Reality Check: The Scorecard of State-Sponsored Apathy (2025-2026)
The social contract in Nigeria is currently being written in disappearing ink. For the elite, it is a shield; for the rest of us, it is a death sentence. While we are left to parry machetes with our bare hands, the system moves with "speed of light" only when its own ego is bruised.
The Foundation: My 2:30 PM Miracle
As I, along with two other residents, tried to intervene, the herdsman drew a cutlass and struck us. In those terrifying moments, I found myself fending off a cutlass attack with nothing but my bare hands — no weapon, no shield, no defence. The sheer brutality of trying to parry swinging machete blades with my hands is an experience beyond words. By instinct and desperation, I maneuvered and withstood the barrage of strikes, sustaining injuries to my back, leg, and hand in the process.
Another victim was less fortunate, as he was macheted on the head — a sight that still haunts me. Compared to what could have been, my survival and the fact that I sustained only these wounds remain inexplicable. I do not fully understand how I emerged alive. I can only describe it as the mercy of God.
The Performance of Power: The 2026 Scorecard
The "willingness" of our leaders isn't absent; it is simply misdirected. Look at the contrast between how they protect themselves and how they "protect" us.
1. The Jos Palm Sunday Massacre (March 29, 2026) - https://gazettengr.com/bandits-terrorists-tinubus-insecurity-scorecard-in-q1-2026-violent-killings/#:~:text=As%20Christians%20commemorated%20Palm%20Sunday,the%20first%20quarter%20of%202026.
The Incident: Gunmen stormed Angwan Rukuba, killing 28 confirmed civilians (some reports say over 50). https://daidac.thecjid.org/misinformation-analysis-jos-palm-sunday-attack/#:~:text=On%20the%20evening%20of%20Sunday,killed%20and%20several%20others%20injured.
The Governor’s Parade: On March 31, Governor Caleb Mutfwang arrived at the scene.
He didn't walk among the grieving; he addressed them from the roof hatch of a bulletproof Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). He used the truck for "height," while the people were standing over coffins. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/868180-governor-under-fire-for-visiting-attack-survivors-in-armoured-tank.html#:~:text=Governor%20Caleb%20Mutfwang%20addresses%20residents,March%2031%2C%202026
https://thenicheng.com/why-i-spoke-to-plateau-attack-victims-from-inside-an-armoured-vehicle-mutfwang/#:~:text=The%20community%20came%20under%20attack,hatch%20of%20the%20armoured%20vehicle.The President’s Digital Spectator: On April 2, President Tinubu visited and promised 5,000 AI-enabled CCTV cameras.
A camera is a spectator, not a protector. We don't want to be recorded while we die in 4K; we want to be protected so we can live. https://statehouse.gov.ng/president-tinubu-fg-to-deploy-ai-enabled-camera-networks-to-combat-insecurity-in-plateau/#:~:text=President%20Bola%20Tinubu%20has%20assured,combat%20insecurity%20in%20the%20state.
2. The Speed of Silence vs. The Speed of Justice Compare the year-long wait for justice in the Middle Belt to the terrifying speed of the state when it wants to silence a voice:
Justice Crack (Justice Mark Chidiebere): Arrested over the weekend of May 2, 2026, and remanded by a Federal High Court on May 4, 2026.
His "crime"? Disclosing how poorly our soldiers are fed and treated. https://thewhistler.ng/court-remands-blogger-over-alleged-soldiers-welfare-claims/#:~:text=A%20Federal%20High%20Court%20in,feeding%20conditions%20of%20Nigerian%20soldiers. Soja Boi (Rotimi Olamilekan): Dismissed and detained by April 2026 for challenging the children of politicians to join the frontlines. https://punchng.com/soja-boi-dismissed-for-indiscipline-social-media-violations-army/#:~:text=Despite%20the%20Army's%20position%2C%20the,the%20military%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20said.
The Message: The system moves like a snail to catch a herder with a machete, but moves like a lightning bolt to catch a blogger with a smartphone.
The Immunity of the Blade
Why are herders granted a "free pass"? Why is a youth in the South-East or West carrying a weapon "insurgency," but a herder carrying a cutlass into a private property is "a clash"?
The "willingness" is there when it comes to apprehending a whistleblower. It is there when it comes to fueling the armored trucks that carry officials past our burning villages. It is only missing when the taxpayer- the person fueling those very trucks, is being hacked to death.
The Final Word
We are millions of voices crying for the basic right to exist. We don't want your armored parades or your 5,000 cameras. We want the security we paid for.
To every Nigerian who has had to parry a blade with their bare hands: Your pain is the only honest thing left in this country. The government isn't failing because it "can't" protect us. It is failing because it has decided that some lives are worth more than others.
We want to live.
A Closing Challenge: Is This Your Social Contract?
The scars on my hands are not a career path; they are a consequence of government neglect. The victims in Jos were not a statistic; they were families betrayed by an armored parade. While we are left defenseless, the system proves its alarming efficiency only when it moves to silence a whistleblower or a critic.
The "Signal" we are all receiving is loud and clear: In Nigeria, security is a gated community, and you are not a resident.
How long will we accept being ghosts in our own country? How many more times will you watch your neighbors die in 4K resolution while the state watches the surveillance feeds? How many more taxes will you pay to fuel the armored trucks that can’t reach your compound in Gwagwalada, but can reach a blogger with a smartphone?
This isn't just about my scars, or about Jos. It is about YOUR right to breathe. We don’t want your cameras. We don’t want your condolences. We want the security we paid for.
We want to live. Demand the willingness, or demand new leaders.
— John Egwakhide Unuane
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