Olee otu ị ga-esi gee ndị ogbenye Naịjirịa ntị ma kpaa ha ọbara ọnụ tupu ị emee mkpebi ndị gametụrụ ha?

To unleash force on grieving, defenseless citizens is not governance, it is cruelty. It is a betrayal of the sacred duty of leadership. What kind of government meets a cry for safety with the barrel of a gun and a canister of gas? The silence, the indifference, the lack of urgency, it is all damning. It speaks to a deeper rot in the conscience of leadership, a frightening normalisation of violence against the very people they swore to protect. This is a call to conscience to every leader at both the federal and state levels: stop turning a blind eye while Benue drowns in blood. Stop offering condolences and start offering solutions. Work with security agencies, deploy resources, and craft a security architecture that prioritizes human lives over political optics. Benue is not alone. From Plateau to Zamfara, Kaduna to Taraba; the cries are the same. Nigerians are bleeding and begging to be heard.

It is tragic that in a country blessed with immense human and material resources, millions of our people have been reduced to refugees and beggars in their fatherland. Every responsible government holds the welfare and security of its citizens as supreme. But what we have today is an administration that has abandoned its people. Hunger is killing Nigerians, bandits are massacring communities, yet President Tinubu and his cabinet stand by, unmoved and uncaring. The beauty of democracy lies in the power of the ballot. Oppressed and battered as our people may feel today, they will have the chance to sweep away this inept government at the next polls. That is the power no cabal can take away from the people. At 65, Nigeria remains a giant moving painfully slow on feet of clay, a direct result of decades of poor leadership and wasteful governance. Nonetheless, with the right leadership, our dear country can still rise from the ashes of failed governance to reclaim its rightful place among the comity of nations.

I welcome the Federal Government’s decision to suspend the proposed increase in WAEC and NECO registration fees. This reversal is a victory for millions of Nigerian parents, students, civil society organisations, and all citizens who refused to remain silent in the face of an unjust policy. The government announced the suspension after widespread criticism of the proposed increase. This decision vindicates the concerns I expressed when I warned that pricing public examinations beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians would deepen educational inequality, worsen the out-of-school children crisis, and deny countless brilliant but indigent students the opportunity to pursue higher education. However, the question remains: why must this government always wait for public outrage before correcting policies that should never have been conceived in the first place? Governing is not a laboratory for reckless experimentation. Sound governments consult before they decide, not after Nigerians have been subjected to needless anxiety and uncertainty.

However, suspending this policy should not be the end of the conversation. The Federal Government must now engage stakeholders to develop a sustainable funding model for WAEC and NECO that strengthens these examination bodies without transferring the burden to struggling families. More importantly, this administration must abandon its growing habit of announcing anti-people policies first and listening later. Consultation is not a sign of weakness; it is the foundation of responsible governance. A government that listens only after Nigerians cry out is a government that has stopped listening to the people it was elected to serve. Thankfully, as the 2027 election approaches, Nigerians have a clear choice. They can choose an administration whose policies are too often driven by trial and error, or they can choose experienced leadership with a proven record in national governance. The lesson from this latest policy reversal is simple: a nation as important as Nigeria cannot be governed like a laboratory for endless experimentation. Nigerians deserve leadership that listens before it acts, consults before it decides, and gets it right the first time. -AA

While you rest in Europe, millions of Nigerian parents lie awake at night, staring at empty cupboards and wondering how they will face their children in the morning. That is the reality on our streets. Atiku wants to offer Nigerians more than empty figures. He has a plan that respects the dignity and protects the survival of the Nigerian people.But the questions Nigerians are asking have not gone on leave with you. When you return, bring answers. Reconcile the Federation Account figures of N30trillion Naira. Provide full transparency around the duty exemptions of over #34trillion Naira. Explain what Nigerians concretely received for the ₦15.8 trillion your government says subsidy removal mobilised.And explain why intervention is supposedly backward when Atiku proposes it, but miraculously becomes Renewed Hope when you announce it. His Excellency Atiku Abubakar will continue to engage Nigerians directly on how to make their lives affordable again. He does not need to engage personally with a President who attacks his ideas while refusing to call his name.

You say Nigerians must endure the pain because you are curing the disease. But when a patient cries out, a doctor listens. He does not call the patient “regressive” for asking when he will get better. He does not point to the hospital’s rising revenue and declare him healed. A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that the treatment is working. And you cannot speak as though you arrived from the moon in 2023. Your party had governed Nigeria for eight years. If the country was as sick as you say, tell Nigerians what responsibility your party bears for its condition. Let us bring this argument down from the podium to the places where Nigerians make their daily choices: the filling station, the market stall and the breakfast table. In April 2023, a ₦30,000 minimum wage could buy about 118 litres of petrol. Today, a ₦70,000 minimum wage buys just 50 litres. The salary has more than doubled on paper; the petrol it can buy has fallen by more than half.