“Nigeria Fighting Moral, Not Military War”— Olu Of Warri

The Olu of Warri Kingdom, Ogiame Atuwatse III has warned that Nigeria’s gravest battle is not against bullets and bombs but against moral decay, broken homes and eroding cultural values.. . Read ..Full.. Article.. .

He noted that the military cannot win lasting peace without the help of families and traditional institutions.

The monarch spoke at the ongoing final training exercise, Haske Biyu 2025, for senior military officers at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, near Kaduna on Wednesday, where he delivered a lecture titled: ‘Strengthening Family Values as a Force for National Security: The Role of Traditional Institutions.’

According to him, the foundations of discipline, order, and moral clarity, once rooted in strong families and traditional institutions have collapsed, leaving a vacuum that insecurity exploits.

“I stand here not as an expert but as a family man and custodian of a traditional institution. Victory comes from God, but the courage to fight for legacy must come from us. What we seek—strong family values and moral clarity—will not come without resistance,” he said.

The Olu argued that insecurity cannot be defeated with weapons alone, noting that even the bravest soldiers come from homes that either teach discipline or neglect it.

He recalled how two of his uncles, the late Squadron Leader Adebayo Shaw of the Nigerian Air Force and Colonel Kolawole Shaw of the Nigerian Army, shaped his childhood with their “discipline, punctuality, honesty, and courage in adversity.”

Their example, he said, taught him that “the military’s greatest gift to society is not firepower, but the values it represents.”

Although he once dreamt of joining the Navy, citing his Itsekiri royal heritage as a maritime people, his late father, Ogiame Atuwatse II, refused his request, quoting the Bible verse: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

“I did not wear the uniform but I have remained convinced of the transformative effect of discipline, order, and justice, which the armed forces embody and which our society desperately needs,” the monarch said.

Ogiame Atuwatse III lamented that traditional rulers, despite being “custodians of values and arbiters of moral authority,” are often sidelined by the state even as the government expects them to gather intelligence, mediate conflicts, and preserve peace.

“In a nation where people still identify first with their roots, rulers set the tone. When we embody integrity and discipline, our people follow. That is why traditional institutions remain relevant to national security,” he said.

He warned that insecurity thrives where “family discipline collapses and community cohesion fades,” noting that storytelling, proverbs, and communal living once served as moral guardrails, and..  Read . .More …