Nigerian social media critic VeryDarkMan has weighed in on the country’s worsening security situation, insisting that Nigeria cannot defeat terrorism without prioritizing education, particularly in the northern region.
In a video shared on his official Facebook page on Monday, he argued that the root of the crisis is tied to a long-standing lack of formal education in the North.
According to him, this gap continues to create a pool of vulnerable young people who can easily be recruited for violent activities.
He stated that most individuals involved in terrorist operations come from northern states and suggested that large-scale educational reforms would help redirect youths toward more productive paths.
In his words: “The only solution to terrorism is to educate the Northerners. Any Nigerian leader that will take four years out of his eight years to educate the North, force education on them have solved terrorism problems.”
Emphasizing the transformative power of learning, he added: “Let them have the knowledge because knowledge is power. Until then, Nigeria may suffer more in years to come. They don’t go to school in the North, rather they study religion. That is why the fewer people that are educated keep using the uneducated as their weapons.”
VeryDarkMan further claimed that it is easy for extremist groups to mobilize young people due to widespread poverty and lack of schooling. He said: “If I want to start terrorism today, I will go to Madugri, Zamfara or somewhere. If you go to the North, you see a lot of young people in the streets begging. You can easily pack ten thousand of them and bring them to Abuja.”
His comments add to the growing national debate on how education, economic opportunity, and social reforms can be used to combat insecurity across the country.
