But what was supposed to be a solemn and dignified occasion and moment of compassion and compunction that would have possibly allowed the president to burnish his own uninspiring reputation, launder his own image and endear himself to an ever-growing number of forlorn and disaffected citizens who are disillusioned with his government became an unsettling optics and public relations disaster.
Last Sunday’s vicious and mindless violent attack on the Gari Ya Waye community in Angwan Rukuba, Jos, which left over 30 people dead is still very fresh in the minds of Nigerians. The barbaric attack and killings are the latest in the perennial bloodletting and brazen disregard for human life that has become a recurring theme in our national life. Five days after the attack, President Bola Tinubu finally decided to visit Jos to commiserate with the families of the victims of the attack.
However, what was supposed to be a solemn and dignified occasion of compassion and empathy that would have possibly allowed the president to burnish his uninspiring image and endear himself to an ever-growing number of forlorn and disaffected citizens who are disillusioned by his government became an unsettling optics and public relations disaster. First, the ideal, sensible and logical thing for reasonable and compassionate humans to do when visiting bereaved, grieving and distraught families will be to meet them at their homes where the air is thick with unspoken deep pain and the atmosphere is enveloped by a gloomy cloud of bleak reality. Where the agony and trauma of losing loved ones are best felt and shared by those who have come to console the family.
Instead of meeting these bereaved families, who are victims of his incompetence and lackadaisical approach to the nation’s deepening security crisis, in their communities and homes, the president had them ferried to the airport to meet him, adding the stress of a onerous road journey to the crushing burden of hapless grieving families. As if the indignity of forcing the families to travel over long distances to meet him at the airport is not insensitive and dehumanising enough, the president had to remind them that he was doing them a favour by being there as he lamented the heat at the airport Hall where he met with the families due to lack of electricity. He would go on to add that he only had ten minutes to spend with families even as he let them know that there is only so much he can do to end their plight. Even by Nigeria’s destructively low standard, what happened in Jos is abhorrent and distasteful.
The actions and remarks of the president in Jos are not too surprising. They are a predictable and familiar disposition of the president when dealing with victims of the nation’s jarring insecurity. It is not the first time he has been treating those at the receiving end of brutal attacks and wanton killings with disdain and scorn. During his visit to Benue State in June 2025, he stopped at the Government House but did not go to the actual scene where innocent Nigerians lost their lives. Early this year, in the wake of the killings of over 200 people in the Woro community in Kaiama local government of Kwara state, the president chose to attend the wedding ceremony of the child of one of his ministers instead of visiting the beleaguered community. In March, the president flew to the United Kingdom after the bombing that claimed several lives in Maiduguri. The president has an unsettling history of treating with contempt and afterthought.
What happened in Jos yesterday underscores a total lack of leadership. A true leader must let go of his ego and ditch the toga of comfort, luxury and flamboyance. He must show empathy, compassion, and a willingness to meet people where their pain truly lies. For citizens who have just lost loved ones, homes, and their sense of safety, being addressed from an airport tarmac is profoundly inadequate.
The actions and utterances of the president deepen the feeling of neglect already felt by innocent Nigerians who are grappling with incessant violence without meaningful protection or justice. Plateau deserves more than distant words, empty reassurance and perfunctory condolence visits; it requires swift action and a clear commitment to ending the insecurity that continues to claim innocent lives.
It is clear that the President only visited to tick a box and get the deluge of feisty critics who are lampooning him over the incident off his back. The optics of his posturing and display in Jos are embarrassingly awful even by Nigeria’s standards. The president’s attitude and repeated pattern of treating victims of insecurity with indifference and scant regard is a lurch into dangerous territory for the nation which is only symptomatic of the troubling trajectory of the country and its political class. The president must know that his first and primary responsibility to the people is protecting their lives and properties and his well-documented failure in tackling the nation’s security challenges makes his position largely untenable.
