“Who Will Protect the Common Man?” – A Senate Wake-Up Call to Nigeria’s Leadership

“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
— Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution

Another senator shouts in Abuja.
Another video goes viral.
Another week of headlines, hashtags, and horror stories.

But this time, his words pierced the noise—because he wasn’t politicking.
He was pleading. For farmers. For market women. For students trapped on roads.

He asked the one question echoing across Nigeria:
Who protects the common man?

Diagnosis ▸

Leadership in Nigeria wears bulletproof vests and travels in convoys.
The people walk to school. They plant crops. They ride night buses.

And they die—by bullets, by machetes, by silence.

This senator Dino Melaye didn’t just call for help. He exposed the hypocrisy. Elite lives are wrapped in armored privilege while ordinary Nigerians navigate a war zone. They have no map, no backup, and no hope.

He indicted a system where:

• Security intelligence is comatose
• Kidnappers and bandits roam free
• The Commander-in-Chief appears unready to command

This wasn’t politics.
This was prophecy.

What Must Be Done

A. State the Truth:
There is no security. There is no welfare. Thus, there is no government—by the constitution’s own definition.

B. Equip the Police:
Stop leaning only on the army. Fund, train, and arm the police to protect everyday Nigerians.

C. Revive Intelligence Networks:
Rebuild community intelligence, partner with telecoms, and deploy tech to predict and prevent violence.

D. Call for Help:
If we need drones, satellites, or intelligence support from global partners, say so. Now.

E. Decentralize Security Control:
Empower states with legal backing for local policing. True federalism demands local solutions.

F. Convene the National Assembly in Emergency Session:
Sit with the President. Don’t leave until there’s a signed, funded, and published security plan.

G. Restore Public Trust:
Show up in the villages. Apologize. Compensate. Protect. Until then, the people will stop believing—and stop waiting.

The Nigerian state must choose: reform itself—or be replaced by the rage of the forgotten.

Nigeria is not yet a failed state. But it is a fragile one.

We either act now—or watch from behind our tinted glass as the fragile finally shatters.

The common man is not asking for miracles.
Just safety.
Just dignity.
Just the right to live.

You must therefore protect him—before he decides to protect himself.

Onwards.