The decision by President Bola Tinubu to postpone his scheduled trips to the G20 Summit in South Africa and the AU-EU Summit in Angola is a welcome, albeit overdue, recalibration of priorities.
For a Presidency that has often been criticized for perceived aloofness in the face of domestic crises, staying home to confront the escalating security situation is a commendable gesture. It signals, at the very least, that the wails of the bereaved and the terror of the besieged are finally piercing the walls of the Aso Rock Villa.
However, let us be clear, cancelling a flight is not a strategy. Mere presence in Abuja does not disarm bandits in Zamfara, nor does it liberate the schoolgirls recently abducted in Kebbi. If the President hopes to earn the genuine trust of Nigerians, this symbolic move must be the prelude to the most ruthless and transparent anti-terror campaign in our nation’s history.
The Nigerian people are currently enduring a suffocating double tragedy. On one hand, the removal of the fuel subsidy has stripped the average citizen of their economic cushion, sending the cost of living into the stratosphere. Nigerians have been told to endure these pains for a better tomorrow. But how can they hope for a better economic future when they are not alive to see it?
Insecurity does not just threaten lives, it compounds economic woes. Farmers cannot farm, traders cannot travel, and investors both foreign and local are fleeing a jurisdiction where safety is a gamble.
To ask a population to bear the excruciating burden of subsidy removal while simultaneously leaving them at the mercy of kidnappers is a breach of the social contract.
The time for unknown gunmen and nameless sponsors is over. We have heard repeated threats from the government that they will root out the names of those financing terror. Yet, these lists remain classified, seemingly protecting the powerful while the innocent bleed. If the President is truly ready to lead from the front, he must have the political will to unmask and prosecute the financiers of banditry and terrorism, regardless of their political or social standing.
The abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi and the brazen attacks in Kwara are not just statistics, they are a direct indictment of our intelligence and security architecture. The Service Chiefs must be held accountable for results, not effort.
We commend the President for choosing Nigeria over international summits this week but the applause will be short-lived if this decision does not yield immediate, tangible results. Nigerians do not want a President who merely mourns with them, they want a Commander-in-Chief who protects them.
The pain of economic reform is already enough, do not ask Nigerians to pay for it with their blood as well. Name the sponsors. Secure the land. restore our trust not with travel itineraries, but with action.