A nation in need of decisive leadership

The wave of attacks sweeping across Nigeria is no longer a series of isolated tragedies; it has become a national trauma. The burden carried by ordinary Nigerians has reached its breaking point. The recent video of the brutal attack on Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun, Eruku, Kwara State, struck a personal chord. I grew up in CAC. It was the cradle of my moral and spiritual foundation. Seeing a sanctuary — a place meant for refuge and worship — violated in this manner breaks something deep within the soul of our nation.

For many Nigerians, especially those working tirelessly in our cities, our mothers still gather in these churches every week to pray for us. Their prayers anchor us. Their faith sustains our hope. But if they can no longer find safety in the house of God, then where in this country can anyone claim to be safe?

President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria is burning. The people who entrusted their mandate to you are crying for your urgent attention.

History will not remember you for political calculations, party strategies, or decampees trooping into your fold. It will remember you for your legacy — for what you protected and what you restored.

Today, the killings are simply too many. Whether in churches, mosques, schools, or along our highways, bloodshed has become a daily headline. What we need now is not political rhetoric, but a coordinated national security strategy backed by courage and action.

Mr President, anyone advising you to focus on 2027 at this moment is misleading you. Politics should serve the people, not become a game of gathering allies, defectors, and strategists while the nation bleeds. Leadership is about safeguarding lives — everything else is secondary.

It bears repeating: the primary duty of government is the protection of lives and property. All other achievements rest upon this foundation. Without security, development is a mirage.

The abduction of the Kebbi schoolgirls, the killing of an army general, the massacres in Benue, Jos, and many other regions must not be reduced to political talking points. These tragedies demand focused, decisive, and relentless action to crush the terrorists who have turned Nigeria into a landscape of fear.

Your legacy, and indeed any hope of regaining public trust, lies in your willingness to confront this threat fully. Anything short of a bold, all-in commitment is merely dipping a foot in the water. But you once declared that no one should pity you for taking this job. Those words carry weight. Step into the water, sir, fully. Lead the fight. Secure the nation.

I hold admiration for you, but admiration must never silence truth. As a student of Tinubu politics, I understand loyalty. But I also understand that loyalty to leadership must never come before loyalty to human life.

Nigeria cannot think, dream, or progress when it is bleeding. Peace is the oxygen of development. Without it, the nation suffocates.

Mr President,
Dip your leg into the water — and get the job done.

Ademola Lawrence is a journalist