Pastor Tunde Bakare has criticised Nigerian lawmakers for failing to confront the country’s worsening insecurity, accusing them of focusing on “politicking” instead of protecting citizens.
Speaking during his State of the Nation Address in Lagos on Sunday, Bakare said it was “a shame” that the U.S. Congress not Nigeria’s National Assembly held a hearing on the country’s spiraling violence.
“While those in Abuja were busy securing their 2027 ambitions, Nigerians were dying,” he said.
Bakare condemned the government’s “late response” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remark describing Nigeria as a “now-disgraced country,” saying leaders only acted “after international embarrassment.”
He warned that terrorists and kidnappers now operate “with impunity,” citing recent mass abductions in Niger, Kebbi and Kwara States.
He also questioned the Kebbi school attack: “Who ordered the withdrawal of the military 45 minutes before the attack?”
Bakare said Nigeria’s global image was at its “lowest since the Abacha era” and called for urgent security and governance reforms, warning that continued inaction “could further destabilise the country.”
