Joshua Ocheja, PhD

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "Who would have thought that the second-in-command of ISIS was a Nigerian? This is a very dangerous realization. This is why ISWAP has remained daring in the Northeast. ISWAP is not an offshoot of Boko Haram as widely believed. It was created by ISIS to challenge Boko Haram for control of territory. ISIS was already present in the Sahel region, and it was very easy for it to slip into Nigeria. These fighters are the same. They use and employ the same methods. The only difference is their psychological affiliations. Religion plays a very insignificant role. They are not pious Muslims. Theirs is more of a psychological distortion in their thought process." thecable.ng/isis-iswap-and… Cc: @NuhuRibadu, @DHQNigeria

Turkey-Nigeria military pact will help tackle terrorism, says Joshua Ocheja Joshua Ocheja, military historian, says the recent bilateral security agreement between Turkey and Nigeria will be effective in tackling terrorism in Africa’s most populous country. In January, Nigeria and Turkey signed nine agreements to strengthen bilateral ties during President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to the Middle Eastern country, including one on defence cooperation. thecable.ng/turkey-nigeria…

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "@atiku, @PeterObi and Kwankwaso are very religious, but they are not miracle workers. If they were, the political outcome of the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections would have been different. I can only imagine Obasanjo’s game plan with how things stand politically. He is bent on stopping Tinubu and Atiku. But the race for the presidency of Nigeria is not a popularity contest. It is a game akin to Russian Roulette. The gamble is not about who the odds favour, but the reality that a single miscalculation in “timing or alignment” can end a career. When you pull the trigger, you miss or hit the target. Atiku and Obi have missed the target after pulling the trigger. Tinubu’s first pull of the trigger hit the target. Russian Roulette is a game of winner takes all. Obi has decamped from the ADC because it’s obvious, he won’t get the ticket. And as usual, it came with the sort of emotional speech that led to the birth of the Obiedients in 2022. He left the PDP for LP when it was obvious he was not getting the ticket. Obi’s electoral value has dwindled since 2023. He could not manage the fame that came with his first and impressive political outing. It became about him and not the platform that he used. The platform was enmeshed in crisis, but it was not his business and he left, as usual." thecable.ng/the-ball-is-fa…

@hspimages @thecableng @officialABAT @OfficialAPCNg @OfficialPDPNig @NgLabour @ADCNig Thanks, sir.

@thecableng @officialABAT @jaocheja @OfficialAPCNg @OfficialPDPNig @NgLabour @ADCNig Political banking indeed. Nice one Josh

JOSHUA OCHEJA: “Politics is not a love story. Its affections are not unconditional. There is collateral. Written or unwritten. In politics, a reciprocal regime is the most strategic. It is of mutual debt and benefit. In Tinubu’s political bank, when you take a political loan, you are bound to repay. He doesn’t care about your name, religion, ethnicity or political affiliations. His doors are always wide open for those who wish to come in. This is a profound attribute of a political venture capitalist, “who treats power as an investment portfolio in exchange for a long-term equity stake in future loyalty and influence.” This is worth reminiscing about.” thecable.ng/if-you-owe-him…

The Prince of Virtu

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "Tinubu is a “prince of virtu.” Niccolò Machiavelli, in his work “The Prince”, argued about how “princes” rise and fall. He identified two classes of princes. The “prince of fortuna and the prince of virtu”. A “prince of fortuna is one that is elevated by the blessings or the convenience of a powerful predecessor”. Machiavelli warns that such leaders have an easy rise but a hard fall, because their power depends entirely on someone else’s goodwill. A “prince of virtu is one who rises to the top by his skills and influence”. Machiavelli also warned that such leaders might have a hard and long ride to the top, but when they do, they stay longer and make fewer compromises. Tinubu remains the first politician who appears to have worked his way to the top in an unprecedented manner in our post-colonial history. Tinubu’s rise to power is beyond common opinion on how politicians play the game in our clime. Initially, it was a confusing trajectory that seemed impossible. I remember how the phrase “Emi lo kan” (It is my turn) began." thecable.ng/the-prince-of-…

The Prince or Virtu thecable.ng/the-prince-of-…

The Pilot and the Peasant thisdaylive.com/2026/04/01/the…

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "I have also followed the conversations around the presence of U.S soldiers in Nigeria. The debate has been around the concept of “boots on the ground” and “threat to our sovereignty”. The argument is not logical. We need to exercise some patience to understand the security pact with the United States. Let me put it plain. We need that “one eye” advantage by boosting our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. This is the A-Z of the military pact. We must embrace our reality. We don’t have the ISR capabilities to defeat terrorism in Nigeria. This has been the missing link. Were we thinking American soldiers would be driving around Borno state with tanks and heavy artillery? Or were we thinking the American soldiers would replace our commanders and establish military bases in the North-east?" thecable.ng/the-one-eyed-m…

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "Before 2023, Tinubu made his yams available for every politician who wanted a slice. He has his barns widely spread across the country. It is rumoured that there is no relevant northern politician who hasn’t sliced from his yams, whether in APC, PDP or the ADC. Traditionally, Tinubu supports politically and financially. This is his trademark. It wasn’t a foolish decision. He gives anything and everything in the pursuit of an objective, as his political associates tell us. But usually not for free. By my reckoning, he was interested in the knife used to slice his yams." thecable.ng/the-knife-and-…

Publish or perish

JOSHUA OCHEJA: "We struggled and are still struggling with how to deal decisively with the Boko Haram insurgency. DICON should today be a sprawling military industrial complex developing indigenous defence strategies towards addressing our security challenges beyond manufacturing military hardware. We can be the undisputed lead country in subregional security if we get our acts right. This can only happen when political leaders resolve to be strategic in our defence policy direction. The list of defence ministers from 1999 also gives an idea about the lackadaisical commitment by successive administrations towards developing our indigenous defence capabilities." thecable.ng/publish-or-per…