Nigeria's Leadership in Times of Crisis: A Call for Humanitarian Concern

As President Bola Tinubu embarks on a two-week absence from Abuja to attend various official engagements in Lagos, amidst a nation plagued by crises, the people of Nigeria yearn for true leadership that transcends commandism and monarchy-style overlordship. The country is facing a surge in attacks, incursions, and genocidal-scale killings, with over 100 lives lost in Niger State's recent flooding and 22 members of the Kano State contingent to the National Sports Festival consumed in an automobile mishap.

Key Takeaways:

• President Tinubu has been briefed about the recent heightened attacks and incursions into parts of the North East, especially BorNo State, which has been troubled by insurgents for several years.
• The President has been acquainted about renewed killings in parts of the North Central, especially Benue and Plateau states, and bandits and miscreants have recently unsettled the peace and quiet of the Yoruba-speaking section of Kogi State, Okunland.
• Flooding in Niger State has claimed over 100 lives and disconnected parts of Nigeria's North and South West, by the collapse of the all-important North-South bridge in Mokwa.
• President Tinubu's directives to relevant departments of government to step in and provide succor in these various instances are in the public space.
• The nation's streets are lacquered by the blood of innocents across our luminous geographical perimeters, with death becoming "two for half a penny."
• CommuniInes are displaced by the intolerable activities of rampagers and marauders, echoing memories of the 30-month bitter civil war which our country survived between 1967 and 1970.
• The living and medical conditions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Benue State are better not discussed, with one generation of Nigerian toddlers bred and raised in those hovels having never glimpsed another home, another community.

Statistics:

• Over 100 lives have been lost in Niger State's recent flooding.
• 22 members of the Kano State contingent to the National Sports Festival were consumed in an automobile mishap.
• Flooding in Niger State has disconnected parts of Nigeria's North and South West, by the collapse of the all-important North-South bridge in Mokwa.

Sources:

• Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the AssociAtion of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja