The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D, NPM, has approved the appointment of ASP Sunday Eitokpah Akata as the new Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Cross River State Police Command, in a move aimed at strengthening the Command’s public communication and stakeholder engagement.

The appointment was disclosed in a press statement issued by CSP Irene Ugbo, ANIPR, the outgoing Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, who noted that the posting takes immediate effect. He described the development as part of the ongoing efforts by the Nigeria Police Force to reposition its information management architecture and deepen public trust through effective, professional communication.

ASP Akata, an indigene of Edo State, was commissioned into the Nigeria Police Force in 2022 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police after successfully completing a rigorous five-year academic and professional training at the prestigious Nigeria Police Academy. During the programme, he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Biochemistry, a background that underscores his discipline, analytical capacity and professional grounding.

The Cross River State Police Command expressed confidence that the new PPRO will bring renewed energy, clarity and professionalism to the Command’s public relations desk, while building on existing gains in police–community relations across the state.

During his training and service, ASP Eitokpah underwent several specialized professional courses, including:
• Combat Operations and Counter-Terrorism Course at the Police Mobile Force Training School, Ende Hills, Nasarawa State;
• Citizenship and Leadership Training Course at Shere Hills, Jos;
• Forensic Analysis Course on Basic Crime Scene Management at Wudil, Kano State;
• Basic Detective Course at Wudil, Kano State; and
• Advanced Detective Course at the Police Staff College, Jos (Course 77/23).

He is a certified Advanced Facilitator for the Nigeria Police Reform Programme and a member of the National Institute of Social Media Analysts (NISMA), Abuja.

ASP Sunday Eitokpah Akata has served in various capacities with remarkable professionalism, discipline, and versatility. His postings include:
• Divisional Traffic Officer, A Division, Calabar; and
• Officer-in-Charge, Cross River State Police Complaint Response Unit (CRU),

until his recent deployment as the Police Public Relations Officer, Cross River State Command.

The new PPRO can be reached through the following contact numbers:
0706 797 7330
0905 827 3057

Social Media Handles:
• X (Twitter): @Eitokpah_sunday
• Facebook: Eitokpah Sunday
• Instagram: official_eitokpah
• TikTok: official_eitokpah

Hadiza Idris Kuta Endorses Maritime Journalists’ Visit, Award to Oyebamiji, Describes Initiative as Patriotic, Well-Deserved.

The Niger State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Hadiza Idris Kuta, has thrown her full weight behind the planned visit and award presentation to the Immediate Past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Osun State APC governorship candidate, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, by the Coalition of Maritime Journalists.

Kuta, who previously served as the Commissioner for Transportation in Niger State, described the honour as well-deserved and patriotic, noting that Oyebamiji’s contributions to the development of inland waterways and support for the media deserve recognition from stakeholders in the maritime sector.

She recalled her experience working with a section of the Coalition of Maritime Journalists led by veteran journalist, Mr. Frank Meke, during her tenure as Commissioner for Transportation, describing the engagement as richly rewarding.

According to her, the visiting maritime journalists demonstrated a high level of professionalism, intellectual depth and engagement, while their presentations and subsequent reports following the visit were brilliant, balanced and impactful.

“These reports did not only reflect a proper understanding of the transportation and maritime landscape, they also contributed positively to governance and policy direction in Niger State,” she said.

Kuta further disclosed that during the fact-finding visit of the maritime press to Niger State, the Coalition held strategic meetings with the Deputy Governor and five other commissioners, following a directive from Governor Mohammed Umar Bago.

She noted that the governor was particularly excited by the depth and seriousness of the engagement, describing the visit as timely and insightful, adding that the successful interaction was largely influenced by the groundwork and reforms put in place during her tenure as Commissioner for Transportation.

Speaking on her current role, the Commissioner said she has hit the ground running at the Ministry of Women Affairs, mobilising women across the state and embarking on visits to hospitals and health facilities to assess conditions firsthand.

She explained that part of the ministry’s early interventions includes ensuring that sick women receive timely medical attention, while also taking inventory of the needs of health workers and caregivers, with concrete plans underway to support and strengthen their capacity to deliver quality care.

Kuta reaffirmed her commitment to people-oriented governance and inclusive development, stressing that strategic collaboration with professionals, including the media, remains key to achieving sustainable progress in Niger State. Idris Kuta Endorses Maritime Journalists’ Visit, Award to Oyebamiji, Describes Initiative as Patriotic, Well-Deserved

The Niger State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Hadiza Idris Kuta, has thrown her full weight behind the planned visit and award presentation to the Immediate Past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Osun State APC governorship candidate, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, by the Coalition of Maritime Journalists.

Kuta, who previously served as the Commissioner for Transportation in Niger State, described the honour as well-deserved and patriotic, noting that Oyebamiji’s contributions to the development of inland waterways and support for the media deserve recognition from stakeholders in the maritime sector.

She recalled her experience working with a section of the Coalition of Maritime Journalists led by veteran journalist, Mr. Frank Meke, during her tenure as Commissioner for Transportation, describing the engagement as richly rewarding.

According to her, the visiting maritime journalists demonstrated a high level of professionalism, intellectual depth and engagement, while their presentations and subsequent reports following the visit were brilliant, balanced and impactful.

“These reports did not only reflect a proper understanding of the transportation and maritime landscape, they also contributed positively to governance and policy direction in Niger State,” she said.

Kuta further disclosed that during the fact-finding visit of the maritime press to Niger State, the Coalition held strategic meetings with the Deputy Governor and five other commissioners, following a directive from Governor Mohammed Umar Bago.

She noted that the governor was particularly excited by the depth and seriousness of the engagement, describing the visit as timely and insightful, adding that the successful interaction was largely influenced by the groundwork and reforms put in place during her tenure as Commissioner for Transportation.

Speaking on her current role, the Commissioner said she has hit the ground running at the Ministry of Women Affairs, mobilising women across the state and embarking on visits to hospitals and health facilities to assess conditions firsthand.

She explained that part of the ministry’s early interventions includes ensuring that sick women receive timely medical attention, while also taking inventory of the needs of health workers and caregivers, with concrete plans underway to support and strengthen their capacity to deliver quality care.

Kuta reaffirmed her commitment to people-oriented governance and inclusive development, stressing that strategic collaboration with professionals, including the media, remains key to achieving sustainable progress in Niger State.

By Deji Adesogan

Nigeria is approaching the decisive phase of its long internal security struggle. By 2026, the country can no longer afford a security doctrine defined by containment, reactive deployments or temporary suppression of threats posed by Boko Haram, ISWAP and entrenched bandit networks. The moment now calls for leadership capable of ending wars, not merely managing them. In Lt. Gen. Waheed Shaibu, Nigeria has a Chief of Army Staff whose career, command philosophy and operational posture point clearly toward that necessary shift from endurance to elimination.

Lt. Gen. Shaibu is a soldier shaped by war rather than theory. His professional formation occurred largely in frontline operational environments, especially in the North East, where Nigeria’s counter-insurgency campaign has been most prolonged, complex and unforgiving. Over years of direct command, he confronted Boko Haram and later ISWAP at periods when both groups were highly adaptive, mobile and lethal. Those encounters gave him a granular understanding of insurgent tactics, terrain exploitation, logistics, intelligence deception and the psychological dimensions of asymmetric warfare. Among troops, long before his rise to the highest office in the Army, he earned the enduring nickname “bush colonel” a title reserved for officers whose courage, presence and leadership under fire are proven in combat rather than conferred by rank.

That battlefield credibility now anchors his authority as Chief of Army Staff. Since assuming office three months ago, Shaibu has consistently rejected the culture of distant, desk-bound command. Instead, he has chosen visible leadership from operational theatres, engaging frontline units and field commanders directly. This approach is neither ceremonial nor symbolic; it is doctrinal. In modern counter-terror warfare, command presence accelerates decision-making, sharpens situational awareness and enforces accountability across the chain of command. It also sends a clear signal to troops that the leadership understands the risks they face and shares in the burden of the fight.

Central to Shaibu’s command philosophy is his insistence that troop welfare is an operational necessity, not a concession. He understands that sustained offensive campaigns require soldiers who are motivated, properly supported and confident in their leadership. By prioritising welfare, morale, rotation policies and living conditions, he is deliberately preparing the Nigerian Army for prolonged, high-tempo operations across multiple theatres. Armies that neglect their soldiers lose momentum; armies that invest in their troops retain endurance, cohesion and fighting spirit. As Nigeria moves toward 2026, this approach is foundational to any credible strategy of decisive force.

Equally significant has been his emphasis on merit-based postings and appointments. Drawing from hard lessons learned in combat, Shaibu recognises that poor leadership decisions cost lives, squander momentum and concede territory. Under his leadership, competence, experience and operational performance increasingly define command responsibility. This is not administrative reform for its own sake; it is combat reform. Against enemies that exploit leadership gaps, weak coordination and slow responses, a merit driven command structure restores institutional confidence and strengthens the Army’s operational backbone.

Strategically so far, Shaibu’s leadership signals a clear departure from episodic offensives toward sustained dominance of the battlespace. His record suggests an approach focused on denying terrorist groups freedom of movement, dismantling leadership and logistics networks, and preventing regeneration after tactical defeats. Against BokoHaram and ISWAP, this implies relentless pressure, intelligence led targeting and uncompromising control of reclaimed terrain. Against bandit formations, it points to coordinated, mobile operations designed not merely to disperse criminal groups, but to permanently degrade their capacity to regroup, rearm and terrorise communities.

What distinguishes Lt. Gen. Shaibu at this juncture is clarity forged by experience. He does not view Nigeria’s enemies as abstract threats or briefing-room statistics. He has faced them in combat, observed their patterns and understood where previous campaigns achieved results and where they stalled. That knowledge positions him to lead not another cycle of attrition, but a campaign oriented toward strategic finality. His leadership reflects an understanding that wars against insurgents are not ended by pauses, but by pressure sustained until adversaries lose the capacity to recover.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to appoint Shaibu as 25th Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army increasingly appears strategic rather than symbolic. As Nigeria finally approaches a year that may redefine its internal security trajectory, the Army is being led by a commander whose authority rests on battlefield legitimacy rather than rhetoric. Shaibu brings together offensive instinct, troop centred leadership, merit driven command and strategic realism qualities that align precisely with the demands of the moment.

If fully empowered and consistently supported, 2026 can mark Nigeria’s transition from managing insecurity to dismantling it. Under Lt. Gen. Waheed Shaibu, the Nigerian Army is positioned not merely to react to threats, but to dictate tempo, dominate terrain and impose irreversible outcomes. For Boko Haram, ISWAP and organised bandit networks, the message is increasingly unmistakable: the era of accommodation and survival through adaptation is drawing to a close. The remaining variable is not leadership, but resolve. Decisive military outcomes require sustained political will, timely logistics, intelligence integration and institutional unity. Nigeria now has a Chief of Army Staff prepared to lead from the front and prosecute the fight to its logical conclusion. What remains is the collective responsibility of the state to match that readiness with unwavering support.

As Nigeria stands on the threshold of 2026, the choice before the nation is no longer whether decisive action is necessary, but whether it will be sustained. With Lt. Gen. Waheed Shaibu at the helm, the opportunity exists to move from containment to control, and from control to elimination. If that opportunity is seized, 2026 may be remembered not as another year in a prolonged terrorism, but as the moment the balance finally shifted in favour of the Nigerian state.

Deji Adesogan, is a security analyst and digital communications expert. He can be reached via adesoganmedia@gmail.com or on X (Twitter) @DejiAdesogan.