President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Jos on April 1, 2025, three days after the deadly attack in Angwan Rukuba that occurred on Palm Sunday. He travelled to Plateau State to express condolences to victims' families and meet with religious and traditional leaders. A video from the visit showed Tinubu speaking to mourners at Yakubu Gowon Airport, where he urged unity and condemned the violence. The attack, which targeted worshippers, has been attributed to suspected Fulani herders, though no group has officially claimed responsibility.
Journalist Rufai Oseni has publicly criticised the president's response, questioning the timing and substance of the visit. Oseni described the trip as performative, suggesting it lacked meaningful engagement with the root causes of the violence. He argued that presidential visits after attacks have become routine without corresponding policy shifts. No new security measures or policy announcements were made during Tinubu's stop in Jos.
Rufai Oseni's criticism hits a nerve not because it's harsh, but because it echoes public fatigue with presidential condolence tours that follow the same script. Tinubu's visit to Jos, like others before it, produced no tangible plan to stop the cycle of violence in Nigeria's Middle Belt. When condolences become the only state response to mass killings, they cease to comfort and begin to insult. For Nigerians in Plateau, another speech from an airport tarmac changes nothing on the ground.
