Nigeria finds itself at a painful crossroads as President Bola Tinubu’s recent engagements underscore stark contrasts between political elites’ comforts and citizens’ unrelenting anguish amid nationwide insecurity. The President’s decision to attend funeral proceedings in Plateau State for the mother of APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe has drawn sharp rebuke from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, spotlighting perceived callousness toward countless victims of brutal attacks plaguing swathes of the country.
Atiku Abubakar castigates Tinubu’s itinerary as emblematic of leadership divorced from Nigerians’ raw pain. “With large swathes of the country still under siege from unrelenting insecurity and thousands of innocent lives lost, it is deeply unfortunate that President Bola Tinubu has not, for once, found it worthy to visit any of the affected states to commiserate with the grieving citizens,” Atiku Abubakar lamented in scathing critique. His words paint a portrait of a leader prioritizing partisan circles over broken communities.
Plateau State, recurrently battered by violence, becomes an ironic backdrop for Tinubu’s appearance – not for solidarity with mourning families of terror victims but for party-associated mourning, Atiku Abubakar underscores. “Today, however, the President suddenly remembered Plateau State — one of the most terrorized parts of the North Central — not to share in the people’s pain, but to attend a social event under the auspices of his party’s national chairman,” he said, framing it as emblematic mockery.
Atiku Abubakar juxtaposes Tinubu’s selective gestures against unaddressed cries from Benue’s Yelewata massacre survivors and other North Central crises, inferring systemic indifference. “Even when Tinubu made a symbolic visit to Benue State in June, he never bothered to set foot in Yelewata — the epicentre of the massacre. Instead, he ended his trip comfortably in Makurdi, turning his back on the people whose tears and blood still stain the soil,” Atiku Abubakar charged, sketching a leader distanced from subjects’ sorrows.
The former Vice President discerns perilous symbolism in Tinubu’s choices. “The message could not be clearer: this is a President who would rather feast than feel – a leader who finds pleasure where the people find pain,” Atiku Abubakar pronounced, cautioning electorates retain vivid recall of such perceived disconnect.
