Mr President, only the living can utilise your commissioned projects

Mr President, only the living can utilise your commissioned projects

By Temidayo AkinsuyiLast Sunday, the world celebrated Father’s Day. The role
fathers play in the family, especially in matters relating to the security and
safety of the household, cannot be overemphasised. That is the major
responsibility of genuine, self-respecting fathers, not deadbeat ones who shirk
their God-given responsibilities at the slightest opportunity. Fathers are
often the first to jump into action when anything poses a threat or when
someone in the family gets hurt. No matter what a father is doing, even if he
is on a trip, the natural instinct is to rush home upon hearing that his family
is in danger or under attack.

 

In Nigeria, the president is often referred to as the
‘father of the nation’. However, President Bola Tinubu’s recent actions call
into question whether he truly deserves that title, given the way he has
handled insecurity in the country. During the electioneering campaign in 2022,
Tinubu told Nigerians a hard truth: he would continue with the legacies of
President Muhammadu Buhari if elected Nigeria’s president in the 2023 general
elections. What were the legacies of the Buhari administration? They included
insecurity challenges, banditry, kidnappings, senseless killings by terrorists
masquerading as herdsmen, a decaying healthcare system, erratic electricity
supply, and ultimately, granting amnesty to ‘repentant terrorists’ and
reintegrating them into society while their victims lie cold in the grave or
suffer in IDP camps. It appears President Tinubu has not only continued where
Buhari stopped—he has taken it to a disturbingly higher level.

 

After public outrage, prayers by Pope Leo, and a viral video
by activist VeryDarkMan showing the massive devastation caused by terrorists
who killed over 200 people in Guma and Yelwata in Benue State, President Tinubu
finally agreed to visit the state. His initial itinerary, which he postponed,
was to visit Kaduna to commission various government projects. Pray, what is
the point of commissioning projects with fanfare when people are being
mindlessly slaughtered in what many have described as genocide or massacre?
Must human lives be sacrificed on the altar of politics?

 

Last week, an Air India flight in Ahmedabad en route to
Gatwick Airport crashed, killing 241 passengers and crew on board. The
country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, without prompting, promptly visited
the crash site in Ahmedabad and met the lone survivor in the hospital. That is
what is expected from the father of a nation. His visit did not bring back the
dead, but it gave the families of the victims and the lone survivor a sense
that they have a leader who cares and empathises with them in their time of
grief.

 

 

The Benue killings did not begin today. President Tinubu
left Nigeria on 2 April 2025 for what the presidency described as a two-week
working visit to Paris, France. The explanation given by his Special Adviser on
Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, was that during his stay in France,
Tinubu would appraise his administration’s mid-term performance and assess key
milestones.

 

While Tinubu was in France, the security situation in
Nigeria worsened, with reports of heightened violent attacks and the killing of
innocent citizens in various communities, particularly in Plateau, Benue,
Borno, Katsina and Enugu states.

 

On 2 April, no fewer than 40 people were killed and more
than 100 displaced in a brutal attack on Hurti, Josho, Daffo and other
communities in the Manguna District of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau
State. The head of the Hurti community, Mr Marren Aradong, said the attackers
burnt 383 houses, destroyed foodstuffs, and looted other items. Despite the
deployment of police operatives and assets to the affected communities, the
assailants were not deterred. They also ferociously attacked the Zike
community, Kimakpa, in the Kwali District of Bassa Local Government Area,
killing 51 people. Just 24 hours earlier, a similar attack on the Otobi Akpa
community in Benue had left at least 13 people dead, with others injured or
missing. At least 50 houses were destroyed.

 

 

As the father of the nation and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces, many Nigerians expected the president to return home to issue
directives to security chiefs or visit the affected states. Alas, the
presidency issued another statement saying the president would travel to the
UK. During his stay in London, he reportedly met with the suspended Rivers
state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and held other political meetings before
returning to Nigeria on 21 April. He also attended the new pope’s inauguration
in May, without visiting Benue or the other affected states.

 

It is worth noting that during the president’s trip abroad,
the ruling APC shut its national secretariat in honour of its national director
of administration, Rauf Adekunle Adeniji, who was killed by his abductors after
a ransom of N350 million was allegedly paid. The late Adeniji was reportedly
abducted earlier this year by gunmen wielding AK-47s in the Chikakore area of
Kubwa, within the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He
was taken alongside three others—his brother, wife, and son—during the attack.
His brother’s wife, Madam Esther, was killed, and her body was discovered
around the Ijah-Gbagyi community in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State
the following morning.

 

Following the president’s return to Nigeria, the killings
continued unabated. Yet, the president refused to visit the affected states.
Instead, he embarked on a series of project commissionings with fanfare to
celebrate his two years in office. But of what use are these projects if the
country is too unsafe for citizens to move freely? Only the living can benefit
from these projects—the dead cannot. The primary responsibility of any serious
government is the protection of lives and property from internal and external
threats. Every other responsibility is secondary. But in President Tinubu’s
case, it appears project commissioning—completed or not—takes precedence over
citizens’ safety.

 

When some Nigerians lost their lives in the bomb blasts that
rocked Ikeja Cantonment on 27 January 2002, former President Olusegun Obasanjo
immediately visited the scene and addressed residents, even though many
criticised his infamous remark: “After all, I’m not supposed to be here,” when
heckled by the crowd. President Tinubu, who was then the governor of Lagos
state, also visited the site and provided fatherly support to victims’ relatives.
What has changed since then?

 

 

The current 10th national assembly under Senate President
Godswill Akpabio is also complicit. During the Ikeja bomb blast, the house of
representatives, led by the late Ghali Na’Abba, asked President Obasanjo to
suspend his planned foreign trip to the United States and Venezuela. The senate
also abruptly adjourned its sitting in respect of the victims. Even if only for
optics, can’t the national assembly summon the president to brief them on his
strategy to tackle insecurity? Instead of addressing urgent national issues
like the killings in Benue and other regions, they are busy quarrelling over
seating arrangements and proposing compulsory voting for Nigerians. Perhaps
they have forgotten: the dead cannot vote.

 

On a final note, I saw a viral video of the minister of
interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, lamenting the meagre budgetary allocations for
security agencies. Speaking at an event jointly organised by the house of
representatives committee on the review of the constitution and the Office of
the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja on Monday, 16 June, Tunji-Ojo
said, “Look at the 2025 budget—how much do we have for border security? That is
the truth. The whole capital budget for the National Immigration Service is
less than N10 billion, and you want to protect 4,024 sq/km of our border space.
Are we joking? The more you kill one terrorist and the border is porous, twenty
will come in.”

 

Yes, you heard him right—less than N10 billion to secure our
borders, yet a staggering N39 billion was used to renovate the International
Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja, which was named after the president. In June
2024, the Tinubu administration spent N21 billion to build an official
residence in Abuja for Vice-President Kashim Shettima and another N5 billion to
renovate his official residence in Lagos, while millions of hapless Nigerians
displaced by terrorists and bandits are languishing in IDP camps. The president
has also flagged off the construction of a new Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja, which may likely be named after him.
Nigerians are watching to see how much this elephant project will cost. We are
busy commissioning 30 km out of a 750 km coastal road project while innocent lives—especially
those of children—are being lost daily.

 

The President Tinubu I know is a listening leader who values
hearing frank, undiluted truths. He also accepts correction and makes amends
when presented with superior arguments. The recent incident involving Lagos
State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is proof. I know many people reached out to
him, and no matter the governor’s missteps, public humiliation wasn’t the best
approach. The president listened and forgave the governor. I was glad to see
them back in their father-son relationship during his Democracy Day address at
the national assembly last week. Listening to constructive criticism is a key
attribute of a good leader. We will continue to tell Mr President the truth and
hold him accountable for the progress and development of our nation. Only the
living can enjoy his commissioned projects—the dead in Benue and other parts of
Nigeria cannot.

 



Akinsuyi, former group politics sditor of Daily Independent,
writes from Abuja.

Source: Mr President, only the living can utilise your commissioned projects

 - NigerianEye
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