President Bola Tinubu's 10-minute stopover in Plateau State on Thursday has drawn sharp criticism from the People's Democratic Party (PDP). The party called the visit deeply insensitive, citing Tinubu's public statement that he would not stay longer because the airport lacked lighting for a safe night departure. PDP's National Publicity Secretary, Ini Emembong, said the president's actions and words offered no comfort to victims of the recent Jos North attack. According to the party, Tinubu's refusal to leave the airport exposed not only personal disregard but also the broader security failure under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration. PDP dismissed the president's announcement of deploying 5,000 Closed-Circuit Television cameras as an inadequate response to the violence. The party described the gesture as laughable, insisting that surveillance equipment alone cannot resolve entrenched communal conflicts. PDP urged the federal government to adopt a whole-of-society approach, with stronger community engagement, to tackle the worsening insecurity.
A 10-minute presidential visit to a conflict zone, capped by a complaint about airport lighting, speaks louder than any policy announcement. Tinubu's brief appearance, framed by logistical constraints, underscores how detached the presidency appears from the realities in states like Plateau. When the head of state cannot or will not move beyond an airport in daylight, it signals a crisis not just of security but of leadership presence. For Nigerians enduring daily violence, symbolic gestures with no follow-through change nothing on the ground.
