Bakare Faults N’Assembly for ‘Silence’ as US Congress Holds Hearing on Nigeria’s Insecurity

 

Tunde Bakare, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, on Sunday knocked the National Assembly for what he described as its failure to provide leadership amid Nigeria’s spiralling insecurity.

Delivering his State of the Nation Address in Lagos, the cleric lamented that while federal lawmakers were preoccupied with political maneuvering, the United States Congress convened a hearing on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation.

Bakare spoke against the backdrop of the redesignation of Nigeria by US President Donald Trump as a “country of particular concern” and the congressional hearing of November 20 on the worsening attacks, kidnappings and mass killings in the country.

“It is a shame on our National Assembly that it took the United States Congress — not those elected by Nigerians — to convene a hearing on the lived experiences of citizens suffering under insecurity,” he said.
“While Americans were deliberating on our pain, lawmakers in Abuja were busy with politicking, posturing and party defections ahead of the 2027 polls.”

Describing Trump’s recent comments on Nigeria as “the most despicable language ever used by a world leader,” Bakare said the Federal Government’s sudden surge of activity following the remarks only exposed its earlier tardiness.

He accused political leaders of neglecting their constitutional duties, saying many had “buried their heads in the sand like ostriches” while citizens continued to endure relentless attacks.

The former presidential aspirant declared that Nigeria had recorded its “most humiliating international image since the Abacha era,” blaming years of leadership failure for the country’s current plight.

According to him, terrorists and bandits now “dare the Nigerian state with impunity,” leaving traumatised communities desperate for relief.

Bakare urged President Bola Tinubu to tender a public apology to communities ravaged by violence, insisting that symbolic gestures remain essential to rebuilding public trust.

He proposed the establishment of a victims and survivors register, a national apology within three months, and an interim compensation scheme, stressing that accountability and transparency are indispensable to ending the cycle of violence.