President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met victims of the Jos attack at the city's airport on Friday instead of travelling into the affected communities, due to security and logistical challenges. The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the airport's runway lacks navigational aids, making night landings impossible, and the President could not complete a round trip from the airport to Jos town before dusk. The visit followed a bilateral meeting with Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, which delayed Tinubu's departure. Onanuga said the trip was arranged overnight after a briefing from Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, with presidential assets quickly deployed. Because of the time and safety constraints, victims and community leaders were brought to a hall near the airport for the meeting. The Presidency confirmed that the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector-General of Police had already visited Rukuba, the attack's epicentre. Tinubu's engagement focused on consultations with stakeholders to address recurring violence in Plateau State.
Holding a crisis meeting at an airport terminal because the runway can't handle night flights exposes how basic infrastructure deficits shape presidential decisions. Tinubu's inability to enter Jos after dark due to missing navigational aids is not just a scheduling issue—it reveals how underdeveloped facilities in key locations limit effective government response. If the country's top officials are constrained by equipment that should have been in place years ago, then the response to emergencies will always be reactive, not direct. This incident underscores how decades of neglect in public infrastructure quietly dictate the scope of leadership.
