All Progressives Congress member and development expert, Dr Taofiq Raimi, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to cancel his international engagements, saying the worsening wave of mass kidnappings and attacks requires the President’s “full and passionate” attention.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Friday, Raimi said the past week’s surge in abductions — including the third mass kidnapping in seven days — had been deeply troubling for Nigerians and demanded stronger, coordinated security action.
“The week under review in terms of increasing insecurity has been very troubling,” he said. “It’s not only troubling for our President; it’s very troubling for every woman in Nigeria. The life of every citizen is very, very important.”
Raimi said Tinubu’s decision to drop foreign travel plans showed seriousness and awareness of the gravity of the moment.
“It is a very good decision that our President cancelled his international engagements, because he is one that is very concerned, one that is very passionate, and one that wants this problem tackled headlong,” he said.
Raimi urged security agencies, led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to accelerate reforms and strengthen coordination.
“We still need to develop what I would call a short, medium and long-term security compartment,”** he said. “The NSA, the service chiefs and all the military still have to do more. Something is being done, but it is still not enough.”
He emphasised that Nigeria’s security response must go beyond military operations.
“It shouldn’t be a kinetic solution alone; we should have a non-kinetic solution,”he said. “And it shouldn’t be a federal government effort alone. States, local governments, religious bodies, and all of us have roles to play.”
He warned that without peace, economic recovery gains would evaporate rapidly.
“If Nigeria is not at peace, all the economic recovery gains will be wiped out in no time,” he said. “No country can survive in a state of insecurity.”
Responding to criticism of the delegation sent to the Trump administration, Raimi insisted that Nigeria was adequately represented.
“Even at the Congress sitting in the US yesterday, they acknowledged that Nigeria sent a high-powered delegation,”he said. “It is not low-level people that have been sent there. The NSA is there with other top security officers.”
He said Tinubu would meet President Donald Trump in due course, not out of desperation but in pursuit of cooperation.
“The President, I believe, will meet President Trump sooner than later — not because we have to run to America for our security solutions, but because he believes in collaboration,” he said.
Raimi welcomed the congressional hearing examining killings in Nigeria but said it should avoid presenting the crisis solely through the prism of Christian persecution.
“The killings have affected Muslims, Christians and others,” he said. “The designation by President Trump, only looking at Christian genocide, should be more holistic. How do we stop killings in Nigeria?”
He said the hearing revealed a constructive US posture.
“They are developing a holistic plan to assist Nigeria through trade, security support, economic support and defence collaboration,” he said. “They said clearly that the plan will be in collaboration with the Nigerian government — and collaboration is the key word for me.”
Raimi also pushed back against partisan attacks on the government’s handling of insecurity.
“Please, let us stop politicising this,”he said. “Why demonise the administration simply because you are not in power?”
Boluwatife Enome
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