Open Letter To Tinubu At 74

The harsh realities of our nation have forced me to write you this open letter, with the hope that it will somehow be brought to your attention. I am using this auspicious event of your 74th birthday, which was celebrated last Sunday, to draw attention to issues that are not only capable of threatening next year’s general polls, but have the potential of forcing our country down the slippery slope of anarchy and eventual disintegration. Less than a year to the polls, Nigeria stands on the threshold of frightening instability that foretells doomsday for our country.

New Bloodshed

On the day you turned 74 last Sunday, daredevil terrorists stormed Angwan Rukuba in Plateau state and unleashed a reign of terror, leaving no fewer than 27 lives dead. Governor Caleb Mutfwang, who was attending the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, returned on Monday and boarded an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) to address the angry, grieving people in the state. The fact that the governor had to use APC for his security is reflective of the tension that followed the killings.

The Sunday killings did not come unannounced. Weeks before the attack, some Muslim travelers had come under attack during Ramadan in Jos. In several warnings posted by some persons on their social media handles, they threatened to avenge the death. Less than two weeks before the Angwan Rukuba attack last Sunday, it was obvious that the carnage was foretold as security personnel were caught napping. The weeping of Mummy Promise, who urged her slain son to avenge his death with a machete she placed in his coffin, soaked the eyes of many.

On the same day in Kagarko, Kaduna State, 13 wedding guests were dispatched to their early graves, with over 20 of those attending the wedding abducted. The peace enjoyed during the first two years of your administration is longer with us, as terror groups have grown fiercer than ever before. Despite trillions of naira appropriated to defence, the security of lives and property is still a forlorn dream.  Many areas continue to suffer devastations

Short Sympathy Visit

It is now clear as daylight that Nigerians are an endangered species. More than anything, President Tinubu, what is necessary now is the evolution of a clear-cut policy on how to deal with criminals in whatever guise they operate. The failure of the state to bring previous killers to justice inspires yet another human barbecue cast long shadows on the elongation of incapacity to resolve some of the issues challenging our country.

The recent visit to Plateau State by Your Excellency to commiserate with bereaved members of the Angwan Rukuba attack is reflective of your desire to get acquainted with the situation on the ground. Though some have described your inability to visit the scene of the attack due to the urgency to commence your flight to Lagos, I must place it on record that your visit to Jos to sympathise with the victims and the government over the dastardly attack was commendable.  More than the visit, I welcome your order to the military to flush out the perpetrators of the attack to bring them to justice. These recurring attacks have only seen victims relegated, while the terror elements behind these horrible attacks are left to roam the streets without being brought to justice. For justice to prevail, Mr. President, those who deprive people of their lives must be made to pay with their lives.

Looking at the grim faces ferried to the Jos Airport to meet with you briefly before you left for Lagos on Thursday evening, the tension and weeping of bereaved relatives, no doubt, sent a fright down the spines of both leaders and citizens who are in deep pain over what has happened to their beloved state that was once the beloved. The request by the Gbong Gwom, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, to visit Mr. President, in the company of prominent citizens of the state, highlights the urgency of the monarch’s desire to pour out his heart on these recurring attacks that have refused to end. Having directed security agents to install security cameras in all parts of the state, I count it a reality that someday, your promises to bring succour to Plateau state shall be realised.

Amidst the raging anger that has trailed the lives of Nigerians since you became president, your government’s capacity to deal with the issue of insecurity shall form the cornerstone of your achievements as the leader of our nation. The present hardship in the land where prices of fuel and other products have made life so difficult is less burdensome than the mindless killings that are becoming the norm, rather than the exception.

As the nation walks to yet another election year in which you are expected to seek re-election, I pray earnestly that God grant you the willpower to deal decisively with forces that have kept our nation under an oppressive system devoid of the milk of human kindness. Let the voice of Nigerian Methodist Bishop Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha navigate your thoughts in tackling the bloodshed flowing over our land: “The blood of the Innocent is flowing in Nigeria. People are in pain over the slaughter as though they are not human beings. Where are the leaders and the men we have entrusted the responsibility of protecting Nigerians? Unless the leadership of this country rises – and they must rise now – to stop the innocent blood flowing on our streets. Look at women weeping over their children who had been slaughtered. Something must happen, and it has to happen now. If not, Nigeria will be a sad story”.