By Olarinre Salako,
Published in the Systems and Society Column,Backpage of The Nigerian Tribune, Monday, July 20, 2026
The release of the forty-four Oriire abductees after fifty-six harrowing days in the captivity of terrorists identified by the Defence Headquarters as JAS/Boko Haram was met with relief. After weeks of anguish, families have embraced their loved ones. We pray for their physical and psychological recovery.
We owe gratitude to the officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies who made the release possible. Some of them paid the ultimate sacrifice. Their courage deserves remembrance. We also remember those who did not return alive. We remember the two teachers, whose deaths impose upon us a moral obligation that extends beyond celebration.
Yoruba elders understood the tension between emotion and reflection. They say, “Bí a bá ń sunkún, a máa ríran.” When we weep, we still see. Wisdom demands that even pain sharpen our vision. They also caution: “Bí a bá ń rẹ́rìn, a kò gbọ́dọ̀ gbàgbé ara.” Even in moments of rejoicing, we must never abandon reflection.
A Call for Reflection
Should our people have spent fifty-six days held captive by JAS/Boko Haram terrorists operating in the forests of Yorubaland?
The question neither diminishes the success of the release nor seeks to reopen debates about how it was accomplished. Instead, it asks: How do we prevent it from happening again?
Another Yoruba proverb guides:“Bí ọmọde bá ṣubú, á wo iwájú; bí àgbà bá ṣubú, á wo ẹ̀yìn.” When a child falls, he looks ahead. When an elder falls, he looks behind to understand what caused the fall. We celebrate their return, but never without reflecting on institutional failure.
Revisiting Interiority Theory— to Aid in Reflection
Inspired by engineering simulation and history-matching, the Interiority Theory is a sociological exercise that reconstructs how great statesmen might respond to contemporary events through the enduring principles of their political philosophy. Let us summon the voice of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the most widely acknowledged Asiwaju of Yorubaland. If he were here today, what would he say to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde?
To Governor Seyi Makinde
Politics exists to protect the people before it protects political interests. History does not remember excuses; it remembers whether leaders exhausted every constitutional means to protect their people.
As Governor of Oyo State, you command neither the Armed Forces nor the police. Nigeria’s unitary constitutional arrangement places both under the control of the President. Constitutional limitations do not diminish moral responsibility. Did you seek the President’s urgent audience? Did you exhaust every constitutional avenue to secure federal intervention? If you did, the people deserve to know.
You warned the people months earlier that the Old Oyo National Park axis had become a dangerous corridor after the murder of five National Park officers. Did that warning not impose a duty on your government to strengthen security around rural schools and communities before the Oriire abduction occurred?
It took Peter Obi’s visit for Nigerians to learn that you and the President had not spoken for more than fifty days. If that account is accurate, it represents both a political and an institutional failure. Why should Nigerians hear this from Peter Obi and not you?
When schoolchildren and teachers are held hostage, communication between the Governor and the President should never depend on political convenience. Functioning federations hold joint federal-state briefings during such crises. But when leaders are not speaking, coordinated leadership becomes impossible.
Your call for a United Nations investigation into the abduction and release has merit. But the first duty is to heed warning signs before tragedy occurs. Your earlier warning about deteriorating security around Old Oyo National Park should have galvanized preventive action across government.
To President Bola Tinubu
I have always maintained that leadership exists for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the people—not for political convenience. A leader goes where his people suffer.
Yoruba elders remind us: “Bí ọmọdé bá ń ṣe bí ọmọdé, àgbà á sì máa ṣe bí àgbà.” Leadership is measured not by another person’s conduct but by one’s own sense of duty. Even if Makinde never sought your audience, nothing prevented you from initiating direct contact. Your delegation conveyed sympathy to the Oriire communities, but it could not substitute for your leadership presence. The nation needed to see the President standing beside Governor Makinde. Such moments strengthen public confidence that leaders, whatever their political differences, act as one against a common enemy. Yet, during the 2023 presidential campaign, when you sought Makinde’s political support, politics found the road to Agodi Government House. During the Oriire tragedy, compassion should have travelled the same road.
Our elders also say, “Ilé là ti ń ko ẹ̀sọ́ r’òde,” for leadership, like character, must first be demonstrated at home. By that reasoning, the people of Plateau should not feel slighted for receiving their victims at Jos Airport. Nor should those in Kwara, Niger and Benue, who daily bury their loved ones killed by terrorists and bandits, feel that their suffering has gone unseen. In moments of national trauma, citizens expect not only operational decisions but visible moral leadership from their Commander-in-Chief. They expect empathy that reassures communities that the nation has not abandoned them, even as you pursue the state police bill.
If Nigeria seeks federalism, that legislation must vest operational control in the hands of elected state governors. It should not merely distribute uniforms and offices among thirty-six administrative states. The destination of constitutional reform must be the restoration of stronger regional federating units, each with its own subordinate constitution and devolved powers and responsibilities.
Universality of Leadership Responsibility Beyond Politics
Leadership is measured not only by constitutional authority but also by symbolic presence.
During California’s devastating wildfires, President Donald Trump worked with Governor Gavin Newsom despite years of bitter political conflict. During Hurricane Sandy, President Barack Obama and Governor Chris Christie cooperated closely despite belonging to opposing political parties in the heat of a presidential election. In Australia, prime ministers and opposition state premiers routinely work together during bushfires and floods because disasters recognise neither party manifestoes nor electoral calculations.
When citizens are in danger, governments must speak to one another before terrorists exploit their silence. The true measure of leadership is not merely rescuing citizens after tragedy; it is ensuring that the tragedy need not happen again.
Prevention is Better Than Cure
Nigeria’s fight against terrorism cannot depend solely on rescue operations. A nation cannot rescue its way out of insecurity. It must build institutions that prevent insecurity.
That requires intelligence-led policing, closer federal-state coordination, stronger regional security collaboration, protection of vulnerable communities, and leadership above partisan calculation.
While we rejoice that the Oriire victims have returned, our celebration must not become complacency. We owe it to the murdered teachers, traumatized children, fallen soldiers, and every community living under the shadow of insecurity to ensure this never happens again.
Never again should terrorists establish safe havens anywhere in Nigeria. Never again should teachers be murdered for educating our children. Never again should any Nigerian child spend weeks in captivity because governments failed to act as one.
If Oriire leaves us only with joy, we have learnt little. If it compels us to build institutions where governments act together before terrorists act first, then the suffering of Oriire may yet become the foundation of a stronger and more secure Nigeria.
That—and not the release alone—will be the true victory.
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