NewStats: 3,263,884 , 8,181,751 topics. Date: Sunday, 08 June 2025 at 03:01 PM 6l553

If the essence of government is the security of life and properties of citizens, President Tinubu must take responsibility for last week’s massacre of over 65 innocent Nigerians in Bokkos, Plateau State.

This is not just because the buck stops at his desk or even because of what former vice president, Atiku Abubakar described as: “The failure of Bola Tinubu’s security architecture which has now become an endemic nationwide phenomenon …”

Nigerians are proud of their military’s heroic battle with insurgents in the last two years compared to preceding eight years of daily harvest of death when Buhari from commander in chief became ‘mourner in chief’. As a mark of their faith in the military, survivors of last week dastardly act who spoke to the press have nothing but praises for the military’s heroic confrontation with the marauders.

But the buck stops at the president table because of the choices he made. President Tinubu understands the historical antecedent of the quest for self-actualization by different Nigerian groups especially the Ijaw of south-south and the people of the Middle Belt region that at different times after independence embarked on insurrection that had to be suppressed by the Nigerian military.

He is aware of the confiscation and sharing of Hausa land among Uthman Dan Fodio’s 12 Fulani kinsmen and one Hausa appointed as emirs following Uthman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1803-1808; the decision to hold on to the land despite the 1903 Frederick Lugard’s “the power once exercised by the defeated caliphate had reverted to the British” after sacking of Sokoto Sunni Muslim and Herbert Macaulay’s 1908 successful campaign against the Hausa Land Ordinance. The president understands the quest for distributive justice without which a nation decays.

President Tinubu, more than anyone else, understands the issues at stake because he spent 20 years preparing for his job. That was the source of his confidence when on the eve of the 2023 election, he declared without restraint ‘emi l’okan’ (it is my turn).

And if there was anything he forgot, Nigerian stakeholders especially the leaders of ethnic nationalities, the real owners of Nigeria, the Afenifere, Ohaneze, MDF etc. were on hand to remind him that Nigeria needs “a restructured nation with constituent parts having power over law and order, education and public information; a restructured Nigeria where there is freedom and justice for all; a restructured Nigeria that protects the right of indigenes as enshrined in the UN charter; a restructured Nigeria that puts an end to an orgy of killing of helpless women and children at night in the Middle Belt region by unidentified herdsmen”.

The president also had the privilege of hosting the ‘Patriots’, a group of credible Nigerian stakeholders led by Pa Emeka Anyaoku, the former Commonwealth Secretary General. The president while not disagreeing with these Nigerian patriots who want the best for our nation said he would like to first pursue his economic agenda to bring prosperity to all Nigerians.

But many have warned that it would amount to putting the cart before the horse since our problem is politics and not economics. Prosperity for all, will not resolve the national question neither will it eliminate peoples’ desires to have control over their lives, their culture and education of their children.

If short-sighted opponents of federal arrangement that have often benefited from our tragedy cannot see how the social system ended centuries of intertribal wars in Europe, it cannot be lost on them how nations like Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Netherlands that currently top the list of the ‘happiest nations in the world’ only yesterday took control of their lives after negotiating peaceful federal arrangement.

Tragically, today as it was in 1951/52, we are still being haunted by the national question. It was the resistance of Yoruba to attempt by newly emergent Igbo leaders of Lagos urban immigrants to take over the west in the name of democracy, the newly imported god that earned the Yoruba the bastion of tribalism in Nigeria and fraudulently promoted by otherwise enlightened Igbo intellectuals including Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian ‘sun’ (apologies to Saro Wiwa).

From 1999, leading Igbo politicians and intellectuals including Kalu Uzor Kalu and Obiageli Ezekwesili sold the idea of ‘citizenship’ as answer to the national question even when it was obvious to the Yoruba whose First Republic leading NCNC leader, TOS Benson, could not secure a plot of land from Governor Sam Mbakwe to erect a building to bury his Igbo first wife and who today knows it will be an impossible task to get a market stall in Onitsha market.

In 2023, some Igbo elements in Lagos openly canvassed for Lagos governor of Delta origin on of their population and business investments in Lagos. In fact, Peter Obi who left Anambra like a war-ravaged state after two as governor attempted to impose an untested candidate on Lagos.

The natural reaction from Yoruba discriminatory voters, who unlike the Igbo don’t exhibit herd behaviour while voting, was to mobilize for their performing Yoruba son. With propaganda and manipulation of the social media, some Yoruba were labelled anti-democrats with their names presented for sanctions to the US istration and the UN which incidentally has clause in its charter for the protection of indigenous groups.

Those who truly love our country know that adopting any variant of federal arrangement we operated in the first republic will allow state governors take control of their states, provide security through state and community policing, defend their states against mindless killers described by ex-governors Masari and El Rufai as ‘disgruntled immigrant Fulani herdsmen’, and of course have death sentence clause in their state statutes to take care of importers of killer fake drugs devastating our urban centres.

There are other reasons why the president must take responsibility for the Bokkos massacre. The president’s policy since assuming office has been about appeasement of elements responsible for mindless killing of Nigerians as against pursuit of justice for victims. Mindless killings have therefore continued because criminals hardly get sanctioned for their heinous crimes.

As Garba Shehu, President Buhari’s senior media adviser puts it in his July 21, 2020 statement ‘the problem in Southern Kaduna is an evil combination of politically-motivated banditry, revenge killings and mutual violence by criminal gangs acting on ethnic and religious grounds’. Echoing this point was Sa’ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto, who at a meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) and Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) insisted that violence has continued to thrive in northern Nigeria and Middle Belt because ‘no one is punished for the criminal doings they commit’

Wole Soyinka, in one of his messages to Buhari while in office had also said: “Crimes against our humanity have been committed, and restitution must be made. Nothing less will restore confidence in government, and reassure the people of its integrity, its commitment to equity in internal relationships and the rightful custodianship of ancient resources”.

To many of us the governed who do not know the challenges of government, the least the president could have done upon assumption of power, was to return those forcefully uprooted from their ancestral land back to their homes , if necessary, protected by our soldiers instead of being abandoned in IDP camps.

Since no one is above the law; the Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who openly encouraged herdsmen in Benue to disobey Benue State anti-open grazing laws, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, which encouraged his mostly foreign Fulani herdsmen to reject modern grazing methods while insisting that open grazing is part of Fulani culture, its Secretary- General, Saleh Al- Hassan who haughtily insists herders can graze in Nigeria since herders ‘do not recognize international boundaries’; Bala Mohammed, Bauchi State governor and Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation who publicly promoted the invasion of reserved forests in the south by armed immigrants Fulani herdsmen should have been questioned in the interest of justice.
[quote]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thenationonlineng.net/bokkos-massacre-the-buck-stops-at-the-presidents-desk/amp/

"On matters of security, the bulk stops at the President's table. Like in other countries, Jonathan is the Chief Security Officer.Stop Boko Haram...."Insecurity; Jonathan Must Resign, He is Incompetent." (Bola Ahmed Tinubu).

Same Man is on the saddle now but the killings are being normalised under his leadership. From Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Nassarawa, and the larger swathes of southern Nigeria, the same pathetic story all over.

“The care of human life and happiness is the only legitimate object of good government." - Jeffersonian Credo

"....The president’s policy since assuming office has been about appeasement of elements responsible for mindless killing of Nigerians as against pursuit of justice for victims. Mindless killings have therefore continued because criminals hardly get sanctioned for their heinous crimes.

"....Violence has continued to thrive in northern Nigeria and Middle Belt because ‘no one is punished for the criminal doings they commit...." However, the ripple effects is being felt all over the nation today. Continue to recycle killers while abandoning their victims to more pain, anguish and hopelessness.

Safesap:
What an unfortunate situation.

"By the time I finally came around, I learnt that my father did not make it to the next day. My two sisters who were left at home were slaughtered with knives.My mother is still in shock. My other brothers and I are just hanging in there.

We saw the assailants, what they looked like, the language they spoke how they prayed to the god they prayed to. We also know that their kind occupy many of the villages around that were razed before now.

It is said that when people are pushed to the wall, they will push back, not out of bravery, but out of necessity. I fear what will happen now that we are at the edge of that point. Survival is not cowardice. It is instinct.

But how long do you stay law-abiding while the law does not see your blood as worth avenging? How long do you bow to a system that rewards those who live outside it?"

We all should ask ourselves questions if such things happen for example in Israel or Russia what will be the response of their government?

People are no longer booking space like before on nairaland. That's something

Check my signature boss

No o, it stops on Peter Obi's table.
..
See how long it took you foolish wicked journalists and heartless citizens to start saying the truth.
..
But u all can attack Obi for visiting and showing solidarity? E no go better for all of you

APC has failed Nigerians

the issue of insecurity have being present overtime, over emphasizing it now looks like they started of recent. on this same platform many will categorically say it they rather commit suicide than fight for nigerian if that be the case who will secure you, it means you all have left your security to repentant terrorist. the military need to do more with sensitizing the public and boast recruitment in the west and east and the nysc scheme scrapped and restructured to all 18years old and above to serve the country militarily for 1and half year

Tinubu is a complete failure. He has failed in everything and made Nigerians situation worse than he met it.

Bro Yekini is deflecting the blame. Was it so under GEJ even when we all knew the dominant region in the military hated GEJ deeply?

When would the Northerners also stop killing themselves or they are expecting the presidency to be begging them?

The people affected in the last attack in Bokko can't blame the government because they knew the reprisal attacks they have all been doing

Killing themselves to make the government look incompetent is just too lame

Racoon:

Insecurity; Jonathan Must Resign, He is Incompetent." (Bola Ahmed Tinubu).

Same Man is on the saddle now but the killings are being normalised under his leadership. From Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Nassarawa, and the larger swathes of southern Nigeria, the same pathetic story all over.

CodeTemplarr:
Bro Yekini is deflecting the blame. Was it so under GEJ even when we all knew the dominant region in the military hated GEJ deeply?

shortgun:
Tinubu is a complete failure. He has failed in everything and made Nigerians situation worse than he met it.

In your empty head, it is the president that will be solving communal clashes?. So, what are the Governors doing to solve the crisis of communities in their states?, what are they doing with the security votes they collect?. Can't the Governor declare a curfew in the affected communities?. What do the Governor do with the security reports he receives daily?.

That Tinubu—the erudite scholar and sophisticated genius—even had the gall to demand action from the plateau state governor, knowing fully well that he lacks the constitutional power to enact any meaningful policy to stop these killings, only shows that the suffering of the plateau people is still at the "Scene 1" stage of the play.

What about the immediate government to the place

They receive huge amount of security vote every month

Abeg

Pack well

helinues:
When would the Northerners also stop killing themselves or they are expecting the presidency to be begging them?

since northerners did not stop killing, why has tinubu not stopped them from killing?

I was very interested in this post until I started seeing elements of tribalism in it.

Wetin concern Igbos concern the killings in Bokkos concern the refusal of your inneficient tribes man president ehn?? From killing on Bokkos, u enter Igbos refusal to give a Yoruba stall inain market. Have u gone there to ask for stall and they did not give u. Yor00ba and Inferior mentality are 5 and 6

Racoon:

Insecurity; Jonathan Must Resign, He is Incompetent." (Bola Ahmed Tinubu).

Same Man is on the saddle now but the killings are being normalised under his leadership. From Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Nassarawa, and the larger swathes of southern Nigeria, the same pathetic story all over.

Don't mind the useless, idiot stinking teeth president. Hypocrite

lexy2014:


since northerners did not stop killing, why has tinubu not stopped them from killing?

Just 1 question?

Hahaha why

lexy2014:




since northerners did not stop killing, why has tinubu not stopped them from killing?

Hahahah, I have told you that whenever you want to ask your questions, let it be from like 10, posting one or 2 which you will still question more after the response is cheating. Pack all of them in one place and direct them to me

Anything in short of that, no dey waste your time asking me questions again on this forum

No state of emergency ? No ordering the police to bring the perpetrators to book ? No condolence visit from the Fulani governors ? No arewa illiterates doing tiktok videos condemning the killings ?

Which way Nigeria ?

If it were to be somewhere out there in the world not Africa Tinibu would have resigned or better impeached over incompetence and his inability to secure life of Nigerians

Wahala

Putindbutt:




In your empty head, it is the president that will be solving communal clashes?. So, what are the Governors doing to solve the crisis of communities in their states?, what are they doing with the security votes they collect?. Can't the Governor declare a curfew in the affected communities?. What do the Governor do with the security reports he receives daily?.

Go to school you say no. Now see how you are disgracing your ancestors in a public forum.

Let me explain it to you like a 7 year old.

Every security agency in Nigeria(Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, EFCC, Civil Defense, etc.) and its personnel are directly under the control and command of the President.
No Governor in Nigeria has the constitutional right to command, control, direct, dismiss or employ any member of the security agencies.
Do you understand it now, or do you need an interpreter?
And Security vote is not a security budget.
Next time I'll be taking fees

So someone can be worse than Buhari. Tinubu is a total failure. HE SHOULD RESIGN.

Desk that is in far away where he is cooling off? A lot of Nigerians are a bunch of irresponsible people. That is why we are governed by irresponsible leaders. I dont any President in African present corps of leaders that still travel out for weeks to live in another country like Buhari and Tinubu. For 4 years of Yar Adua, 8 years of Buhari and now almost three years of Tinubu, total of 15 years, Nigeria has consistently had leaders that need to stay abroad for weeks for medicals. Watch how our economy collpased over time. We hate strong and healthy people leading us . No country that has such kind of leaders that constantly travels for jamboree and Medical tourism that gas ever amounted to anything. The more time your President has to stay in and leave official state matters unattended or attended to by unelected persons, the more downward the spiral goes

shortgun:

Go to school you say no. Now see how you are disgracing your ancestors in a public forum

Dispute what I said, empty head

Mr President must lead this fight against this killings while the state governors and northern leaders and elites cooperate and Mr President in the fight if we are to see the end of these killings.

Racoon:

Insecurity; Jonathan Must Resign, He is Incompetent." (Bola Ahmed Tinubu).

Same Man is on the saddle now but the killings are being normalised under his leadership. From Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Nassarawa, and the larger swathes of southern Nigeria, the same pathetic story all over.

And he's not even in Nigeria to address issues

helinues:
When would the Northerners also stop killing themselves or they are expecting the presidency to be begging them?

The people affected in the last attack in Bokko can't blame the government because they knew the reprisal attacks they have all been doing

Killing themselves to make the government look incompetent is just too lame

The bulk, stops on the president's table until him and the expired Comissioner of police accept state police.
What were his stance during GEJ?
Karma is real.