Ozigbo Writes Tinubu, Says ‘Nigeria Is Bleeding, Silence No Longer Option’

The 2025 Anambra governorship aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Valentine Ozigbo, has written an urgent open letter to President Bola Tinubu, warning that Nigeria is “bleeding” under escalating insecurity and national anxiety.

Ozigbo, in the letter titled ‘An Urgent Open Letter to President Tinubu’, which was obtained by THE WHISTLER on Thursday, said he chose the open format out of fear that a private message “may never reach” the President, adding that the issues at stake “touch the very heart of our national interest and the future of our country.”

Ozigbo said he woke up “with a weight that has become far too familiar to millions of Nigerians — the ache that comes from watching a nation we love slip repeatedly into cycles of violence, fear, and preventable tragedy.”

He cited the recent abduction of schoolchildren in Kebbi, the killing of worshippers in Kwara, commuters kidnapped on highways, and the murder of a military general, which he described as “open wounds on the conscience of our Republic.”

According to him, the President occupies the only office “constitutionally empowered to steady our nation’s ship at a time of gathering storms,” insisting that “history often calls individuals to rise above the noise of politics and embrace the quiet courage of leadership.”

He reminded Tinubu of former U.S. President Harry Truman’s words: “The buck stops here.”

Ozigbo outlined five areas requiring urgent presidential intervention, beginning with what he called a decisive national campaign against insecurity. “Nigeria does not lack brave men and women in uniform. We do not lack intelligence. We do not lack equipment. What we lack, painfully and visibly, is unified, unmistakable political will,” he wrote.

“We know where these criminals hide. We know the networks that feed them. We know their local collaborators and their powerful patrons.

“Sir, a nation cannot negotiate with those who have chosen war against civilisation. Draw the red line. Read the riot act. Make it clear that no title, no immunity, no foreign interest will shield anyone who sponsors or protects terror,” he said in the letter.

He also criticised what he called the silence of the nation’s moral voices, warning that the quietness of elders, faith leaders and statesmen is “costly, and dangerous.”

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., he wrote: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

He added Pastor Niemöller’s reflection: “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

According to Ozigbo, only the President can “awaken this moral army,” adding: “Silence is not neutrality. Silence is surrender. And your leadership can break it.”

He urged Tinubu to consider deeper constitutional reforms through the Orange Union Model championed by the Fatherland Group, which he said treats Nigeria as a union of nations with shared defence, foreign policy and currency, but stronger regional autonomy.

“This is not secession. It is Nigeria reimagined, not Nigeria undone,” he wrote, urging the President to initiate a harmonisation dialogue that could become his “most consequential legacy,” he said.

On judicial and electoral integrity, Ozigbo commended Tinubu for condemning the commercialisation of the judiciary but stressed that the problem thrives when political actors normalise impunity.

“What happens in parts of INEC and within some corridors of the judiciary is not merely malpractice, it is an assault on democracy itself,” he warned.

He insisted that reforms including electronic voting, real-time transmission of results, and independent candidacy are “not optional” but “existential.”

Reflecting on his own political journey, Ozigbo said Nigeria faces another danger: “an opposition so weak that the ruling party risks becoming unchecked.”

He cautioned: “Do not suffocate the opposition – directly or indirectly. A confident leader does not fear dissent; he cultivates it. Strong democracies do not emerge in the absence of opposition; they flourish because of it.”

He listed recent tragedies to underscore the urgency of action saying, “Twenty-five girls abducted in Kebbi. Church invaded and worshippers murdered in Kwara. Children kidnapped on their way to school. Citizens dragged off highways. A military general ambushed, abducted, and murdered on camera. Security is the first duty of the state. When it fails, nothing else stands.”

Ozigbo also made what he called a humble plea regarding the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He revealed he had visited the IPOB leader and left with “a renewed conviction that a political solution is both just and strategic”.

“Releasing him will calm the South East. It will reduce violence. It will open doors for healing. It will show that your administration leads with wisdom, not fear,” he wrote. “Even if he erred, nations are healed through mercy, not martyrdom,” he stressed.

He added that agitations across the country are “cries for justice, not calls for division,” insisting that with structural reforms, strong institutions, and fair application of the law, national tensions would ease.

In his closing remarks, Ozigbo said the nation stands at a decisive moment. “Nigeria has reached an inflection point. Crisis can either consume a nation or awaken it. The choice, ultimately, is leadership.” Quoting John Adams, he added: “Facts are stubborn things.”

Expressing hope, he wrote: “I believe, deeply, that Nigeria can still rise. And I believe that if you choose courage over caution, history will look kindly on your tenure. Your task is great, but so is your opportunity.”