By Prince Adewole Adebayo
Nigeria’s G20 seat was left vacant as President Tinubu was forced to abandon his visit owing to a worsening security crisis. Credit: Shutterstock
Public service, and the privilege of public office, demands sacrifices from anyone who claims the mantle of leadership. The first and simplest of these is presence – the willingness to stand before your people when the country faces its gravest challenges. In moments of national fear, a leader must not hide. A true leader stands up.
Yet today, as Nigeria squirms under the weight of banditry, terrorism, and unchecked violence across our North, our President is nowhere to be found. Our communities are being ripped apart with impunity, and our people are left to guess, to hope, for leadership that has never arrived.
At the G20 in South Africa, Africa’s first ever time hosting the Summit, Nigeria’s seat laid vacant. This is a national embarrassment. Nigeria should be leading the conversation for Africa at such prestigious gatherings and yet we had no voice. Our President was absent as he tried to deal with a worsening security situation which has seen little to no effective government intervention in recent years.
This week, the World Food Programme issued a stark warning that over 35 million people in the North alone face acute food insecurity, and still there is no urgency from this government. No address to the nation. No visible plan. No signs that those entrusted with the future of this country grasp the severity of this moment.
Nigeria stands at a historic fork in the road. One path leads us to deeper poverty, rising hunger, and a security collapse that would reshape our nation for generations. The other demands courage: confronting terrorism, stabilising our communities, and fixing our gaze on building the future that we deserve.
But the truth of today is staring us in the face. We do not have the leadership required to guide Nigeria through this moment. The Tinubu administration has shown no immediacy, no urgency, and most damning of all, no plan to rescue our fortunes.
How can a nation as rich and full of promise as Nigeria be confronting hunger on a scale unprecedented in our history? The latest WFP report warns that six million people in Borno lack the minimum food supplies to survive, with 15,000 standing on the edge of famine. This is not an unavoidable tragedy. It is the result of decisions not taken, priorities not set, and leadership not exercised.
No government – especially not one that pledged a new era of Nigerian development – can speak of progress while millions of its citizens go hungry. No nation can rise when its people cannot eat.
It is a matter of fact that if we eliminate corruption and poverty, we solve insecurity. If we coordinate with regional allies, enhance intelligence sharing and military capabilities through coordinated activity and training exercises, we can take the fight to the enemy.
The cost of this government’s failure is not borne by those in power. It is borne by our young people, whose chances are being stripped away from them one day at a time. Instead of turning ideas into reality, instead of transforming dreams into businesses, they are preoccupied with the simplest of questions: how to put food on the table.
The terrorism and banditry ravaging our North is a stain on the conscience of our nation and is a national embarrassment. Lawlessness of this magnitude cannot go unchallenged. No Nigerian should fear walking through their own community.
It is not as if Nigeria is a country without capacity. Our armed forces have served with distinction in some of the world’s most volatile theatres. They have led, they have stabilised, and they have fought with honour.
The issue is not capability. It is not resource. It is leadership – the will to act and the courage to decide.
What is clear is that President Tinubu and his administration do not possess the leadership this moment demands. Looking around, other major parties offer more of the same: Broken promises.
If Nigeria is to break free from this vicious cycle of poverty, insecurity, and violence, we must realise that change is not optional – it is necessary.
When suffering is not driven by fate, but from preventable failures, it does more than pain me. It angers me, and I think it should anger us all.
Safety is the most basic promise any state must deliver. And yet at present we have no Commander-In-Chief.
As election campaigning begins in the coming months, I urge Nigerians to not listen to the lies they have heard time and time again from the current government or from complicit members of the opposition.
The change our country needs can only be delivered with fresh, unique leadership which actually puts Nigerians first.
Eliminate corruption, eliminate poverty and solve insecurity. If we do this, our youth have a chance, and our success can be guaranteed. The SDP stands ready to lead in 2027 and to change our fortunes.
It is time for those unable to lead to stand aside, letting those who can enter the political fray for the good of our country.
Prince Adewole Adebayo is leader of the Social Democratic Party and is running for President in 2027.
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