The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has lamented Nigeria’s rapid descent into chaos over the past 10 days, blaming the escalating insecurity on what he called President Bola Tinubu’s preference for “comfort and politics” over effective governance.
Obi said the wave of killings, abductions and institutional decay witnessed across the country in recent days should trouble the conscience of Nigeria’s leaders, warning that the nation was “bleeding” due to leadership failure.
He said Nigeria’s current situation was not a matter of fate but the direct result of misguided priorities and a lack of empathy by those in power. According to him, the events of the past 10 days reflect a nation adrift in the absence of competent and responsive leadership.
In a statement he shared across social media on Sunday night Obi said, “Our country is now going through troubling times, not by fate, but by our collective leadership failures that allow insecurity, lawlessness, and institutional decay to thrive.”
He lamented, “Each day confronts us with a new tragedy and a new reminder that our beloved country is drifting amid a clear absence of competent, compassionate, responsive, and responsible leadership.”
Listing the series of tragedies that have occurred across the country within just 10 days, Obi said the pattern shows that Nigerians are no longer safe anywhere – not on the roads, not in schools, not in their homes, and not even in places of worship.
On November 11, six senior directors from the Ministry of Defence were kidnapped along the Kogi axis. Just four days later, on November 15, a Brigadier General was executed, a development Obi described as a grave signal of the danger enveloping both civilians and security officials.
He noted that on November 16, 64 civilians, including women and children, were abducted in Zamfara State, with others killed during the attack. The next day, 25 schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi State and their vice principal murdered.
Obi condemned the November 18 attack on worshippers in a church in Kwara State, where some were killed and about 38 abducted, saying a sanctuary had again become “a scene of fear.”
He also faulted the government’s handling of the crisis at the PDP’s Wadata Plaza headquarters on the same day, saying elements within the security agencies “worsened the situation and further instigated it.”
According to him, Nigeria’s institutional decay became even more glaring when judges attending the All Nigeria Judges’ Conference on November 18 stood while the ruling APC’s partisan song “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand” was played ahead of the President’s address.
Obi said the incident further eroded public confidence in institutions meant to protect the rule of law.
He added that on November 19, soldiers heading out to rescue the Kebbi schoolgirls were ambushed – an incident that “again shows how undersupported our security forces have become.”
Obi recalled the shock that gripped the nation on November 21 when over 300 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State, followed by reports of bandits killing a farmer in Kaduna on November 22. On November 23, five police officers were shot dead in an ambush in Bauchi State.
“As I was speaking about this, I received yet another devastating report about the abduction of 13 female farmers in Askira-Uba LGA of Borno State today by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists,” he said.
Decrying what he described as the government’s indifference, Obi said no nation can survive on excuses or absentee leadership. “What we are witnessing is not inevitable; it is the direct consequence of we, the leaders, not valuing human life,” he said.
He accused those in power of consistently placing political interests above the safety and wellbeing of citizens. “Nigeria is bleeding because those elected to protect the nation have chosen comfort over courage, politics over people, and power over purpose,” Obi stated.
Calling for a leadership that prioritises competence and compassion, he reminded political officeholders that governance is a responsibility, not a ceremonial title. “Governance is not a title; it is a duty to protect every child, every community, and every citizen.
“We need competence, compassion, and a government that shows up when it matters the most,” he said.
Obi expressed solidarity with Nigerians devastated by recent events, saying his heart goes out to all families affected by the spate of attacks.
“To every Nigerian shaken in these past 10 days, my heart is with you. You deserve safety, you deserve peace. We deserve a government that values our lives above politics,” he said.
Sounding hopeful, Obi insisted that despite the current despair, national recovery is still possible. “Nigeria must rise again.”