Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, appears to be becoming increasingly eccentric in his public statements. His latest comments that the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State was orchestrated to blackmail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are as cryptic as they are startling. One is left wondering the veracity of the claim, what prompted such an allegation on national television, and whether he possesses information that the rest of Nigeria is unaware of.
Perhaps Fayose knows something most Nigerians don’t. If that is the case, security agencies should invite him to provide further clarification. I do not want to assume that he made such a grave allegation merely to demonstrate his loyalty to the president’s re-election ambition. If he has information that can shed light on the matter, he owes it to the nation to share it. His clarification could prove useful to security operatives and may ultimately assist ongoing efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the Oyo abduction saga.
To understand the gravity of Fayose’s remarks, it is important to recognise that we are discussing the abduction of school children, including minors aged between 2 and 16 years. The abducted children included toddlers as young as 2 to 4 years old. No parent would sleep peacefully, knowing their young children are in the forest in the hands of gun-wielding assailants.
We are witnessing a complete failure of the Nigerian state to protect its most vulnerable citizens. There is simply no way any Nigerian can treat the abduction of innocent children lightly. When a former governor, who had access to intelligence and security reports during his eight years in office, suggests that such a crime may have been staged for political purposes, it raises serious questions.
If Fayose has insights into how the abduction occurred, he should be asked to share the details. Such information would not only help in the immediate rescue of the affected children but could also enhance understanding of the ongoing wave of kidnappings and insecurity that has become a regrettable aspect of our national life.
A flippant remark?
At 65, as a grandfather, a former governor, and a prominent political figure not only in his native Ekiti State but also across the South-West and indeed the entire country, Fayose should know better than to make such a flippant remark. He needs to be reminded that public office and public comments, especially by public figures, carry responsibility.
Former Governor Fayose should be ready to substantiate his claims. If he has evidence, he should present it. The nation desperately needs credible information and practical solutions to address this persistent security challenge. The danger posed by narratives such as Fayose’s is that they often provide convenient excuses for governments that appear unable or unwilling to decisively tackle insecurity.
It is clear that we are dealing with a government that shows little commitment to addressing the nation’s security threats. When individuals like Fayose make such remarks on national television, they tend to give the government an excuse.
There is a precedent. When the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted amidst serious acts of terrorism by Boko Haram during President Goodluck Jonathan’s era, some notable individuals, like Fayose, just as he did with the Oyo abduction, claimed that the violence was a political conspiracy by the North to make the country ungovernable for a southern president. We all know the role such conspiracy theories played in shaping the then administration’s response to security threats and in diverting attention from the urgent need for decisive action. To this day, some persons who served during the Jonathan era still believe that the prevailing insecurity at that time was created and nurtured by certain individuals from the North, aiming to tarnish the image of the Jonathan presidency.
Fayose’s latest statement, though not entirely surprising, comes on the heels of the president’s own suggestion that some of his opponents are exploiting insecurity in an attempt to frustrate his administration. Such claims, whether made by the president or his supporters, risk weakening the national resolve required to confront insecurity. They create the impression that the government views every major security breach as part of an elaborate political plot. To avoid any misunderstanding, let me state again that the security agencies should question Fayose. He may well know something that most Nigerians do not. If that is the case, he should tell the authorities who orchestrated the abduction. We’ve heard enough of these conspiracy theories.
Not doing enough
However, I fully agree with the assertion that President Tinubu is not doing enough to address insecurity. Between last Saturday and this Monday, bandits abducted 30 people in Kogi, kidnapped a retired army general and his wife in Katsina, attacked a mosque in Kaduna and abducted several worshippers, killed 17 people in Sokoto, and killed seven people in Plateau State.
According to SBM Intelligence, about 4,326 persons were killed in the first quarter of 2026, even as the nation continues to witness the activities of rampaging armed groups, bandits and insurgents who are spreading violence across different parts of the country.
Prior to the abduction at Oyo school, 42 pupils had been abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. Two weeks after the incident, there is no clear information about the children’s location. Like their counterparts from Oyo, the Borno school children are still being held by their captors.
The facts on the ground show that the administration has not made substantial efforts to address the security crisis. And, as expected, the results have not yet met public expectations. The real challenge is more about a lack of effort than the complexity of the security threats facing the nation and the time needed to achieve meaningful outcomes.
In a pre-election year, a government seeking re-election should have done much more than what the PBAT administration is currently doing. Whether it is the excruciating poverty amid the rising cost of living, or the raging insecurity characterised by recurring killings and mass abductions for ransom, or the displacement of communities, some residents of which are being forced to pay illegal taxes by non-state actors, the PBAT administration has performed woefully, especially in discharging the most important task expected of any government.
And to think that the administration is boldly positioning itself for yet another term. Another term of renewed hopelessness? Another term of excruciating poverty? Another term characterised by mass killing and abduction? Another term, if I may ask?
APC/PDP’s Chinda
In present-day Nigeria, nothing demonstrates the saying that the more you see, the less you understand quite like the rise of Kingsley Chinda, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Rivers State. Chinda was elected to the House of Representatives and became the minority leader representing the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). While still serving as the minority leader, he is said to have secured the APC ticket while retaining his position, despite no public record of his resignation from the PDP. Curiously, there appears to be no legal challenge to his controversial emergence.
