Nigerians have expressed displeasure over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to address the people of Plateau State from the departure lounge of the Yakubu Gowon Airport in Hyeipang.
Recall that gunmen had, on March 29, attacked a community bar in Jos, killing about 28 people. In a separate incident, more than 50 people were killed when assailants invaded Kimakpa village in Bassa Local Council.
The president arrived at the airport on Thursday evening and met with stakeholders and some victims of the attack.
Although Tinubu promised that his government will do its best to support the victims and bring calm to Jos, Nigerians were left unimpressed with his failure to enter the city and assess the situation personally.
Tinubu also appeared to be in a hurry to leave for Lagos where he will spend the Easter holidays, saying “you have no light at the airport, and I have to fly back within the next 10 minutes.
“To the victims, there’s nothing I can give you but promise you this experience will not repeat itself.”
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, faulted the handling of the visit, describing it as insensitive and detached from the plight of victims.
In a statement issued yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President neither visited bereaved families nor injured victims in hospitals, and offered no clear policy direction, decisive security intervention, or assurance against a recurrence.
He alleged that the visit was confined to the airport, where Tinubu held a meet-and-greet with political allies and traditional rulers, far removed from affected communities.
He also criticised the decision to transport grieving residents from parts of Jos to Heipang near Barkin Ladi for the visit, describing it as disturbing at a time of mourning.
According to him, the development reduced a human tragedy to a “choreographed spectacle”, prioritising optics over empathy and dignity.
“A leader who cannot stand with his people in their darkest hour cannot convincingly claim to be fighting for their safety,” he said.
Atiku added that Nigerians were not seeking symbolic visits but effective governance that guarantees the protection of lives and property.
“They do not need to see the President’s face; they need to feel the impact of his leadership,” he said.
The statement described the visit as an “on-the-spot assessment” that did not extend beyond the airport or reach affected communities.
“It is both shocking and deeply insensitive that several days after the gruesome killings of innocent citizens, the President’s so-called ‘on-the-spot assessment’ was reduced to a brief stop at the foot of his aircraft, never extending beyond the airport, never reaching the grieving communities, and never touching the pain of the victims.
“Even more troubling is the impression that this fleeting visit was hurriedly curtailed to allow the President to proceed to Lagos for the Easter holidays, a decision that reflects a deeply troubling prioritisation in the face of national grief.
“While families continue to mourn those slaughtered on Palm Sunday, the President chose to convert what ought to have been a solemn visit into a political spectacle, meeting party loyalists in Jos under the thin guise of official engagement. This is not leadership; it is indifference dressed as protocol.
“This approach mirrors his earlier conduct in Benue State in June 2025, when a condolence visit over a deadly attack conspicuously avoided the epicentre in Yelwata, only to devolve into a political rally. The repetition of this pattern is no longer accidental; it is now a consistent and troubling habit.
“Until this administration moves beyond optics and embraces decisive, people-centred action, such visits will remain hollow exercises, detached from the very citizens they are meant to comfort,” the statement said.
Ridwan Oke, a lawyer with the handle @RidwanuLlah on X, wrote: “The President has no business going to Jos if he was going to turn at the Airport.
“If it was a campaign, he would enter the nooks and crannies of that state to solicit votes.
“Lives were lost, citizens are panicking and all you could do was a consolation speech at the AirPort?
“Even had the relatives who had just lost their people dress up to meet him. A waste of everybody’s time.”
@FemiBallHard_LV tweeted: “First, the governor of Jos went on a supposed condolence visit in an armored truck to go see his own people.
“The President of the country couldn’t travel down to the actual attack sites to see the looks of things but instead decided to address the people from the Airport.”
@peace_igho said: “So all the epistle Tinubu wrote on Twitter about going to Jos was to just stop at the airport??”
@Nedumcity_ wrote: “President Tinubu went to Plateau State Airport to talk to airplanes. When will he visit Jos to talk and commiserate with families and victims of Jos killings?”
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