Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria is moving to secure military equipment and operational support from France following talks with Emmanuel Macron, as his administration intensifies efforts to confront the country’s deepening security crisis.
Speaking to state governors in Lagos after his return from a state visit to the United Kingdom, Tinubu said discussions with Macron had yielded assurances of collaboration, part of a broader diplomatic push to strengthen Nigeria’s counter-terrorism capacity.
“I can report to you … their collaboration with us for equipment and support,” Tinubu said, adding that his government was prepared to leverage existing goodwill and lines of credit to secure weapons systems and training for security forces.
“I’m making frantic efforts to contact other nations. If we have to spend our goodwill and line of credit, we have those who are willing to support us with equipment and training,” he said.
The president framed insecurity as the defining challenge of his administration’s next phase, warning that it posed a direct threat to development and economic stability. “The next phase of our struggle is … the challenge of insecurity,” he told governors, calling for a collective national effort to “be proud of victory over tyranny”.
Nigeria continues to grapple with a complex web of violence, including insurgency in the north-east, armed banditry across the north-west and north-central regions, separatist tensions in the south-east, and widespread kidnapping.
Tinubu said military procurement had also dominated talks during his UK trip, where he met King Charles III, Queen Camilla and Keir Starmer, underscoring the centrality of security cooperation in Nigeria’s foreign engagements.
Alongside security concerns, the president warned of looming economic pressures linked to instability in the Middle East, suggesting it could drive inflation and erode purchasing power domestically. Rising fuel costs, he said, would likely translate into higher transport and food prices, with labour groups expected to push for mitigation measures.
“I know this Middle East crisis will elicit inflation … and affect our purchasing power,” he said.
The meeting, attended by the vice-president, Kashim Shettima, came days after coordinated bomb attacks in Maiduguri that killed 23 people and injured more than 100. In response, Tinubu had ordered security chiefs to relocate to the city and approved additional operational support.
He extended condolences to Babagana Zulum, urging continued engagement with affected communities, while reiterating that his administration would prioritise investment in technology and equipment to counter extremist threats.
“We must defeat terrorism and all of these criminal acts,” he said.
France, which has long played a role in counter-terrorism operations across the Sahel, remains a key security partner for several west African states. Tinubu’s outreach signals Abuja’s intention to deepen such alliances as militant groups continue to exploit regional instability.
Governors, whom Tinubu praised for their swift turnout, were also urged to expand social support for vulnerable populations, with the president suggesting that stronger welfare responses would be critical in cushioning the economic fallout of both domestic insecurity and global shocks.
