. 

She argued that the imbalance has continued to sideline women from decision-making and denied them equitable representation in governance.

On his part, the Founder and Patron of the Islamic Research and Da’awah Foundation (IRDF), Sheikh Nura Khalid, urged the Federal Government to look inward and end its reliance on borrowing from other countries, insisting that Nigeria has sufficient resources to drive its development.