Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has said the federal government is prioritising results over rhetoric in its security collaboration with the United States, insisting that Nigeria is prepared to work with international partners to confront terrorism while firmly safeguarding its sovereignty.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Friday, Tuggar said the country is facing an urgent security crisis that demands practical outcomes rather than prolonged debates over statements or narratives.
“We’re not going to dwell on forensic poring over what was said. What concerns us, what is of utmost priority to us, is the result,” Tuggar said.
“We are in a very dire situation. We need the results. We’re willing to partner with others to achieve those results. And this is an indication of that new phase to an old conflict.”
Addressing questions over why recent operations occurred in areas perceived as relatively peaceful, Tuggar said the threat Nigeria faces is far broader than Boko Haram alone.
“The terrorist threat is not simply from Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin. We have ISWAP, we have JNIM operating in areas adjoining the northwest of Nigeria,”he said.
He stressed that geography and proximity matter more than state boundaries.
“You have to bear in mind that Gudu in Sokoto State is only 357 kilometres away from Menaka. That is shorter than the distance between Abuja and Benin or Abuja and Kano,” Tuggar said.
“Sometimes we get too carried away by borders. These distances are not that far.”
According to him, multiple armed groups are active in the region.
“We have the activities of JNIM, of ISWAP, as well as Lakurawa and Mamuna. There are several terrorist groups and bandits operating in that vicinity,” he said.
Reacting to opposition criticism and claims of government incompetence, Tuggar urged political actors to set aside rivalry when national survival is at stake.
“This is the problem of opposition politics in countries like Nigeria. It becomes a zero-sum struggle,” he said.
“There are certain things that should make us come together, such as issues that pose an existential threat to the Nigerian state.”
He warned that excessive politicisation could damage the country itself.
“When you’re an opposition party, it doesn’t mean you have to pull the entire country down, because then there will be nothing left for you to govern,” Tuggar said.
“When we’re talking about insecurity and terrorism, we’re talking about an existential issue.”
Tuggar confirmed that Nigeria and the United States had agreed on coordinated communication ahead of the operation.
“What I discussed with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the day before the strike was a 19-minute discussion,”he said.
“It was agreed on what was going to follow in the event that President Tinubu agreed for the strike to take place.”
He said a joint statement had been planned.
“We agreed that we were going to come out with a statement that tallied with what was agreed,”Tuggar said.
“If they decided to come out with something different, then it’s unfortunate. We shortly thereafter came out with a statement, but we do not want to dwell on what was said.”
The foreign affairs minister repeatedly emphasised that the success of counterterrorism efforts should be measured by impact, not public debate.
“What we are focusing on is the results. It was a successful operation. We collaborated with each other,”he said.
“There’s cooperation between the two countries, and it’s the outcome that concerns us more than the narratives.”
He rejected claims that the issue was religiously motivated.
“The issue here is not about religion. It’s about the loss of lives and property as a result of terrorism,” Tuggar said.
“Every Nigerian life matters.”
When asked to assess the operation’s success or confirm casualties, Tuggar said such details were not within his remit.
“My field is foreign policy, foreign affairs, diplomacy,” he said.
“We will have to wait for those that handle the operational aspect to come out with the details.”
Tuggar dismissed suggestions that Nigeria was outsourcing its security to the United States.
“There was never any discussion about relying wholly on foreign powers or on the US, and I don’t think the US is proposing that,” he said.
“The issue is working together to tackle this mess that affects not just Nigeria, but the world.”
He described terrorism as a global challenge.
“If terrorism is allowed to continue unchecked in our region, it will spread to other parts of the world,”** Tuggar said.
“That is why Nigeria, the US, and several other countries are concerned.”
He added that cooperation with the US was longstanding.
“We have a binational commission with the US and several working groups. We have worked together before. This is not the first time,”he said.
“But this is a new chapter, a new phase to an old conflict.”
Tuggar insisted Nigeria remains firm on sovereignty while recognising the need for cooperation.
“Nigeria will not do this without jealously guarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
He rejected any framing of the conflict as religious.
“Nigeria is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-tribal nation,” Tuggar said.
“When it comes to our government, it represents the entire country. The issue of religion does not arise.”
He said regional instability has compounded Nigeria’s security challenges.
“The collapse of Libya led to the proliferation of weapons and fighters that cascaded into Nigeria,” Tuggar said.
“All of these things are interconnected. It’s a regional issue.”
Comparing Nigeria’s current challenge with past regional interventions, Tuggar said terrorism is fundamentally different from conventional wars.
“There’s a difference between fighting conventional wars and fighting non-conventional wars,”** he said.
“Today they are in the bush fighting you, tomorrow they are pretending to be village dwellers you cannot identify.”
He added that legal and logistical constraints had also limited Nigeria in the past.
“We were fighting with our hands tied behind our backs because weapons were not being sold to us,”Tuggar said.
Despite the challenges, he maintained that collaboration remains essential.
“This is a complex, cross-border problem,” Tuggar said.
“And that is why cooperation is not just necessary, it is unavoidable.”
Boluwatife Enome
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