President of the ANAP Foundation and Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Atedo Peterside, has attributed the surge in terrorism and banditry across Nigeria to deepening poverty, inequality, and systemic neglect of millions of citizens.
Speaking on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television monitored on Monday, Peterside warned that Nigeria’s growing wealth gap is creating fertile ground for criminal recruitment, particularly among impoverished and uneducated populations.
According to him, Nigeria is grappling with a severe income distribution crisis, where extreme wealth exists alongside what he described as “phenomenal poverty.”
“Sometimes you can have an economy where the big guns are doing very well—their income is rising, the stock market is booming—but I’m referring to the 140 million poor people. That’s where the real problem lies,” Peterside said.
He cautioned that no society can remain stable when such a large segment of its population is trapped in poverty, stressing that it is unrealistic for the wealthy to assume that prosperity can be sustained indefinitely amid mass deprivation.
“We have the very wealthy, and we have the phenomenally poor. You cannot have equilibrium when there are so many poor people around you,” he noted.
While clarifying that poverty alone does not automatically translate to insecurity, Peterside argued that extreme deprivation makes vulnerable citizens easy targets for recruitment by bandits and terrorist groups, especially when the state provides little or no support.
“For poor people whom the state is offering next to nothing, some of them can be easily recruited. They become potential future bandits and terrorists,” he said.
He further highlighted Nigeria’s education crisis, noting that about 30 million children are currently out of school—a situation he described as a ticking time bomb for national security.
“People who are not educated are increasingly difficult to integrate into a modern economy. If they can’t get proper jobs, they also become targets for bandits and terrorists,” Peterside warned.
Describing the situation as alarming, he questioned the federal government’s posture in the face of these challenges, asking pointedly, “We have a serious problem on our hands. So how can the President sit pretty?”
Peterside’s remarks add to growing concerns that Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by military action alone, but requires urgent structural reforms targeting poverty reduction, education, and inclusive economic growth.
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